Drive six-month long sanitation and hygiene campaign for more than 10,000 students
Telangana, India – 20th October 2015: As part of their annual Giving Campaign, which is celebrated every year in the month of October, Microsoft India and its employees today formally handed over sanitation facilities to 42 schools in Telangana, Haryana and Karnataka. This also marked the culmination of a six-month long awareness campaign about sanitation and hygiene for 10,746 students in these 42 schools. This campaign was run by Microsoft employees with help from Charities Aid Foundation. Thousands of Microsoft’s employees in India are participating in the company’s Giving campaign through the month of October.
Microsoft employees were at GGHS, Mustaidpura Government School, Hyderabad today to hand over the sanitation facilities to the school authorities, teachers and students, in the presence of Ravi Kumar Deputy District Education Officer, Government of Telangana and Amit Sircar, General Manager, Managing Director, Microsoft Services Global Delivery.
| Over the last five years, Microsoft’s Giving Campaign in India has:
· helped educate 4,48,187 children · enabled 27,359 youth from underprivileged communities to undergo vocational training, so they can pursue employment opportunities and chase their dreams · provided 2,410 children with disabilities with access to education · aided the provision of nutritious mid-day meals for 9,973 students |
Amit Sircar, General Manager, Managing Director, Microsoft Services Global Delivery said, “Giving is a core part of the Microsoft culture. We believe we have the ability to make a difference to our community with our technology and with our ideas. Every October, our employees come together to re-energize our community connections. We are proud to have reached a milestone in the six-month long Sanitation for Education project which was conceived to support the Government’s Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan.”
Meenakshi Batra, CEO, Charities Aid Foundation India, ‘’We are proud to partner with Microsoft India in carrying out their corporate social responsibilities. They have demonstrated what power of thinking out of the box can achieve. The Sanitation for Education project is a perfect example in which Microsoft India has shown the way for other corporate houses to follow by integrating sanitation issues with education of children, especially girl child and addresses the problem holistically, which emphasizes on the construction of toilets, not as an end to the problem but as a means to address the larger issues of education, health, hygiene, dignity and gender equality. The uniqueness of this project is that Microsoft India has committed to support the schools under this project for 2 years, which will include maintenance of sanitation infrastructure and WASH components.’’
About the Microsoft Giving Campaign
Microsoft’s ‘Giving Campaign’ is a platform that enables employees to volunteer their time and contribute money for causes that matter to them. It started in 1983 in Redmond, Washington as the ‘United Way of Giving’ and today contributes significantly in bringing about a real impact on local communities. As part of the campaign, the monetary contributions of employees is matched by Microsoft (up to a maximum amount), and donated to the nonprofit chosen by employees. Microsoft has fostered community engagement and partnerships to find sustainable solutions that make real and lasting differences in people’s lives. More information on these initiatives can be found on the Microsoft Citizenship website and the Microsoft Blog.
About Microsoft India
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) Microsoft is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Microsoft set up its India operations in 1990. Today, Microsoft entities in India have over 6,500 employees engaged in sales and marketing, research and development, and customer services and support across tenIndian cities – Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune.
