Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
“Someone sits in the shade because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
What makes humans different from animals? It’s their instinct to let go of their self-interest for the greater benefit of not only their immediate family but for a larger society. Human history has a long tradition of donations. Indian mythology, Vedas, Upanishads and history revere such figures with great emphasis on their characteristics of letting go.
Be the change you wish to see! As CEO, I am biased for Dakshana. But I don’t find any other cause more appealing than Dakshana. Yours truly has decided to donate five percent of gross salary to Dakshana albeit small and insignificant step.
Sending more disadvantaged students to IIT & Government Medical Colleges:
Dakshana was established in 2007 with a focus to assist bright and talented minds from the underserved communities in rural India. Under the guidance of Mr. Mohnish Pabrai, Founder and Chairman, Dakshana has assisted more than 6000 students across India in fulfilling their dream to study at India’s premier engineering and medical colleges. Every year, more than 75% of our scholars are admitted to IITs, NITS, AIIMS and other government colleges in India.
Dakshana provides JEE and NEET coaching, food, and accommodation to 600+ students (both boys and girls) every year at the Dakshana Valley campus in Pune and about 800+ scholars across Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas spread across India at Zero Cost to Beneficiary. Building on our success, we are now looking to expand our free coaching opportunity to more students from underprivileged backgrounds by reaching out to more remote areas across the country. Our aim is to coach 2600 students from Government schools in India every year at the Dakshana Valley campus near Pune.
Why Dakshana?
Thousands of brilliant and disadvantaged students in government schools from rural India are deprived of the chance to pursue education in engineering and medicine in the premium colleges of India. This is so because they have dreams but no means to prepare for the highly competitive exams for a seat in these premium colleges. The tuition fees at standard coaching institutes range from INR 2-3 lakhs a year. Families whose annual income is not even INR 2 lakhs cannot even think of providing coaching for their children. That is where a scholarship coaching program like Dakshana becomes necessary.
Beneficiaries pay absolutely nothing to Dakshana. All costs towards coaching and registration for the JEE or NEET are paid for by Dakshana. Their accommodation and food during the two programs are also paid for by either Dakshana (in the 1-year scholarship program) or the government (in the 2-year scholarship program).
There are likely many causes around the planet that fit this vision. We’ve decided to focus on Education of the gifted and impoverished in India. And within that broad tenet, we’re further focused on giving these gifted kids the same opportunity to join an IIT or a Government Medical College that middle-class or upper-class Indians have.
Core values & principles of Dakshana:
1. Results must be measurable.
2. The area of focus must have no other meaningful natural funding source.
3. Must have very high returns on invested capital.
4. Overheads must be low.
5. Must be self-sustainable in the long run.
6. Must be limited to one or two narrowly focused causes.
Impact
Till date, Dakshana has been able to help 6000+ families overcome and break the shackles of poverty. Nearly 2000 Dakshana scholars, hailing from rural India, are now employed in promising engineering careers with MNCs across the globe. A few of them are also serving our country as doctors at government hospitals.
Dakshana’s impact is not limited to its beneficiaries. It also influences the communities and geographies that the scholars belong to. Most of our scholars are first-generation school or college goers from their families or their villages. They become beacons of inspiration for the generations that follow from their communities. At Dakshana, we take pride in developing humans with high morale and integrity for the country and compassion towards fellow citizens.
Synergising with corporate social responsibility (CSR) objectives:
As per CSR rules in India, under section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013, companies must spend a minimum 2% of their average net profits made during the last financial year if the company fulfils any of the following criteria:
1. Net worth of Rs. 500 crores or more; or
2. Turnover of Rs. 1000 crores or more; or
3. Net profit of Rs. 5 crores or more
Under CSR, companies can spend for the activities in various initiatives. Education is one of them. Dakshana has education at its core and has CSR1 registration with the ministry of corporate affairs which licenses Dakshana to carry out our CSR activities in India. Dakshana also has an FCRA license to receive foreign donations.
Dakshana receives corporate donations under CSR policies of the companies every year and we ensure every single penny received is put to the best of its use to alleviate poverty through education. These donations are used for the expenses to run the JEE/NEET residential scholarship and we are proud to say that nearly 70% of the students in the program get to the IIT or government medical college every year.
Appeal:
We are expanding at blistering speed at Pune residential campus and have grown from 70 scholars to 600 scholars in six years. Through this blog, I call upon the much-needed support of humans and corporations to support a pristine cause of transforming lives of underprivileged. To check if you or your company can explore a partnership with Dakshana on CSR objectives kindly drop us an email at nkadam@dakshana.org or call us at +91.73918.22002.
