Bridging Social and Fiscal Divide: Vodafone Idea Foundation Distributes Scholarships to 1000 Students across India

Across rural India, keeping up with the new dynamics of online learning amid the pandemic has been challenging. To help parents, children and teachers continue classes, corporates like Tata, Vodafone Idea, Adani Group are providing enough resources in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and more Indian states.

Amid the pandemic, millions of children across India are not able to access basic education. While the government is striving to counter this deficiency, some corporates like Vodafone, Vedanta, Adani Group mining chhattisgarh across rural India are taking bold decisions and doing their part to ensure that no child gets left behind uneducated.

Recently, Vodafone Idea Foundation, the CSR arm of Vi, announced the results of its Students Scholarship Programme 2021. The Foundation has allocated the scholarships worth Rs. 20,000 each to 1000 students across the country.

Launched last year, Vi CSR Scholarship initiative bridges the social and fiscal divide that teachers and students face while accessing basic resources. The selection process of students is based on merit only. In the current edition, 1000 students from 19 Indian states namely Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka and more have won the Scholarships.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about massive changes to the education system. To facilitate e-learning, avail the necessary resources in rural areas and build an environment of digital learning, a number of corporates have come up in these unprecedented times.

In Chhattisgarh, Adani Foundation’s Adani Vidya Mandir (AVM) educates children who cannot afford basic education. Located in the Surguja district of Chhattisgarh, Adani Group has turned over a new leaf for education. The Vidya Mandir, which focuses on providing education to the underprivileged only allows admission of wards whose guardians have an income less than Rs 1,50,000.

The group, with centres in Chhattisgarh, enrolls 561 students from 1st Standard to 10th Standard while also offering study material, uniforms, food and conveyance for free in its Vidya Mandir. The syllabus is also CBSE-affiliated, which speaks volumes on the progressive direction Adani Vidya Mandir is taking.

Apart from initiatives by Vi and Adani Group Chhattisgarh, Project Akasha by Tata Steel Foundation is also motivating and helping Children of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) in Jharkhand. This project has enabled quality education by enrolling students into residential schools and paying tuition fees.

These efforts by corporates under CSR programs are enabling children to study sincerely and break out from the shackles of abject poverty and rural hardships.