Vidyadhan scholarships for poverty-hit students to expand reach to 15 States

Vidyadhan, a Shibulal Family Philanthropic Initiative set up by Kumari Shibulal and SD Shibulal, Co-Founders and Former CEOs of Infosys will be extending their presence in 15 States this year. This will be conducted to help students from underprivileged backgrounds seek higher education through funding, mentoring and life skills training.

At a stakeholders and beneficiaries meeting on Saturday, SD Shibulal, Trustee of Sarojini Damodaran Foundation (SDF), which heads Vidyadhan, remarked that the addition of three new States — Bihar, Jharkhand and Punjab — will help to bring in higher education to a wide range of people.

In 2022, Vidyadhan obtained 40,000 applications for the 1,600 new additional scholarships on offer. The number is estimated to rise since the application process is yet to close for some of the States, SD Shibulal concluded.

The ‘Each One, Teach One,’ model brings sponsors and students together in a transparent and accountable system. One such successful partnership is with digital transformation solutions company UST which doubled its contribution to support more students.

Addressing the Saturday event, Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa, said the government, corporates, and individuals, all have a role to play in developing programmes that create social impact.

Vidyadhan beneficiaries have gone on to work at TCS, Infosys, HCL, UST, Bosch, KPMG, MRF, UNISYS, MBB Labs, the government, and the defence forces, among others. Several others are pursuing Master’s education or research in prestigious universities.

Vidyadhan girl scholars have also been breaking societal stereotypes by becoming primary providers for their families and becoming role models in their community, said Kumari Shibulal, Managing Trustee, SDF.

Vidyadhan is an idea that an individual can make a difference and that a group of individuals can make a much bigger difference, she added, and she hoped “all the beneficiaries can keep the ‘cycle of giving’ going by helping others when they are in a position of doing so”.

Kumari expressed her gratefulness to UST for their belief and support in the Vidyadhan programme during difficult times, by saying that they are fortunate that like-minded people have joined them in this endeavour and there is a visible impact on the ground.

Krishna Sudheendra, CEO of UST, said finding the right implementation partner is key to the success of CSR initiatives. Vidyadhan’s ability to scale fast, as well as the transparency brought in by the zero administrative cost model, provides a comprehensive view of the student beneficiaries.

S Ramanand, Trustee, SDF, shared the journey of Vidyadhan over the years while Shruti Shibulal, Trustee, appreciated the role of UST, the Vidyadhan team, volunteers, and the students in building a partnership that has helped in transforming several lives through education.