HCL Foundation Commits INR 100 Crores to Six NGOs in India

• HCL Foundation today launched HCL Grant, an initiative to support NGOs and individual social leaders who are implementing projects for upliftment and development of the country. A sum of INR 100 crores would be spent over the period of next 5 years through this initiative. In its first year, one winning NGO will receive a grant of INR 5 crores.

Six finalists from which the winning NGO would be selected were felicitated today. These finalists were selected from a pool of over 400 NGOs from across the country, through a rigorous selection process consisting of eminent jury members. Eminent Jury comprises:

• Montek Singh Ahluwalia - Leading Economist
• Pallavi Shroff - Eminent Legal Counsel, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co.
• B.S. Baswan - Former Director, Indian Institute of Public Administration and former HRD secretary
• Tom Miller - Chief Information Officer, Anthem Inc.
• Robin Abrams - Former President of Palm Computing, and the longest serving Board member of HCL Technologies
• Richard Lariviere - President, Field Museum, Chicago and Former President of the University of Oregon
• Shiv Nadar - Founder and Chairman, HCL Corporation

The critical role that NGOs are playing in process of nation building initiatives makes them a powerful Fifth Estate working in tandem with the other four estates - Judicial, Legislature, Bureaucracy and Media. While in the first year HCL Grant is being given to one NGO in the education sector, in the subsequent years, NGOs and individual social leaders from the area of healthcare and ecosystem development would also be eligible to win individual Grants of INR 5 crore each.  

Ms. Robin Abrams, Board Member, HCL Technologies and Chairperson of Jury, HCL Grant, said, "For a long time NGOs have been playing a role of plugging the gaps for a large population of India, who are vulnerable, in terms of education, health, and sometimes even basic amenities. What makes their role extremelyimportant is that they represent the citizens of India and reach where perhaps other development activities do not. Through HCL Grant, our aim is to support NGOs by institutionalizing the processes and frameworks and also recognize contributors for the upliftment of India."

"We believe NGOs are equally important as much as the other four estates, especially in India which has a number of complex challenges at this point in time.Through HCL Grant we will be able to identify the right kind of NGOs, and institutionalize them through their capacity and capability building. Our support and regular assessments will help them move forward and achieve their mission in the long term," says Ms Srimathi Shivashankar, Head, HCL Foundation.

The top six finalists selected are:

1. Going to School: 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.
2. Indian society of agribusiness professionals (ISAP): has contributed to enhancing livelihood opportunities for more than 150,000 farmer households, 4200 agri-preneurs, 8000 BPL youth, 15,000 women in 3500 villages, 250 blocks, 70 districts across India through their various initiatives in agriculture and skill development
3. Prayatn Sanstha: Prayatn Sanstha's 'Quest for the dawn of change' has motivated them to work towards pertinent issues of education, skill development, child labour etc with special focus on girl child and women.
4. Social Work & Research Centre (commonly known as BAREFOOT COLLEGE): Over the past four decades, Barefoot College has been working in the field of education, skill development, women empowerment and energy solution with the objective of making the rural communities, located across the nation, self-sufficient and sustainable.
5. Association for voluntary action (commonly known as Bachpan Bachao Andolan): Founded by Nobel Peace Laureate, Shri. Kailash Satyarthi, the organization, over the last three decades, has rescued over 84,800 trafficked children and ensured access to education for over 200,000 children in 392 villages across 12 states of India. 
6. Pardada Pardadi educational society (PPES): facilitating the creation of a socially and economically empowered rural society.

The winning NGO would be announced on January 18^th at an event where leaders and dignitaries from various walks of life would be present.