The DAV Padmabati Public School in Mania, set up in the name of the Behera brothers’ mother, was the first rural school in the area. Established in 2011, it ran on its own for five years before getting the DAV College Management Committee to take it under its wing. “We invited them, assured of help and infrastructure,” says Sripurna Sarma, who moved from Berhampur to take over as Head of School and has lived in Mania since 2006.

The RSB Health Centre in the village is an eye-opener: it is fully air-conditioned to provide comfort to those who come in from an outside temperature of as high as 46-47 degrees C in summer. Equipped with two ambulances – one of which has been converted to do duty as a school bus – the centre caters to 10 villages around it, with a population of 10,000-15,000 people who would otherwise have to travel 10km to the nearest government hospital.

The Vidyashram School in Pune caters to underprivileged children, from the families of domestic help and masons. Of the 400-plus students – including about 150 girls – all from under-privileged families, 70 receive complete help in their fees and other expenses. The students are classified for different levels of sponsorship, while there are also regular medical check-ups and counselling about sexual abuse.

In Chennai, the Vishwas Special School run under the aegis of the Pandalai Charitable Trust, has 43 special children with a range of challenges like delayed development, gross motor skills, autism and cerebral palsy. All the students need individual attention in both academic teaching and therapy for various functions as well as for potential jobs.

The group goes far beyond the 2 per cent mandated for CSR, an RSB official points out.