1st Pt. Madam Mohan Malaviya Awards for Best CSR Practices in Education, 2014

Press Release
6th June, New Delhi:
1st Pt. Madam Mohan Malaviya Awards for Best CSR Practices in Education, 2014
Just a day after the World Environment Day on June 5, 2014, June 6, 2014 saw a gala event taking place in the heartland of New Delhi. The time was to contribute something towards connecting the existing dots in the arena of education. And these minds at CSR Times, a monthly English publication on Corporate Social Responsibility could find no other way but to recognize and facilitate the untiring efforts of those who are doing their every bit to improve the level and state of education in India. In order to do that, CSR Times came up with no other idea but to incept an Award Function after the name of one of the highly revered and educational revolutionist – Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya. Hence the 1st Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya Awards for Best CSR Practices in Education, 2014 were born, a brainchild of CSR Times. The award function (a full day event) coincided with a symposium on the current status of education in India.

The 1st Pt. Madam Mohan Malaviya Awards for Best CSR Practices in Education, 2014 took place at Scope Complex, New Delhi on June 6, 2014. The symposium-cum-award function started with a welcome speech by Mr Prashant Das, Consulting Editor, CSR Times followed by a presentation on the current status of education in India, especially in the rural areas. The presentation was intended to make the attendees aware about the fact that over the years, the quality of education in India has taken a nosedive. Many research papers prove very low outcome in the field of education. Current status of government schools, level of teachers and teaching methodology etc have plunged drastically. Many teachers are not capable themselves in their respective subjects. Hence the level of subjects like English and Maths is very low. According to a report, children today are learning less than what they used to learn in 2005 in rural India. For example, the percentage of children in class 5 who can read a class 2 text has declined significantly from 60% to 47% in 2013. The first session, which started at 10 am came to a close with a tea break for 20 minutes at 11.15 am.
The next session began with a presentation on Educational Projects for Deprived Children by Vatsal Chaya, an NGO working dedicatedly for the betterment of society. On the one hand, Tech Mahindra enlightened the attendants with its presentation on Enhancing Teachers’ skills as CSR Project while Maruti Suzuki spoke about Up-gradation of schools as CSR Programme. After the lunch, it was time for the 3rd session which saw Amway Foundation, HPCL, Intel, ONGC and GAIL having their presentation at the symposium-cum-award function.

And the highlight of the dayfinally arrived. In the closing session, the Award Function began with distribution of the awards by the esteemed jury panel. Justice (Retd.) M.S.A. Siddiqui, Chairman, National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, Govt. of India, Mr. Shakti Sinha, a prominent orator at IAS Training Centre, Policy Research Group, and other institution (former 3 times private secretary to former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee), and Mr Harish Chandra, COO, CSR Times handed over the awards to the winners.

While GAIL & ONGC clinched a joint Gold in the category Corporate and Corporate Foundations, some proud recipient of the award in Silver category were Intel Technology India Pvt. Ltd (for Innovation in Education), Oil India Limited (for Free Residential Coaching for Engineering), HPCL (for Nanhi Kali - Girl Child Education), RCF (for Mid day Meal Scheme), Canara Bank (for Computer Training & Employment), Amway India Enterprises Pvt. Ltd (for National Project for the Visually Challenged), Tech Mahindra Foundation (for Teachers motivation and reward (for ShikshakSamman Award), DLF Foundation (for Remedial Classes) & Vedanta Foundation (for Computer Training and Employment)  Amongst the NGOs, Centre for Social Responsibility and Leadership (for Education related services to underprivileged students) &Shirdi Sai Baba Temple Society, also popularly known as Sai Dham (for Feed and Educate Needy Children) won the silver awards.
On the other hand, the winners in bronze category were Indian Oil Corporation (for Scholarship to poor and meritorious students), National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (for Building of institution and infrastructure creation), Raw Materials Division, a unit of Steel Authority of India Limited (for Support to students of disturbed areas) & Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (for Support for higher education of girls) (jointly), ACC Ltd. Gagal Cement Works (for Remedial classes for school students), Lanco Foundation (for Merit Scholarship Programme), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (for Infrastructure Creation), Essar Group Foundation (Technical education to empower youth), Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (for Parents Participation in Children Education) and SRF Foundation (for Mewat Rural Educational Programme). Apart from this, the NGOs which were the proud recipients of the award in the bronze category were Vatsal Chaya Trust (for Education & Care of slum, orphans and abused children) and Serve Samman (for Computer education for underprivileged children).  

A few applicants who just fell short to make it to the winners list, yet to recognize their exemplary work, CSR Times honoured them with Certificates of Appreciation. And these commendable organisations were Coca-Cola, Aroh Foundation, ACC Ltd., Tikaria Cement Works and NTPC. Another Special Award was given to Zee Media for its initiative My Earth My Duty.
After felicitating the winners, it was time to bring to the forum a fresh vertical from the house of CSR Times. With theformation of the new government (where people have bright hopes from it and the CSR sector evolving rapidly), CSR Times forayed into another digital space - csrtree.com. Mr Rohit Kumar, Vice President, Marketing, Zee Media Corporation Limited launched the website with the other jury members available. The basic thought behind instituting the website was to contribute towards the social space through media, to take to the world corporate, individuals,and PSUs’ work in the social sector. The tree in csrtree.com derives its name from the spirit of ever growing and expanding like a mighty tree.
The event was a great success with representatives from almost all the major PSUs, Corporates and NGOs attending it. The event was ultra-enriching with the exchange of ideas and discussion amongst representatives from various sectors of functioning. Towards the end of the award function, Justice M.S.A. Siddiqui enlightened the forum with his insightful thoughts on education and insired the audience to continuing their efforts in the field. He said, “We all must put an ever greater effort to better the condition of education in India. There are various ways and means through which we all, as citizens of India, can bring a transformation in the status of education in the country.”Mr Shakti Sinha too shared is views on the award function and its importance. The curtains of the gala event were brought down with a vote of thanks by Dr. Siddhartha Das Gupta, Consulting Editor, CSR Times.