Dipika, Dinesh bat for P&G Shiksha programme

Indian squash star Dipika Pallikal along with her cricketer-husband Dinesh Karthik on Thursday batted for P&G's flagship Corporate Social Responsibility programme P&G Shiksha and emphasised the importance of education in the lives of children.

P&G Shiksha has supported over 450 schools till date, reaching over 8,00,000 underprivileged children. In its 12th year, it launched "Shiksha Superheroes", a campaign to acknowledge consumers, the real-life superheroes who make a simple brand choice of buying P&G products.

Dipika and Dinesh also attended an event at the P&G Shiksha School here. They also urged people to be Shiksha Superheroes by choosing P&G products and contribute to the education of underprivileged children.

"I am very very excited to be a part of such a great initiative. Education is extremely important for every child's growth. My family has always given importance to education and made sure that I was given access to quality education," Arjuna award winner Dipika said.

"I am visiting the P&G Shiksha School for the first time and got an opportunity to witness the difference P&G Shiksha has made to the lives of the children here," she added.

Dinesh also stressed on the importance of education, saying, "I strongly believe that education is extremely important for every child's growth, however focusing on overall development is also very important."

"By encouraging students in this school to balance their academics with sports, not only is P&G Shiksha focusing on their overall development but are also creating a pathway to get bright career opportunities and maybe tomorrow we will have few sports stars from this school," he added.

The couple shared their school memories with the children and emphasised on the importance of sports and extra-curricular activities in their holistic development while imparting them some cricket and squash tips.

During their visit to the P&G Shiksha School in Pallikarnai, Dipika and Dinesh also elaborated on the interventions made in the school.

--IANS

tri/bg