On October 24, 2016, Capgemini India and Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) distributed notebooks at 46 government schools in Gautam Buddha Nagar district, Uttar Pradesh under Project Akshara. Almost 10,000 students (8,870 primary and 2,060 junior high school students) were covered under this initiative. Capgemini is the world’s leading technology solutions provider; and it offers consulting, technology and outsourcing services in India.
“Education empowers individuals to earn a livelihood and increase one’s awareness to initiate social behaviour to understand one’s rights; and, in the process, evolve as a better citizen. Working for the development of the less privileged has always been an important aspect of the way we function and work in Capgemini CSR. Project Akshara, supported by Capgemini CSR, has really bought smile on the faces of these most underprivileged children studying in government school. We feel proud to be associated with this noble cause,” said Atul Kulshresthra, Vice President of Business Services at Capgemini India.
“Education is a key focus area for our CSR agenda. The objective of the School Adoption Program is to provide access to quality education and infrastructure to children studying in government schools. Through this programme, we will touch the lives of more than 8,000 children in 10 schools. Capgemini employees from the Noida centre will also actively engage in activities at these schools to provide required skills and time to the students, enabling fun-based educational process leading to increased achievements both in academic and non-academic fields,” said Anurag Pratap, CSR Leader at Capgemini India.
Osama Manzar, Founder of DEF added, “The partnership between the government, DEF and Capgemini would lead to significant improvements in the adopted schools as I believe that schools are the epitome of national infrastructure and future. In order to ensure that we have the best of situation in our government schools, we have initiated an effort to create a model which then could be replicated across nation.”
District Education Officer Dr. Pravesh Kumar Yadav and Block Education Officer Arun Kumar distributed the notebooks to the students at primary and junior high schools in Salaarpur. Dr. Pravesh Kumar gave an inspirational message to the students and extended his best wishes to both the organisations (Capgemini and DEF) for their efforts for school students.