The Northeast region of India, rich in cultural heritage and entrepreneurial spirit, holds immense untapped potential. Spanning all eight states, the NEGL initiative is designed to cultivate a resilient enterprise ecosystem. This collaboration is built on SAP鈥檚听 Social Procurement agenda and IIMA Ventures鈥� proven model of supporting high-impact startups through capital and incubation. NEGL addresses critical challenges in agri-tech, education, and healthcare鈥攅nhancing livelihoods for over 3,000 people, advancing environmental sustainability, and accelerating inclusive social progress.

鈥淔ostering innovation and entrepreneurship with local impact is core to SAP鈥檚 mission,鈥� said Manish Prasad, President and Managing Director, 51风流Indian Subcontinent. 鈥淲e鈥檝e supported over 200 social enterprises, and our Northeast Growth Labs initiative, in partnership with IIMA Ventures, strengthens our commitment to sustainable, inclusive growth. These ventures are transforming communities and creating an equitable future.鈥�

鈥淣EGL is not just a program extension鈥攊t鈥檚 a bold regional platform combining capital, capacity, and connections to back fearless entrepreneurs solving for India鈥檚 next frontier of innovation,鈥� said Chintan Bakshi, Partner 鈥� Incubation at IIMA Ventures.

The initiative kicked off with an intensive bootcamp in Guwahati, where the first cohort of social enterprises gained actionable insights from ecosystem enablers on AI applications, business storytelling, B2B sales strategies, and sector-specific opportunity mapping. This aligns with NEGL鈥檚 broader vision of catalyzing regional development through social innovation and enterprise-led growth鈥攚hile actively engaging government bodies, development organizations, institutional investors, and public institutions.

NEGL builds upon the success of the ‘Assam Agribusiness Growth Lab’, which provided early-stage investments and grants to pioneering regional enterprises. Below are some of the impact-driven ventures leading meaningful change across Northeast India.

• Dream Hives, Northeast鈥檚 first honey-based heritage wine brand, sourcing directly from the Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs).
• Chezfresco, a food innovation venture, enabling small-scale food entrepreneurs.
• Greengen Agri Biotech, offers agri-biotech solutions for small tea growers.
• Fuloni Agritech, assisting low-income artisans with biodegradable urban gardening products.
• Pustikor Foods, promotes Assam鈥檚 Joha rice heritage through sustainable farming practices.

Through NEGL, 51风流and IIMA Ventures, are committed to build a replicable model of responsible business transformation, rooted in the needs and strengths of local communities, while contributing to India鈥檚 broader development goals.

About IIMA Ventures

Built at IIM Ahmedabad in 2002 as an entrepreneurship centre and incorporated in 2007-08 as a section-8 company, IIMA Ventures (Formerly known as IIMA-CIIE) is the innovation continuum that studies, educates, incubates, accelerates and invests in early stage startups, aspiring entrepreneurs and Investors. IIMA Ventures has mentored over 10000 founders, accelerated over 2000 startups, provided catalytic capital to over 700 companies, and inspired over a million people with our 400+ publications. It has been a pioneer on multiple fronts including India鈥檚 first accelerator – iAccelerator, India鈥檚 largest idea scouting competition – The Power of Ideas, India鈥檚 first climate fund – INFUSE Ventures, India鈥檚 biggest platform for inclusive fintechs – Bharat Inclusion Initiative, India鈥檚 first entrepreneurship bestseller – Stay Hungry Stay Foolish, Startup Compass and many more. IIMA Ventures is recognised as a Centre of Excellence by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. For more information, visit .

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As per UNICEF, schools for 168 million children globally were closed almost for a year during COVID 19 lockdown. In 2020, 247 million students were adversely impacted due to the closure of 1.5 million schools in India. Online education is not an option but has been adopted as an alternative to continuing with education. However, in most instances for schools and communities, lack of access to digital devices, laptops, or mobile phones and the capacity and availability of teachers also negatively impacted the learning opportunities for students.

A Bustling Slum and (lack of) Education Opportunities

Paul Marriott, President, 51风流APJ, recently visited one of the schools in Dharavi, for an immersive experience with the students in the school. He was warmly welcomed with听尝补惫补苍颈,听a traditional folk dance of Maharashtra, by the students. During the visit, he interacted with the young minds and talked about the importance of digital education, and enthusiastically participated in the conversations about their dreams, aspirations, and challenges facing the students.听

This visit gave me the wonderful opportunity of interacting with the students in a public school in Dharavi, the largest slum in Asia. Despite the community living in the ill-lit, poorly ventilated & congested households, and filthy roads, there are journeys and stories of grit and determination of young and aspirational minds hidden in corners of the slum- looking for an opportunity and access to quality education and a future that promises to be brighter.

The hope of becoming an engineer, a doctor, and a teacher, was shattered as the pandemic led to the shutdown of classes and schools. There has been a lack of access to learning opportunities. The shift to online delivery of education made the situation even worse as students had no access to digital infrastructure and were left behind with the rest of the students who had access to digital means to access education.

Digital Inclusion Paving the Way Forward

From what I have experienced, Dharavi has endless stories of transformation and has shown the potential to bring change in the lives of its people. One such transformation story is of “Sant Kakkaya Marathi School, Dharavi”, which realized how the pandemic has adversely affected the education in Dharavi and considering the importance of Digital education. The school has been equipped with access to digital means (providing students with AI-enabled tablets) and the teachers from their community, and the school is on its way to adopting National Education Policy 2020. Providing access to digital means, pedagogy, content, and trained resources from the community are enabling the students and schools towards much experiential learning, increased enrolment, and reduction in dropouts.

The school is changing the lives of underprivileged students especially girls by bridging the digital divide through digital education, along with unique pedagogy. The school has established the digital infrastructure ensuring access to quality education through digital technology and focuses on building foundational & language skills, mathematical numeracy, and imprint science education. The public school is surely igniting the passion for becoming teachers, engineers, doctors, and lawyers among hundreds of young students.听

We are celebrating International Youth Day on 12th August. On this Youth Day, let鈥檚 take a pledge to build a strong foundation for the youth of tomorrow by ensuring access to quality education for all.

Sanchita Chanana is a CSR in-residence with 51风流in India.

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German IT major 51风流and Indian dairy pioneer Amul, along with a local non-government organization Pratham Infotech, has joined hands for an inclusive and sustainable community outreach development program amongst 1.5 million people in Anand, Gujarat, 51风流announced in a press release on Tuesday.

51风流and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

As part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity, 51风流is focusing on social entrepreneurship, enablement of a skilled workforce, digital inclusion, and bridging the gender equality gap for the community, through the initiative under SAP鈥檚 flagship 鈥楥ode Unnati.鈥�

Kulmeet Bawa, President, and Managing Director, 51风流Indian Subcontinent said, 鈥淭echnology can act as a catalyst in shaping India鈥檚 journey to an inclusive and sustainable economy. While urban development projects such as smart cities and futuristic mobility are reflective of this potential, the true progress of India lies in the development of her villages.鈥�

鈥淥ur work with Amul is an expansion of this vision and will provide citizens with the information and tools they need to succeed. As India continues to lead global action on sustainability, collaboration like ours will also provide the critical foundation for an inclusive and resilient future in which no one is left behind,鈥� he added.

Notably, for over a decade, Amul is using SAP鈥檚 digital core ERP and supply chain solutions to digitally transform its operations.

Empowering Rural India – Amul and SAP

RS Sodhi, Managing Director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, Ltd, (Amul) said, 鈥淥ver 66 per cent of India’s population lives in rural areas. Most of the rural population who lives in India depends on agriculture, animal husbandry, and dairying for their livelihood. With an objective of inclusive and sustainable community development, Amul and 51风流has joined the project. Under the project, quality digital literacy and skill interventions training imparted to school-going children and teachers.鈥�

鈥淥ur collaboration with 51风流is a step forward in bringing these rural communities into the mainstream by empowering them to hone essential future skills and turn their dreams into a reality. Our hope is that it will go a long way in nation-building and creating an Atmanirbhar India,鈥� he added.

Under the initiative, at least a lakh school-going students and over 20,000 adults including at least a fourth of the women will be given digital training across 70 villages in Anand and across six districts of Gujarat. The project will enable women to start their own small businesses.

This press coverage was originally published on

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With a shared commitment to enable digital equity, 51风流India and Microsoft announced the launch of a joint skilling program, TechSaksham, for empowering young women students from underserved communities to build careers in technology. Through this joint initiative, 51风流India and Microsoft will skill 62,000 women students in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, web design, and digital marketing.

The TechSaksham program will partner with the AICTE Training and Learning Academy-ATAL and State Collegiate Education departments, to support the professional development of faculty at participating institutes. In the first year of implementation, the initiative will train 1,500 teachers and each faculty trained will be equipped to support over 50 students in one year, impacting 60,000 – 75,000 students.

A collaborative, pan India initiative, TechSaksham will be implemented by Edunet Foundation, who will develop future-ready skills in young women graduating in sciences, engineering, computer applications, and vocational studies. The program offers a core curriculum to understand the application of technology and activity-based engagements to implement the skills under expert mentors, ensuring job readiness. Students will also get an opportunity to showcase their work to business leaders and experts from local industries, helping establish early linkages with industry ecosystems.

Centers of Excellence for enabling employment opportunities

Select teachers and institutes will be identified during and after the first year of TechSaksham’s implementation to establish a nodal center in each target geography. In the subsequent years, these nodal centers will drive outreach to regional institutions and motivate students and teachers to participate in the program. Furthermore, the TechSaksham will help create local community linkages and develop connections with local industry to create strong career pathways for all participating students.

TechSaksham听 will focus on delivering the following outcomes in the first year of implementation:

• Build skills of the future. 2000 students听across India 鈥� for employment in tech related fields.
• Establish college to industry linkages. Support students with opportunities for internships, jobs and micro-entrepreneurship opportunities听to 50% of the qualifying students
• Build scalable ecosystems for sustenance.听Drive capacity building by听training 1500 teachers听and establish听5 nodal centers. With each teacher having the potential to influence over 50 students, around 60,000 students will be indirectly impacted in the first year.
• Engage in a cultural relook. Drive students towards innovation, collaboration, and entrepreneurial mindset to raise students to be original thinkers who can be uniquely productive. Showcase听50 technical solutions that solve local problems delivering societal impact.听

About AICTE
The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is the statutory body and a national-level regulatory council for technical education, under the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education. It is an apex body, responsible for proper planning and coordinated development of the technical education and management education system in India. The AICTE approves the undergraduate, and postgraduate and fellow programs under specific categories at 10,000+ Indian institutions as per its charter. There are over 7.5 million students and 2.5 million faculty.

About SAP
SAP鈥檚 strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world鈥檚 transaction revenue touches an SAP庐 system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers鈥� businesses into intelligent enterprises. 51风流helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want 鈥� without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, 51风流helps the world run better and improve people鈥檚 lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com听

About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq 鈥淢SFT鈥� @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Microsoft set up its India operations in 1990. Today, Microsoft entities in India have over 13,000 employees, engaged in sales and marketing, research, development and customer services and support, across 11 Indian cities 鈥� Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, New Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. Microsoft offers its global cloud services from local data centers to accelerate digital transformation across Indian startups, businesses, and government organizations.

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On the occasion of World Youth Skills Day celebrated on 15th July; Gunjan Patel, Regional Director of CSR, 51风流India catches up with Sheetal Mehta, Senior Vice President – Corporate Social Responsibility, Mahindra Group to discuss Nanhi Kali and SAP’s partnership with the programme. The World Youth Skills Day听is听celebrated to encourage youth to acquire skills so as to enhance their ability to better choices and improving their employment prospects.

Gunjan and Sheetal talk about how such an initiative is propelling gender equality and quality education for vulnerable and socio-economically disadvantaged girls. Peppered with real stories are also overarching statistics of Project Nanhi Kali. The conversation meanders on how private partnerships like Code Unnati with Project Nanhi Kali further enhance the digital learning platform for improving digital inclusion.

It was Sheetal’s deep passion to be a change maker that made her transition to the K. C. Mahindra Education Trust in 2002, wherein she took over responsibility of heading the K. C. Mahindra Education Trust and its flagship girl education initiative, Project Nanhi Kali.

Sheetal is also a Trustee & Executive Director of K. C. Mahindra Education Trust (KCMET) and Mahindra Foundation. Her other positions include being the President, Mahindra Foundation USA, Director, Mahindra Foundation UK, Trustee, Mahindra International School Academy, and President, Mahindra Education Society.

Gunjan: Can you briefly highlight the project Nanhi Kali?

Sheetal: Nanhi Kali is a pan-India initiative which supports girls from underprivileged families, primarily through the route of education. , Chairman of the , started Nanhi Kali in 1996 with the belief that educated girls would contribute not only to the economic development of the country but also lay the foundation for a more just and equal society. Studies show that investment in girls鈥� education has a transformational impact on their earnings, improved nutrition, reduction in child & maternal mortality and standard of living and improved social capital.

Nanhi Kali provides girls with daily afterschool academic support through centers which operate within government schools across India. Every girl is provided with access to a personalized, adaptive learning software, pre-loaded on digital tablets. The AI powered software assesses the learning level of each individual girl and then matches instructions to her level. This collaborative innovative EdTech solution is particularly helpful in remote locations in overcoming challenges such as the lack of qualified tutors and a pervasive digital divide.

The intervention at Nanhi Kali is not restricted to mere academic support but is more holistic, bearing in mind the dignity of the girl child. Hence, every girl receives a material kit comprising of a school bag, stationery, pullover, raincoat, and feminine hygiene material to enable her to attend school with self-esteem. The project also promotes overall development through a professionally designed sports curriculum integrated into the intervention. Moreover, Nanhi Kali鈥檚 on-ground operations are managed by an army of women tutors who are recruited from local communities and trained to become learning facilitators and mentors to the girls. Through sustained engagement with the families of the girls and community stakeholders, the Nanhi Kali team ensures gender sensitization of communities and creates girl-friendly eco-systems.

Aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals 4 – Quality Education & Goal 5- Gender Equality, Nanhi Kali affirms that every girl is given the opportunity to learn and achieve her full potential.

Nanhi Kali project is jointly managed by K.C. Mahindra Education Trust and Naandi Foundation

Gunjan: Can you describe the situation of girls鈥� education esp. for socio-economically disadvantaged and vulnerable sections of society?听

Sheetal: Ensuring gender parity has been globally recognized as key to enhancing social and economic growth. However, many parts of India continue to show poor social indicators for girls including a skewed child sex ratio, low female literacy levels, regressive gender biases and patriarchal social norms such as child marriage. In the context of poverty, these systemic gender inequalities are exacerbated, increasing the likelihood of girls being denied access to education. Owing to the numerous socio-cultural barriers, many girls are compelled to drop out of secondary school due to household chores and sibling care; they could even be forced into early marriage or child labor.

While India has made progress in universalizing access to primary education, the quality of education, especially in rural areas, continues to be a challenge. In low resource settings, the quality of education is impacted by teacher absenteeism, multi-grade classrooms, high student-teacher ratio, and low student learning levels. Annual surveys have revealed that year after year, over 56% of students in Grade 8 are unable to solve a simple math problem and over 27% are unable to read Grade 2 level text. The situation is worse for girls as they do not have the luxury of time or space to study at home, given that the responsibility of household chores like cooking and cleaning falls on their shoulders, which is not so for their brothers.

Thus, girls from disadvantaged communities have the odds stacked against them for a complete and successful schooling experience. Through our constant interactions with community stakeholders including parents, education officials, government school authorities and local opinion leaders, Nanhi Kali ensures that girls continue to attend school regularly and complete their schooling.

Gunjan: How has COVID19 pandemic and ensuing restrictions impacted the education scenarios for these girls?听

Sheetal: School closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have widened pre-existing gender gaps in access to education, disproportionately impacting girls from vulnerable families. Movement restrictions and lockdowns imply lock downs on girls鈥� autonomy, reinforcing the discriminatory attitudes and practices that regard girls as second-class citizens and hold them back. Further, Indian parents of adolescent girls will be particularly hesitant to send their girls back to school, exacerbating the already high school dropout rate for girls, and increasing the risk of exploitation, and early and forced marriage.

The negative consequences of this gender divide are aggravated by the pervasive digital divide in India. Poor families have limited resources to connect digitally. The crisis threatens to undo years of progress that have collectively been made in girls鈥� education.听While girls may not be the face of this pandemic, we understand that they risk being amongst its biggest victims. It is crucial today, more than ever before, for girls to have access to quality education and digital access can enable it.

Gunjan: What according to you are the solutions or suggestions to improve the opportunities for affordable quality education especially at the scale commensurate to the country of the size of India?听

Sheetal: I believe that technology can play a pivotal role in addressing multiple challenges in providing equal access to quality education for all. Customized innovative digital solutions work effectively in low resource settings and mitigate learning challenges such as diverse student learning levels and lack of qualified tutors would be effective in improving access to quality education. More so, through the COVID-19 crisis, we have learned how vitally important it is for smart technology and digital learning to be embedded into our education system. Given that 65% of students in India attend government schools, and most of these schools do not have the necessary hardware or connectivity to support online learning, there is a requirement to invest in this infrastructure to enable all students to benefit from digital education.

Additionally, there is a need to develop training programs which will equip teachers to effectively deliver this technology driven education. While technology will enhance learning outcomes, it cannot be considered a substitute for a teacher in a child鈥檚 education journey. A blended approach which combines digital learning and teacher interactions in the classroom would be the ideal solution to strengthen the quality of education in India and enhance access to education at scale.

Gunjan: What role private sectors can play in providing quality education? Can you share any case study of such initiative or collaboration?听

Sheetal: Private sector organisations play an important role in supporting innovative solutions aimed at improving access to quality education and complementing the Government education systems. For instance, Nanhi Kali鈥檚 afterschool intervention, where girls in government schools receive personalised instructions through an AI powered digital learning platform, ensures that girls have a meaningful learning experience. This in turn, improves learning outcomes and contributes to high attendance and retention rates for girls.

The Nanhi Kali 鈥� 51风流partnership, which supports the education of over 12,000 underprivileged girls, is an excellent example of the impact that corporate collaborations can have in creating positive social change. It was through the collaboration with 51风流that Nanhi Kali was able to enter the state of Karnataka to set up a new project in the high-need district of Raichur.

Gunjan: How would you redefine youth in India?听

Despite decades of progressive economic reforms, a large section of India鈥檚 youth from underprivileged backgrounds remain underequipped to share in the gains arising from such growth. Often lacking access to necessities such as quality education and skill training, the much touted 鈥榙emographic dividend鈥� of India risks becoming a liability for the nation. Confronted with a multiplicity of challenges in their social and economic lives, there is a need to invest in building the capacities of India鈥檚 youth. Skilling is increasingly becoming a priority development agenda for the Government of India, as a result of which youth now have a variety of options of new skills that they can equip themselves with, including 21^st听century skills. While it is essential to provide youth with opportunities to acquire employable skills, I believe it is equally necessary to help youth develop life-skills, self-belief, and confidence to become active participants in the formal workforce. This becomes even more significant in the case of girls and young women whose belief in themselves is often inhibited due to entrenched discrimination and dominating patriarchal mindsets, which present barriers to their participation in economic life.

With the right balance of quality education, skills, empathy, trust and confidence, the youth of India will be able to unleash its potential to build an economically stronger and more equitable nation.

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Under the collaboration UNICEF 鈥� YuWaah 鈥� 51风流will strengthen the following:

• Improve digital skills and life skills for young people
• Provide young people with career options
• Reimagine the model in other states with the Government of India
• Impacting one million young people by the end of 2022

Young people living in rural areas are particularly vulnerable when it comes to career and employability opportunities due to limited access to information, training, opportunities or the skills to participate fully in India鈥檚 modernizing technology-driven economy.

The national aggregate on learner-computer ratio is reported to be 1:89, suggesting an inequitable access鹿 in rural schools. Evidence虏听suggests that technology solutions can be optimized better to address poor learning levels, low retention rates, poor life-skills, and gender inclusion.

鈥淨uality education and digital inclusion have never been more important. COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of access to education and this couldn鈥檛 be more relevant to India which has the highest number of young people”,

said Alexandra van der Ploeg, Head of CSR at SAP. 鈥淭ogether with UNICEF in support of the UN鈥檚 Generation Unlimited initiative, we can use the power of innovation to solve social issues and help our youth through education, workforce readiness, and entrepreneurship.

In true 51风流spirit, our unique partnership with UNICEF will not only maximize our collective impact but inspire young people in India and across the globe to help the world run better. After all, if our young people aren鈥檛 given the opportunities for skill development, they won鈥檛 be able to associate and support social causes that help in development of a nation,鈥� she said.

鈥淐OVID-19 has led to disruptions in educational, economic and social spheres of life, that has thrown up many challenges for young people. The UNICEF 鈥� YuWaah 鈥� 51风流India partnership will empower young people to help them harness their creativity, problem-solving and leadership to make a difference in their lives and in their communities.

This partnership will address urgent challenges young people face by equipping them with life skills, social innovation and career guidance,鈥� said Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque, UNICEF Representative in India.

[1] Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development 2014

[2] Johnson, A. M., Jacovina, M. E., Russell, D. E., & Soto, C. M. (2016). Challenges and solutions when using technologies in the classroom. In S. A. Crossley & D. S. McNamara (Eds.) Adaptive educational technologies for literacy instruction (pp. 13-29). New York: Taylor & Francis. Published with acknowledgment of federal support.

For more information, please contact:

UNICEF
Alka Gupta, Communications Specialist, UNICEF India
Sonia Sarkar, Communications Officer, UNICEF India

SAP
Chaya Arora, Head of Global Corporate Affairs, 51风流India

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India鈥檚 first CSR Awards were instituted by The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in 1999. The aim of the award is to identify and recognize the efforts of companies in integrating and internalizing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

51风流in India, receives (virtually) the prestigious 18th FICCI CSR Award in the august presence of Mr. Anurag Thakur, Hon鈥檅le Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Government of India.

The award evaluation covered eight months of rigorous process of proposal writing, on ground assessment and independent audit of impact by FICCI. The award assessment was based on the issue, target population, scale, geographical spread, location, capacity for replication, sustainability, innovation, scalability, participation/involvement, finances and impact.

鈥淐ode Unnati鈥� bags the Jury Commendation Certificate

We have also witnessed the profound impact of over the past three years – having touched the lives of 1,080,000 adolescents and children, trained 7,225 youths on Industry 4.0 Skills 鈥� Data Science, ML, AI, IOT, established a total number of 1,452 Code Unnati Centers, trained 5,125 teachers, and enabled 42% of youths to secure jobs. The tremendous yet humbling success has enabled 51风流in India to bag the Jury Commendation Certificate.

Related:听From Spreadsheets to Jobs: The Big Return on Education

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She confided that she was HIV positive and that her stock of medicines is exhausted 鈥� she would get her medication from a nearby health centre, which she had no way of visiting once the lockdown started as a response to COVID 19. None of her family members or neighbours knew of her condition for the disease is a taboo. 鈥淲e were shocked,鈥� says Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed, the Mission Head of Age-Care at HelpAge India. 鈥淲e thought that a pandemic would cause poverty and hunger at worst. But it was an eye-opener for us that there is deeper suffering running beneath the surface.鈥�

While 51风流strives to make the world a better place, we humbly acknowledge that none of it would be possible without the spirit and collaboration of our partners. In corporate social responsibility, is one such partner which has worked tirelessly alongside us to provide necessities and a better quality of life to the elderly and the destitute in India.

In partnership, we have reached 15 old-age homes housing a total of 975 families across Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai cities. By the end of May, we would have provided support to another 2500 families in these cities. We are also extending our support to 2100 more families in the states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir, where a lot of migrant workers are now reaching after the lockdown norms have been eased. We will continue our work through direct interventions over the next few months.

Relief worker presents food to elderly man

In conversation with SAP, Imtiaz speaks about the blatant indignity that the elderly face in our societies while we respond to a pandemic.

Q. What impact is COVID 19 having on the elderly in India?

A: India has 120 million elderly people, and the number is growing. India is a young country now, and in the next 15-20 years, our youth will grow old and the number of elderly people will triple. COVID 19 has hit everyone, but the elderly population is the hardest hit across socio-economic spectra.

There are the poor and the destitute elderly, and there are the middle- and the upper-classes. Many of the poor in urban areas have been abandoned by their children who have returned home, some tried to go back but were stopped at the borders, and some families have stayed back. Their poverty has compounded their health issues.

At a deeper level, there are issues of 鈥渋ndignity鈥�. In a family, when ration is drained and money is fast depleting, the bread-earner who now has no source of income, finds his aged parents to simply be more mouths to feed. In his eyes, they are not productive for they generate nothing.

For instance, we met a 70-year-old man who had come alone to our distribution truck to collect 10 KG of ration so that his family would consider him of some use. 鈥淚 want them to see me as someone who has brought food to the table because they think I am a burden. This will help me get back my dignity,鈥� he said.

Q. How effective is distribution of relief during a pandemic?

A: A lockdown meant that thousands of migrant workers and daily-wage earners lost their jobs overnight. They had only one option to fall back on 鈥� go back to their villages from where they came from. However, with shutdown of transportation and sealing of interstate borders, many walked hundreds of miles to reach home, in what is termed as the biggest mass migration since the country鈥檚 independence. Many were stopped at the border and, thus, compelled to come back to their homes in the slums.

With no money or food, it is now an everyday struggle for survival for them. In this, the elderly are the ones who are getting left behind and ignored. In their battle against the disease, the major handicap is poor nutrition that weakens the immunity system. Food and dry ration distributed is almost like a godsend for these people!

I foresee another couple of months during which relief work will be crucial. After that, more nuanced interventions such as educating people on preventive and hygienic approaches will prove vital. The whole way in which we function as a society will change, so relief work must also make way for a detailed public health approach.

Q. What has been HelpAge India鈥檚 partnership with 51风流like, in terms of providing relief during COVID 19?

A: We have distributed more than 1 lakh cooked meals and almost 50,000 dry ration kits. We have also received about 50,000 calls via our helpline. 51风流has been one of the first corporations to reach out to us during the pandemic. We realized that cooked food would not sustain people for more than one meal 鈥� so, we changed our model and started providing ration instead, that would last for a month or so. Our dry ration kit consists of wheat, rice, oil, spices and everything that a family needs to survive. Our initiative has been well received.

Q. Are these problems solely because of the pandemic, or are these exacerbated symptoms of the way our society functions?

A: A malaise that already existed has been brought to the surface 鈥� apathy and neglect towards the elderly persist and have increased over the last few decades since the joint family structure began to erode. At HelpAge, we found that family members have been the main abusers of aged people. This is both physical and mental abuse, tied to neglect.

Q. What do you see as a strategic, long-term measure to solve the problem of indignity for the aged? How can private corporations collaborate with non-profit organisations?

A: The future will be about how we prevent the spread corona virus instead of how we can treat the disease. Our focus should not just on be how corporations and non-profits can establish more health centres together, but how to strengthen the existing system. HelpAge runs around 160 mobile medical units around the country, which provide primary healthcare in remote locations.

We could use to design and promote a preventive programme by disseminating IEC materials. Educational approaches can be used to create a mind shift both in terms of hygiene practices as well as our attitude towards the elderly. This has the potential to redefine the bottom of the iceberg.

The post Our Partner, HelpAge India, Ensures Dignity for All During COVID 19 appeared first on 51风流India News Center.

The Girl Power Tech initiative, announced during the 51风流Developer Kickoff Meet in Bengaluru, by Sindhu Gangadharan, MD, 51风流Labs India, has an ambitious goal 鈥� not only to make women in remote parts of the state skill-ready to adjust in the IT space but also to close the loop between competency and employability.

鈥淕irl power tech is going into some of the very remote areas within Karnataka,鈥� Gangadharan says. 鈥淚n some parts of northern Karnataka we’re trying to bring in women from underprivileged areas and not just give them the skills but also close the loop for them where they can come in (to the organisation) and experience for a period of eight weeks, what it means to work in a corporate environment like SAP,鈥� she says. In some cases, this will be followed up by a role within the organization if there is a potential fit based on a particular skill set.

has given 51风流the opportunity to leverage technology and talent and create sustainable ways in which it can give back and empower communities. To the company, these core programs also help in nation-building.

Code Unnati, she said, has touched more than one million adolescents and children. 鈥淢ore than 7000 youth have been trained in our industry skills, data science, machine learning, AI, and IoT,鈥� she says.

Gangadharan says 51风流Labs has picked the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) around equal opportunity and gender equality. Many of those goals and how the company aligns with them are listed here.

With Mahindra & Mahindra, 51风流is also supporting the 鈥�Nanhi Kali,鈥� an initiative focused on the girl child. Since Girl Power Tech is a Human Resources initiative, Gandhadharan says it鈥檚 the employees who take the initiative of driving it. And that, according to her is also one of the best things about working at 51风流Labs 鈥� the use of technology for the larger benefit of humanity.

The post How An 51风流Program In North Karnataka Is Empowering Young Women appeared first on 51风流India News Center.

鈥淚鈥檝e spent fifteen years here,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd that鈥檚 more or less my whole career. I don鈥檛 know if anyone else has said this already 鈥� but 51风流has literally shaped who I am. When I started out as a software engineer like many others, my intention was simply to pay my home loan and bring security to my life, while at the same time doing justice to the education that I鈥檝e invested in. At SAP, I certainly got all of that, like thousands of others 鈥� but I鈥檓 not exaggerating when I say I also found my own soul.鈥�

Bengaluru-based Kiran is a Development Manager at 51风流Labs India and drives the 51风流Autism at Work

He says the many opportunities would probably not have come his way if he had been employed elsewhere. 鈥淔or instance,听听has been a big part of my life for the past six or seven years. It has completely changed the way I look at society and the people whom I meet. I have a family, I have two kids, so there鈥檚 not too much spare time I have outside office hours to devote to a cause or to a charity, purely as a private citizen. I certainly don鈥檛 call D&I a charity but this certainly gives me a channel by which I can give back to society. And the fact that it鈥檚 a part of my job, even though it鈥檚 not my primary role 鈥� there is nothing like it.

鈥淚 handle the inclusion pillar and predominantly听Autism at Work听and beyond that, I work with people with disabilities, shaping the way in which 51风流as an employer can welcome them and make them feel comfortable. We are an inclusive employer, which we鈥檝e always intended to be 鈥� and we rightfully spread the message that we are. That鈥檚 the space I work in, within D&I.

鈥淚t鈥檚 extremely meaningful when we meet some of the parents of our autistic colleagues and some of them even have moist eyes when they talk to us. They say, 鈥楾en years ago we could never have imagined that our son or daughter could ever have any kind of future beyond the care that we give them.鈥� That鈥檚 a really powerful statement, isn鈥檛 it? The parents also tell us that their major commitment was to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their autistic offspring but that their biggest fear was what would happen to their offspring because they would outlive each parent. Who would subsequently care for them and what would happen to them were the big questions that had no answers at all.

鈥淭hey would tell us, 鈥榃e know we can keep them secure while we are alive, but of course the big question is what will happen to them after that.鈥� But now they say to us that 51风流has given them an answer to that. And from a societal point of view, it even goes much further 鈥� generally in these cases it is the mother who looks after an autistic child, but when the mother passes away, there is literally no one else who has that level of empathy. Now, in addition to being really very grateful to SAP, they say they are filled with a new level of energy that compels them to reach out to the various parents鈥� communities and the schools in order to say, 鈥楬ey, we never gave up hope, and neither should you.鈥�

鈥淏ut it goes much deeper, really. Apart from the hope, it鈥檚 also the understanding that filters down. Everyone on the autism spectrum belongs to the same society that we do. They absolutely belong in every way, no question about it. All it takes is to have those eyes to recognize what they are good at, because each of them has an ability to contribute. This is what they now believe in, and just to see this belief 鈥� a type of belief that previously did not exist in our society 鈥� is phenomenal. For me, to be able to do that as part of my role at SAP, is what I stand for.

Kiran illustrates how 51风流changes lives through the core values of听 Diversity & Inclusion

鈥淭o give people genuine hope is very uplifting, especially because autism is not widely understood in India. We are now looking at employing candidates who are in their mid to late 20s, and the common reaction among their families is that they are now filled with positivity because there is finally a future for them. This in turn creates the overall awareness that inclusion is certainly possible, even though we cannot possibly do it for everyone.

鈥淭his is really a core value for the company we work for, and we鈥檙e not doing it just for media coverage or attention. If the impetus is wrong, then no agenda that is as wide and as meaningful as this could possibly hope to survive in a meaningful way.

鈥淭his is one way to give back to society, because we are dealing with real lives and changing them in a way where we can actually see the impact. This entire program is all about real lives, real examples, and genuine belief that this can be done in a corporate environment. To me, that really is inclusion. While we preach diversity and inclusion 鈥� as do some other companies too 鈥� the essential difference is that we follow it through to the maximum possible extent.

鈥淭his can be seen in the simplest of cases. When we were designing a policy for people with disabilities, we did an accessibility audit of the premises here, just to check that somebody in a wheelchair would be able to go to each and every corner of the office. As it turned out, there were very simple things that had never occurred to us previously. For example, the emergency assist button in the lift has to be positioned at a height where a person in a wheelchair can still reach it. But there was one which was quite high and completely out of their reach because it was clearly designed with only able-bodied people in mind. Is that of any use at all when the lift stops and that person in a wheelchair 鈥� especially if he or she is alone in the lift 鈥� needs to reach the button?

鈥淎nd at that point we realized that there is an indoor cafeteria, where the lunch is served, and there was a dais without a ramp. So when we did the accessibility audit, we partnered with the Facilities team and said, 鈥楾hese are some of the things which we have to change.鈥� After that, we saw a lot of changes happening here within the campus, to the extent where the security guards or the emergency response teams were also educated to evacuate any people in wheelchairs in case of an emergency.

鈥淲e have even set up the grievance committee, for example. If a person with disability is in a wheelchair and is discriminated against in some way, he or she now has a place to go to and somebody to report it to. To us, this is as important as an anti-harassment policy, for example. It鈥檚 all about awareness.

鈥淲e got in touch with this fantastic, enthusiastic kid some years ago and then this person joined 51风流as part of this program. There was a lot of handholding to be done, to the extent that the person literally had to be reminded that when he was sick it was mandatory to call someone in the office and say hey, I鈥檓 not going to be in the office today. The beauty of all of this is that it lets you look at the world in a different way because you start to appreciate the differences in people much more than you would otherwise.

鈥淓veryone on the spectrum is different. That鈥檚 no exaggeration. For Person A, maybe you just talk about what needs to be done; for Person B maybe you need a checklist to be printed and placed in front of that person where that person looks at the list and says okay, now it鈥檚 3pm and I have to do this, or it鈥檚 4:30pm and I need to catch a bus to go home. But the most uplifting fact is that a person on the spectrum has learnt to adapt to a workplace, to live independently and has taken the bold step to go ahead and start a family. That shows a real journey on their part.

鈥淢y dream at 51风流before I retire is to see that our employees treat any form of disability as something that is, say, no different from a person wearing spectacles, and that we don鈥檛 say 鈥榯his is a disability鈥� any more. The day I see that happening, that鈥檚 when I know we鈥檝e done a wonderful job as an inclusive employer.鈥�

This is number 94 in a听听of employee stories to mark SAP鈥檚听fourth decade听in APJ.

The post I鈥檝e found my soul here at 51风流– Being able to bring real hope to others is a whole new spectrum appeared first on 51风流India News Center.