Education Society to contribute Rs 12 lakh for drought relief

The city-based Vivekanand Education Society (VES) would contribute Rs 12 lakh towards drought relief efforts in Maharashtra.
The teaching and non-teaching staff of the Society would contribute a day's salary to help the drought-affected people. The VES, which runs a number of educational institutes offering courses in various streams, would would hand over the cheque of this amount to an NGO on Saturday.
"We have collected over Rs 10 lakh by contributing a day's salary. We are going to mop up Rs 2 lakh more from our other sources and will hand over the cheque of the said amount to Jan Seva Kalyan Samiti, an NGO actively involved in relief activities in drought-stricken areas," VES President Mahesh Tejwani told PTI today.

"The contribution drive was a voluntary initiative by 400 staff members working across 26 institutes affiliated to our Society," he said.
"At a time when large parts of rural Maharashtra are reeling under severe drought and people are deprived of even basic amenities, providing them material comfort and monetary help is our foremost duty," Tejwani said.
Outlining the commitment of the Society, whose institutes are mostly located in eastern suburbs, Tejwani said VES remains firmly committed to contributing to community relief initiatives in rural areas and organising more such fund-raising drives in future shall remain his top priority.
"When classes resume after summer vacations, students and parents are expected to take an active lead in further fund generation drives. The agenda of Student Council meetings will be focused on how to facilitate fund raising from different sources," he said.

There will be an increased emphasis on social media campaigns as part of a wider outreach towards potential donors," added Tejwani.