|
|||
![]() Archives Contribute
|
Prakash Waghmare 09/04/2019
Considering Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation’s (‘EVF’ or ‘Ekal’) profound
impact and rapid growth at the grass-root level, Honorable Indian PM Narendra
Modi in 2017 gave ‘Ekal’ a unique goal of establishing 100,000 schools by Yr.
2022. In India’s history, Yr.2022 has a very distinctive significance. It happens
to be the 75th anniversary
of India’s Independence. On this front, the most exciting new
development is that EVF is undoubtedly going to ring the ‘target-bell’ by early
2020 itself. As of this moment, Ekal already has 93,000 schools in the same
number of villages that are grooming 2.55 million children & youths each
year for life’s major challenges. The most remarkable thing about these staggering
numbers is, more than half of them are girls. Moreover, quite a few of its
alumni have gone on to become high-caliber teachers, District Officers, company
administrators and technocrats in their adult life. Although rooted in
Education, Ekal has blossomed into healthcare, integrated village development and
economic empowerment. Recently, ‘United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) confirmed that, defying global trend, India is
likely to meet 100% child enrolment and school completion target set by them,
in 2030. This heartening affirmation is nothing but a consequential endorsement
of EVF’s educational mission in rural and tribal areas of India. This year,
“Ekal Abhiyan Trust’ (an umbrella Orgz for various off-shoots of Ekal) was
bestowed with Iconic National Honor –
“Gandhi Peace Prize†– by the Govt of India, for its contribution to Education
in remote areas, with gender and social equality. ‘EVF’ is the largest literacy
movement undertaken by the Indians and NRIs in dozen countries. In last one year alone, Ekal has successfully added 20,000
schools. This meteoric rise has been partly due to high-end “Future of India†GALAs
that Ekal has started hosting in various metropolitan areas since 2017. Last
year, between October 6 -13, it hosted three Galas – Houston, Washington &
New York – and raised over $5 Million. This was in addition to $6 Million it
had already raised through its annual fund-raising concerts across USA in 55 cities.
This year, two Galas have been planned - one in Los Angeles
(LA) area and another in New York City (NYC). LA-Gala is being hosted on Saturday,
September 14 at ‘Hyatt Regency’ (200 South Pine Ave, Long Beach, CA), and
NYC-Gala is taking place on Saturday, November 9 at the majestic ‘Gotham Hall’ (1356
Broadway, NYC, NY 10018). For details of ticket purchase, sponsorship or
special-project enquiry, please check www.lagala.ekal.org
OR www.nycgala.ekal.org for
respective Galas. At LA-Gala, the keynote speaker is going to be ‘Emily Church’,
Exec Dir of ‘XPrize Foundation’ with Bollywood heart-throb ‘Vivek Oberoi’ as
the special guest. The entertainment at LA will be provided by Bollywood
Comedian ‘Omi Vaidya’ which will be capped by a fusion-music Concert by
‘Nauzad’. ‘EVF’ is a duly registered non-profit Charitable Organization 501(C) in
USA and dispenses all its assistance in rural areas irrespective of recipient’s
religion, creed, caste and region. Its overhead is hardly around 10%. Suresh Iyer, President of ‘Ekal-USA’, has confirmed that, so
far this year, Ekal has raised almost $5.5 Million. Attributing this stunning
achievement to thousands of its devout Donors and dedicated volunteers, Suresh
is confident that, with two Galas, Ekal, will once again cut through $10
Million mark by the year’s end. In 2017, Bajrang Bagra, CEO of ‘Ekal Abhiyan
Trust’ initiated a special literacy project for ‘troubled spots’ in border
region. He recently confirmed that as of now almost 6,000 Ekal schools are in
operation in Jammu-Kashmir and that has resulted in establishing peace,
tranquility, and life-normalcy in people’s lives there. The schools there are
run by the locals under Ekal’s guidance. ![]() You may also access this article through our web-site http://www.lokvani.com/ |
![]() ![]() | ||
Home | About Us | Contact Us | Copyrights Help |