They helped the needy in hour of need!

School dropout rate increased after pandemic; covid affected the education

http://Pragativahini.in , Belagavi –  Rushing to the help of the needy students the Aditya Milk (Vijaykant Dairy & Food Products Limited ) helped the poor students by paying their fees worth Rs. 20 lakhs which has invited all round appreciation. This is termed as one of the highest scholarship drive in the city during recent past.

The Covid-19  pandemic has cut a swathe through many families  impacting their daily lives. One of the most affected were children who lost their right to education due to financial difficulties. Belagavi district saw an unprecedented rise in the number of school and college droupouts during these difficult times.

After the second lockdown, according to Kiran Nippanikar, the dropout rate drastically increased due to parents losing their jobs and the first expense to be slashed was the child’s education. Due to immense financial stress the parents were unable to pay fees and there were young children who hadn’t even been enrolled in school.

The added impetus of temporary school closures due to Covid-19 amplified the challenges of sending the child to school/college.

When matters came to a Shivkant Sidnal (MD  Aditya Milk) took stock of the situation and supported needy families with ration kits and milk throughout the lockdown. They didn’t stop at this. When Kiran Nippanikar directed their notice to the high incidence of dropouts due to families being unable to pay  fees, the management swung into action immediately.

The Board of Directors unanimously agreed to reach as many economically unstable families in Belagavi and help pay their child’s school/college fees.

Mr. Shivkant Sidnal , MD, (Vijaykant Dairy & Food Products Limited ) Aditya Milk, said, “Why should a child be deprived of an education just because

of lack of financial means. When we can afford to fulfil our child’s educational dreams, why shouldn’t we help another reach for the stars too.”

Rajan Soni, a Director with the company told us that as much as

₹ 19,75,121/-  ( nineteen lakhs seventy five thousand one hundred & twenty one ) has been paid up as student fees as part of the company’s  CSR activity. They were ably supported by  various NGO’s like Surendra Angolkar Foundation and other groups via references and social media platforms. Through this tremendous initiative most of the schools and colleges in Belagavi district were contacted.

Ravi Hegde (Company Secretary)  Aditya Milk said, ” It was a mammoth task and  8 staff were

 deployed to reconcile the data and authenticate each and every request that was sent to us. But, at the end of the day, it was worth every moment we spent on it.”

Surendra Angolkar (Founder Education for Needy) said, “we are very thankful to Aditya Milk for taking up to pay so many Childrens fees & letting us be a part of the Noble work for the students who were in dire need or else would have dropped out of the school. This is the first ever company to do such a huge scholarship drive in our city.”

The drive started at Bhartesh Education Trust School in the presence of Rajeev Doddannavar (Vice Chairman) Bharatesh Trust, Rajan Soni, Kiran Nippanikar, Surendra Angolkar,Ravi Hegde, Jyoti Mirajkar(Principal), Yogita Patil (Prinicpal), A. A. Sanadi, Nitin Rajgolkar & staff of the school.a

It takes a village to raise a child and Aditya Milk (Vijaykant Dairy & Food Products Limited ) has helped raise so many and put smiles back on their faces.