Continuing its focus to support the right to education of marginalised children in India, P&G India closed Shiksha ’08 with the largest-ever contribution of Rs. 3.2 crores to CRY and other initiatives reaching out to over 87,000+ children in the coming year. Leading Actors Soha Ali Khan & Konkona Sen Sharma were also present to support the education of children in India at the closure ceremony held in Mumbai.
Disclosing this in a press note issued in Hyderabad today it is informed that Shiksha is P&G’s Corporate Social Responsibility Programme in partnership with CRY that empowers consumers across the country to participate and support the education of marginalised children in India via a simple purchase of any of P&G’s large packs of Tide, Ariel, Pantene, Olay, H&S, Rejoice, Vicks VapoRub, Whisper, Gillette Mach 3 Turbo, Gillette Series, Oral B, Duracell or Pampers during the months of April, May & June.
With a motto of ‘Padhega India, Badhega India’ Shiksha believes that the secret to a brighter India lies in children attaining their right to free, quality education. Irrespective of sales, every year P&G commits to a minimum of Rs. 1 cr. to its partner CRY, which will be allocated to projects focused on enabling the child’s right to education.These funds will be deployed to the established Shiksha Projects that work with the State Education Departments to re-look at existing education policies; create awareness to build more schools with better infrastructure, and more basic amenities like water, electricity, health; enroll more children into formal schools and promote retention in schools; and build all-round development of children.These funds will aid in achieving the Shiksha vision of seeing every child in a formal School!
History of the Program and Impact :
As our partner CRY shares with us, India has the world’s largest number of children out of school. Every child in India has the right to free, quality education, but still approximately one out of every two children, (close to 200 million) do not go to school. Even as the economy continues to grow at a fast pace, statistics indicate that there are many challenges like poverty that will need to be taken in stride if this growth is to be sustained. In an attempt to make a difference is when Procter & Gamble in partnership with CRY – Child Rights and You, launched Shiksha, a National Consumer Movement now running in its 4th year.
Project Shiksha is part of P&G’s global philanthropy program P&G Live, Learn and Thrive that focuses on the development of children in need across the globe, with Education of Children via Shiksha being the priority in India.
Shiksha has always received the support of many thought leaders & celebrities such as Sushmita Sen, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Dia Mirza, Celina Jaitley, Kajol, Konkona Sen, Tabu, Rahul Bose, Lara Dutta, Preity Zinta, Sharmila Tagore, Kiran Bedi, Sanjana Kapoor, Kunal Kapoor, Jatin Das, Shaan and many more. All celebrities helped to bring out the key message of Shiksha – Padhega India, Badhega India. To help ensure every child gets their right to education.
Quotes : Shantanu Khosla, Managing Director, Procter & Gamble India said, “Since inception, four years ago, Shiksha has grown from strength to strength. Today it has gone beyond a one company, one NGO initiative to a national consumer movement that enables consumers to make a difference to lives of thousands of children. This has been our most successful year till date with the biggest ever contribution of Rs. 3.2 cr made by P&G India to CRY and other initiatives reaching out to a higher number of children ever before. This is one step closer to our vision of seeing every child in school”.
Irwin Fernandes, Director – Western Region, Child Rights and You said, “The Shiksha programme has made it possible for the responsible consumer to make a difference to the rights of India’s children. Children in India have the right to quality education, to health and to protection. We believe in the Shiksha motto of ‘Padhega India, Badhega India’ because every child has a right to basic, quality education. Shiksha has enabled thousands of children and their families to overcome the root causes of rights deprivation, such as inequality, governance, gender discrimination and activate the government systems that provide basic services including health and education. The way in which Shiksha has brought together people from such diverse backgrounds, including the corporate house of P&G, the media partner Sony Entertainment, distributors, public personalities such as Soha and Konkona and consumers from across the country, is a wonderful thing to be part of. For the past four years now, project Shiksha has brought real achievements to make sure children access quality education. P&G’s choice to partner CRY is truly inspiring. This way, every Indian has the opportunity to stand up for child rights.”
Shiksha Supporter and Leading Actor Soha Ali Khan said, “I can truly say that Shiksha, or quality education, is one of the most critical factors deciding the choices that life offers to a child. However, millions of children in this country today are being deprived of this very important opportunity because quality education is only possible when every child has adequate nutrition, proper healthcare, can live in safe surroundings, is free to study, rest and play, and doesn’t have to work for a living. The government of India is today the best-equipped to provide free, quality schooling and Project Shiksha is about making this happen. I am here to support project Shiksha in its endeavour to make a difference and also to commend the efforts of everyone involved in Shiksha ’08 that have made it an astounding success.”
Shiksha Supporter and Leading Actor Konkona Sen Sharma said, “There can be no doubt that education is one of the most important inputs a child can get while growing up. There can also be no doubt that it is our responsibility as adults to ensure that we activate the government’s free and quality education including meals, infrastructure and teaching methods for children in India. I am here to endorse project Shiksha because I firmly believe that you need to involve everybody when you want to make a difference of this nature and scale”.
Jagdeep Dighe, Vice President – Client Servicing, Sony Entertainment Television said, “As one of the leading national television channels, we have the power to reach millions of families watching us with the message of growth of project SHIKSHA and its achievements. Sony Entertainment Television has been associated with this initiative since its inception in 2005 and as a responsible corporate citizen, we believe that it is our responsibility to support social issues, which are of national importance. We are extremely proud and appreciative of consumers and particularly our loyal viewers who have supported Shiksha this year and helped to make a difference in a child’s life. Therefore, we will continue with our commitment to SHIKSHA – helping children access their right to education. SHIKSHA reflects our belief and we are sure our consistent approach will make a big difference someday”.