Eleven aided schools received the Leelavathi Batavia scholarship at the silver jubilee celebrations of ‘Each One Teach One’ programme of the C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation.
The scholarships were distributed on Friday by N. Kamakodi, managing director and chief executive officer of City Union Bank, Kumbakonam.
Foundation president Nanditha Krishna said her mother Shakunthala Jagannathan wanted to do something significant to commemorate the golden jubilee of Independence in 1997.
“She hit upon the idea to educate 50 girls. With her friend Sathyabhama of Lady Sivaswami School, she started the Each One Teach One programme,” she said. The programme covers 2,130 children, she said.
Mr. Kamakodi said that C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar had his roots in Kumbakonam and that was enough reason for him to be associated with the foundation. Besides, his son C.R. Pattabhiraman had represented Kumbakonam in the Lok Sabha.
The CUB’s first branch in Chennai was opened by Ramaswami Aiyar in 1960, he added.
N. Ravi, chairman, Kasturi and Sons Ltd., in his presidential address, said the foundation had been running four schools and “Each One Teach One” was the fifth limb of its education activities.
“Education helps the disadvantaged, particularly disadvantaged girls, to overcome poverty and social barriers and move ahead in life. Support for education is the best gift one can give to society. It was this noble cause that was taken up by Dr. Shakunthala Jagannathan and Dr. Nanditha Krishna has continued the scheme on the same lines and expanded its reach,” he said.
Although the Foreign Contributions Regulations Act had permitted a certain amount for administrative expenses, the C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyar Foundation did not charge any administrative expense in the “Each One Teach One programme. Its generosity and commitment assured the donors that the money directly went to the beneficiaries,” he said.
The programme gave parents the assurance that their wards would continue their studies for six years until Class 12.
Published - May 05, 2023 11:02 pm IST
