NIRJULI, May 31: HCL Foundation – the CSR arm of HCL Technologies – on Thursday organized its 12th symposium in the series at the NERIST here for capacity-building of NGOs.
Panel discussions and open house sessions were conducted with local NGO representatives and civil society experts on themes such as ‘Strategizing CSR to achieve sustainable development goals: Global to local and challenges, and ‘Opportunities for local area development: Education, health & environment,’a release from the HCL Foundation informed.
“We hope that through the symposiums we will be able to positively contribute to capacity building of our NGOs working in remote rural locations and share ideas and solutions,” said Nidhi Pundhir, head of HCL Foundation.
The objective of these nationwide symposiums is to drive inclusive development models that are innovative, add equitable value and help NGOs gain better understanding of the sector, added Pundhir, who also is the director of the CSR.
Started in 2015, the HCL Grant is a corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment by the HCL to strengthen and empower NGOs, engage with them, as well as recognize them for their path breaking work, the release said.
Currently focused on rural development, the HCL Grant is awarded in three thematic categories – environment, health, and education.
The grant is designed to support breakthrough award winning projects to NGOs that have a proven track record of evident impact, high credibility and distinct ability to deliver.
In its 4th year now, HCL Grant has opened application for HCL Grant 2019 and the last date to submit entries is 4 June.
Through the HCL Grant, HCL Foundation will award up to Rs 5 crore per category, per NGO, against a well-defined five-year project. The HCL Grant, through Editions I, II & III has already committed Rs 35 crore towards high quality projects in the years 2015-16, 2016-17 & 2017-18.
Through this commitment, the HCL Grant supported projects selected during Edition 1, 2 3 and 4 aim to cover 9,11,736 people in 3,567 villages in 26 districts across 12 states of India of which the projects have already covered 2,07,121 beneficiaries. These projects are already operational in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Bengal, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Nagaland, the release said.
The daylong event was attended by eminent personalities, including Dr S Suresh Kumar Singh, Associate Professor, Forestry, Dr Popi Camdir Tok, Medical Officer of NERIST Health Unit, and Prof Kesang Degi.
