Financial scholarships to meritorious science students from disadvantaged backgrounds, especially girls from rural Maharashtra, are a priority with the CSR activities of Pune-based custard major and jelly major WeiKFiELD, as is the standard with many other corporate entities. It however goes a step further: it has the unique distinction of this initiative of the Foundation is the pairing of its scholarship grants with a comprehensive mentoring programme. Besides supporting its wards through three years in their Bachelors and two more years in their Masters programmes – and even the post-graduate or doctoral studies of those who show exceptional talent and interest – the Malhotra WeiKFiELD Foundation provides each scholar with a volunteer mentor who guides and coaches him or her on the challenges they face with their studies, attendance, family and personal issues to ensure their overall holistic development. “This is our way of encouraging youth, from rural areas, especially girls to become empowered and contribute positively to society,” says Mukesh Malhotra, managing director of WeiKFiELD Products Corporation LLP. The Foundation, set up by the Malhotra family for various CSR activities focussed on education and healthcare, also organises monthly workshops conducted by experts in different fields, for the students’ development in other areas like soft skills and time management. Other than graduate and post-graduate science scholarships, WeiKFiELD also endows other scholarships: for management and law students at Symbiosis in Pune, nanotechnology students in Bengaluru, as well as scholars at the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) in Mysuru and the Muktangan Exploratory Science Centre in Pune. It also gives scholarships to 500 school children in the CES Chaitanya English Medium School and Junior College, Pune.
The Foundation, Malhotra says, is proud to have “a dedicated inner circle of advisors, all truly leaders of their fields”, who have pledged their assistance to govern the grant-making process. “Their support speaks volumes for the quality of the selection process and the calibre of the selected scholars, he adds.
It has a presence in training a workforce for manufacturing and agriculture, too, having contributed the major seed investment of Rs18.5 crore in cash and land to set up the Indo Swiss Center of Excellence, Pune (ISCEP), a skill development institution to impart the ‘skills of tomorrow’.
Beyond education, it has partnered with Janaseva Foundation to fund the construction of about 1,200 toilets through Rotary International in its health, hygiene and sanitation initiative, in schools and villages under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan scheme.
Being in the food industry itself, WeiKFiELD has through its Foundation set up two bakery training institutes under the Hotel Management & Catering Institute and the Camp Education Society’s Hotel Management College, both in Pune.
The Foundation is also involved in essential humanitarian services by providing food and feeding about 3,000 needy and hungry people every day through ISKCON, under the Food for Life, Combat Hunger scheme.
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