New Delhi, October 21, 2020: We aim to actively contribute to the social and economic development of communities by building a better and more sustainable way of life for the lesser privileged sections of our society. This is our contribution towards raising the Human Development Index of our nation.
Our primary objective is to make CSR a key business process for the sustainable development of the society and to have a more meaningful business engagement with the society at large.
Newgen Digital Discovery Paathshala (NDDP) At Government Schools
Newgen’s core CSR programme, ‘NDDP’ is a unique concept through which we impart digital education hence empowering the girl child by using digital tools such as iPads, audio-visuals, presentations, etc.
In 2018-19, the NDDP programme benefitted 3000+ students belonging to class 6th,7th, and 8th in the project locations of Harkesh Nagar, Soami Nagar, and Tekhand. The vision of this program was inspired by the learning of Sadbhavna-that every child deserves an opportunity to fulfill their dreams.
NDDP is a digital learning program. The objective of this program is to make the students digitally sound and provide them the level-playing field and make them better prepared for the future. With more emphasis on self-learning and research, the implementation methodology of NDDP has been changed as per the requirement of the beneficiaries. We transformed the summer/winter remedial camps into more productive camps, where once again, the emphasis was on the use of the iPad. We realized the students felt more confident working independently, while doing research, leading to better creativity in their content creation and improved understanding of the subject.
Newgen Collaboration with Kinship for Humanitarian Social and Holistic Intervention in India (KHUSHII)
Newgen collaborated with Khushii, an NGO working for the upliftment of children in four project locations, to make 2,600 children literate with the help of remedial classes in Pritabha Primary School, Harkesh Nagar, Tekhand (1,400 students), Sangam Vihar (940 students) and Nandambakkam, Chennai (800 students). Approximately 6,000 students are being benefited from this program.
In partnership with Khushii, we are working with MCD feeder schools to target the students from class 1st to 5th and prepare them for senior secondary schools.
Taking up this initiative will amplify the impact of NDDP as the targeted students will be associated with Newgen CSR for an extended period of eight years. Such a long association will open new doorways for these students to make the best of their potential. Newgen planning to adopt more feeder schools in Delhi and Chennai in the long run.
The Akshaya Patra Foundation
Another initiative taken by Newgen last year. The Akshaya Patra Foundation, for providing mid-day meals to school children, to work towards their holistic development. With this initiative, we are reaching remote areas of the country, and trying to ensure that healthy meals are being served to the school children. Today, we are catering to nearly 9,000 school-going children in Vrindavan, and in the remote areas of Jhalawar, Rajasthan, and Assam, thus providing them with the necessary nutrition.
The Sadbhavna Initiative
Sadbhavna was established with the core objective to ensure that children from economically weaker sections of society are well-positioned to take on the challenges of the modern-day society.
Sadbhavna is a philanthropic educational program that was commenced in 2006. This program is directed towards extending a helping hand to children with lesser means and their holistic development.
In Sadbhavana, we regularly conduct our flagship program of personality development and counselling with the help of a trained faculty. In the coming months, we plan to expand this program by including the meritorious students of the government schools where NDDP sessions are being held. Newgen has started a scholarship program that provides financial support to meritorious children to pursue higher education.
Priyadarshini Nigam, Director and Head – CSR, Newgen Software
Priyadarshini has been on Newgen Board since 1997. She heads the corporate communication function as well as CSR at Newgen Software and plays a pivotal role in driving Newgen’s CSR initiatives through programmes like Sadbhavna, Newgen Digital Discovery Paathshala (NDDP) and SOS village adoption.
Under her leadership, Newgen started the ‘Sadbhavna’ initiative in 2006, to support the education of less privileged children and equip them with basic life skills. This informal programme started by Newgen volunteers has garnered several success stories ever since. This encouraged her to start Newgen’s core CSR initiative, NDDP in 2016. NDDP is a program which is being implemented for the students of some of the Government Schools in Delhi. The main objective of this programme is to imbibe digital literacy amongst the target students and provide them with a life-long skill to survive in the fast-paced technological advancements.
Previously, she was a journalist with over 10 years of experience. She has freelanced and published with South-North News Service and Depthnews Press Foundation Asia. She holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Economics.
Corporate Comm India (CCI Newswire)
