Peacegate Time Banking
Time Banking is an old idea, with roots in the 19th century labour reform movement. Modern time banking was conceptualized in the 1980s by Edgar Cahn, an American law professor and social justice advocate, to address unfulfilled societal needs, and reward community participation. Time banking is a system of bartering various services for one another using labour-time as a unit of account which was developed by various socialist thinkers based on the labour theory of value. Labour-time units can be credited to a person’s account in the time bank and redeemed for services from other members of the Time Bank.
The advantages lie in building (or restoring) community, inclusion, volunteerism, and social assistance. It is promoted as helping to foster community ties and encourage people who would not normally get involved in traditional volunteering. Above all, it has been championed for enabling people with low incomes to access services that would be unaffordable to them in the traditional market economy.
The success of a Time Banking community largely depends on its size and diversity. The more professionals there are, and the more diverse skills they have, the more likely it is that people will start using this type of service. But the problem was that these communities lacked the necessary technology to expand beyond their limited scope in both numbers and diversity. Time banking is getting better with time and technology.
IIAM, in association with Peacegate, is proud to incorporate the concept of Time Banking in its services. The Peacegate Time Banking is a reciprocity-based service system in which hours are credited in the Time Account of the holder. In a time-banking environment, people receive time credits when they provide a service to another member of the time bank (and the member receiving the service is debited an equal amount). Every hour of time is generally valued the same, regardless of the service rendered. And most importantly, the entire Time Bank service is backed-up by a state-of-the-art technology integrated with the Peacegate App. You can open the account, request and give services through the App and verify the Bank statement through the App.
Once you sign the Pledge to Mediate, you can open your Time Bank Account and mention the services you would like to offer under this concept. For eg., if you are a Teacher, Counsellor, Psychologist, Musician, Yoga Instructor, Health professional, or Mediator or for that matter any person, you can offer your services free and the time that you spend for giving those services will be credited in your Time Account. This will carry interest too @12% per annum. Anytime you can redeem your time credit for availing any of these services in return free – for you, your friends, relatives or others for whom you would like to get such service. And the services will be kept on adding!
And in case you don’t redeem your points. You can transfer your Peacegate Time Banking Account to your nominee. It is much more worth than the money that you transfer to your children. You have honourably earned this by the services that you have offered! Peacegate will keep track of the time credits and debits using its Time Banking software.
As A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has said, “Life and time are the world’s best teachers. Life teaches us to make good use of time and time teaches us the value of life”. It is said that Time is limited and priceless and once you have lost it, you can never get it back, Peacegate Time Banking gives an answer to it. You can store your time and gain it back in the future and it teaches us the value of life.
The 5 Key Principles of Time Banking
1. We Are All Assets: Everyone has something to contribute 2. Redefining Work: Rewards all work, including non-paid and care work 3. Reciprocity: Helping each other builds strong relationships, and community trust 4. Social Networks: Belonging to a social network gives our lives more meaning 5. Respect: Respect is the basis for healthy and loving community, and lies at the heart of democracy Justice is the foundation and object of any civilized society. The object of every society is to ensure continued peaceful co-existence among the people as well the maintenance of equilibrium and growth of the society as a whole. Peacegate Time Banking provides a means for community self-help, as well as fostering "decency, caring and a passion for justice." In the olden days the society was more connected and the relationships were more caring and people had the time to help and take care of persons. But when people became busy with their work and lifestyles and when they became more urbanized, we lost such values. Economic progress alone does not make the nation great. What is most important is national character, born out of the value systems. Only a nation that is just can hope to be known as a great nation. With Peacegate Time Banking, we hope to rekindle the age-old patterns of give and take to reweave the healthy families and communities that everything else depends on. Time Banking values the contributions of individuals who offer their time to do various services for the benefit of the community. Peacegate Time Banking could lay the foundation to a long-term process of positive social transition by making the society just, equal and fair. As Mahatma Gandhi has said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”. Let us jointly take part in this exiting attempt of social transition to make our world a safe, sustainable, peaceful and prosperous place to live. Open your Peacegate Time Bank Account today! Let us make this world better! For more details, mail to peacegate@arbitrationindia.com
