HCL Grant adds two more categories of health and environment, besides education

HCL Grant, the call for entries for which has now begun, has added two more categories of health and environment besides education this year. The award money for the Grant will be INR 15 Crore this time i.e. INR 5 Crore per category. Launched last year, HCL Grant is a first of its kind initiative to recognize the rise of Fifth estate - the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) which are formed and led by the citizens of the country.

More than 400 NGOs participated in the HCL Grant last year. Honourable President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented the HCL Grant Award of INR 5 Crore to the winner NGO, Going to School - which currently covers over 1,300 schools and is impacting 1,50,000 children every week with imperative life changing skills through their design-driven approach and learning material, in remote villages of Bihar.

Ms. Robin Abrams, Chairperson of Jury, HCL Grant, said "The HCL Grant launch last year saw an overwhelming response from NGOs. It was an eye-opener for us to see some of the remarkable work being done in the sector of education, by some remarkable leaders of change. The jury members had a tough task to decide one over the other, as all of them were the very best in their own ways. We are excited to once again learn more about the phenomenal work being done, especially when we had added two more categories this year."

The selection process will be managed by Grant Thornton, world's leading assurance, tax and advisory firm. The Grant of INR 5 crore will be awarded to the winning NGO in each category through a robust evaluation process consisting of multiple levels of assessments starting from application screening, profile evaluation, sub Jury evaluation and ending with a final jury evaluation. The winner will be announced in February 2017.