Bollywood actors Abhay Deol and Neha Dhupia were in the Capital to promote the Shiksha campaign, a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity by Procter & Gamble (P&G).
The actors came to Army Wife Welfare Association (AWWA) Asha School on January 19 to join the movement by pleading to do their bit to help India get closer to 100 per cent literacy.
The stars spent their time with the children of the AWWA Asha School and shared their vision of what India with 100 per cent literacy would be like.
Abhay and Neha urged the consumers to join the movement to support education by buying P&G products thus enabling the company to channelise part of the sales proceeding towards education of underprivileged children.
Present at the launch Arvind Chari, regional manager, P&G India said, “Shiksha is not just an initiative, but a passion that we as an organisation strongly believe in. After touching the lives of 2.8 lakh children, we are now helping build the future of India through a vision of 100 per cent education for the country.”
The campaign has aimed to build more schools this year to focus increasingly on providing the right infrastructure for education because even though the literacy rate of India stood at 74.04 per cent in 2011, it is still staggering behind the global average of 84 per cent literacy.
According to a study carried out by Pratham, an education non-profit organisation, less than one in two Std V students are able to read Std II text books. The 2011 Annual Status of Education Report compiled by the same NGO, enrolment rates have gone up in the recent years while the rate of attendance is deteriorating, particularly in Bihar. In fact all India attendance has reduced from 73.4 per cent to 70.9 per cent.
At the launch of the campaign, Abhay, who is also a Shiksha supporter said , “This is my first year of association with Shiksha as I strongly feel that education is every child’s right. It is heartening to see that Shiksha has helped educate 2.8 lakh children by giving consumers a simple way to contribute to the cause. I now encourage all of you to join this movement by pledging to help India achieve 100 per cent education. I envision an India with complete literacy that is free of issues like poverty and corruption.”
The children present at the event were delighted to meet Abhay and Neha. One of the students Supriya from AWWA Asha School said, “For the first time ever I have met a film actor personally. I love Abhay Deol. He also gifted me few comic books and I am excited to read them.” AWWA is an NGO that spearheads the identification, establishment, completion and maintenance of Shiksha School projects in the country while bringing onboard expertise in building schools as well as by contributing financially.
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