Having impacted the lives of over 280,000 children in 2011, P&G’s signature CSR campaign Shiksha returns once again this year, steaming forward with the rally cry ‘Lets help India get to 100% Shiksha’. Bollywood megastars Abhay Deol and Neha Dhupia joined the movement by pledging to do their bit to help India get closer to ‘100% Shiksha’. Abhay and Neha, along with P&G, urged consumers to join the movement to support 100% Shiksha by buying P&G products such as Tide, Pantene, Olay etc, thus enabling the company to channelize part of the sales proceeds towards education for underprivileged children.
P&G’s Shiksha is also urging their consumers to get involved with the cause and tell us where in India Shiksha should continue building more schools, thus moving one step closer to the vision of 100% Shiksha in India. Consumers can now simply drop a missed call on 1800 103 1233 or log on to www.rewardme.in/shiksha to pledge their support for more Shiksha schools. Based on the final pledge tally, Shiksha will build more schools across states in India who need them the most, to help them get closer to the vision of 100% Shiksha across India.
Additionally, the consumer can also lend their support to Shiksha by making an easy choice of buying a P&G product. Every time a consumer buys P&G products such as Tide, Ariel, Pampers, Whisper, Head & Shoulders, Pantene etc in the months of January, February and March, Shiksha contributes a portion of the proceeds towards children’s education. Irrespective of sales, P&G will commit a minimum of Rs 1 crore towards the donation funds to Shiksha every year.
P&G’s Shiksha aims to build more schools in 2012 to focus increasingly on providing the right education infrastructure in India because even though the literacy rate of India stands at 74.04% in 2011, we are staggering behind the global average of 84% literacy. Alarming studies like the 2011 Annual Status of Education Report compiled by Pratham, an education non-profit, also reveal that less than one in two class V students are able to read class II level texts. Even more alarming is the fact that though enrollment rates have gone up in the recent years, attendance is deteriorating, particularly in states like Bihar. In fact, all India attendance has reduced from 73.4% to 70.9%.
These shocking facts propel Shiksha in its 8th year to come back with an even stronger commitment – to achieve the vision of 100% Shiksha for India.. At the launch event, Bollywood actor Abhay Deol and firm Shiksha supporter said, “This is my first year of associating with P&G’s Shiksha, because I strongly feel that education is every child’s right. It is heartening to see that Shiksha has helped educate 280,000 lesser-privileged children by giving consumers a simple way to contribute to the cause. I now encourage all of us to join this movement and pledge to help India achieve 100% Shiksha. If you ask me, I envision an India with 100% Shiksha as a country that is free of related issues like poverty and corruption, because after all - ‘Padhega India, tabhi to Bhadega India’.
Long-time supporter of Shiksha, Neha Dhupia, also added, “I have always believed that education is the right of every individual and it is heartening to see a movement like Shiksha that not only enables education for underprivileged children but also empowers consumers to contribute to the cause by purchasing a pack of P&G products like Tide, Whisper, Pampers etc which they would do in their daily lives. I pledge my support to the vision of 100% Shiksha in India and would like to encourage more participation in order to educate more and more underprivileged Indian children.”
Present at the launch, Arvind Chari, Regional Manager, P&G India said, ‘‘Shiksha is not just an initiative, but a passion that we as an organization strongly believe in. After touching the lives of 280,000 children, we are now helping build the future of India access their basic right to education by building a vision of 100% Shiksha for India. We, at P&G envision an India where every child is educated and we urge our consumers to pledge their support too. After all, “Padhega India, tabhi toh Badhega India”.
Shiksha has been successful in impacting 280,000 children thus far, in association with leading NGOs - Round Table India (RTI), Save the Children (STC), Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) amongst others. NGO Round Table India spearheads the identification, establishment, completion and maintenance of RTI Shiksha School projects in the country as a joint partner bringing onboard expertise in building schools as well as contribution towards funds.