Mahindra Trust Puts Its Money On Education

It is one of India's top automobile companies and contributes substantially to the economy. But Mahindra and Mahindra believes in the theory that a larger responsibility vests in a corporation operating in a country the size and the level of development of India.

Accordingly the KC Mahindra Education Trust lays great emphasis on education and has adopted this field as part of its corporate social responsibility plan. It has plans to extend its sponsorship base to other corporate houses as well.

Established in 1953 by the late K.C. Mahindra, the trust has been sponsored largely by the automobile company. The trust's objective is the promotion of education at various levels, and it is involved in and contributes to various education initiatives - not just primary education for children but educations grants and scholarships for nearly all levels and subjects along with a special project for educating the girl child.

One such programme, 'Nanhi Kali', the project initiated to educate underprivileged girls from urban and rural populace, has begun to gain ground with sponsorship and a gradual increase in its number of girls that it sponsors for basic primary education.

"It is a programme that partners with non governmental organisations (NGOs) to teach girls and help them to educate themselves in their rights and enable them to shape their future," said Sheetal Mehta, executive director, K C Mahindra Education Trust.

Started on a small scale, today Nanhi Kali has grown to a partnerships with 18 NGOs and 1800 girls. The trust will now look at increasing their sponsor base to even corporate houses.

What is currently only a primary education programme could also extend to secondary education, as girls are most impressionable at this age. The programme will help them make important choices wisely.

Even the scholarships given to students going overseas to study are awarded to study subjects which will help in developing India as a nation - like bio-gas technology for rural areas, alternate sources of energy like solar, wind and tidal energy, harvesting ocean wealth, water management and the study of military, navy and aviation sciences.

While these scholarships are mostly nominal or interest free loans, they have to be eventually paid back in a easy to return scheme. For studying domestically as well, students are also given scholarships to pursue vocational course of their choice allowing the to gain some skills.

The trust has also instituted the Mahindra Search for Talent scholarships in 34 schools in India to encourage and reward students who have achieved academic excellence. These scholarships are awarded every year to over 300 students from all over India. These are students with good scholastic records who come from lower income groups and are keen on pursuing job-oriented diploma courses.