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An essential component of our corporate social responsibility is to care for the community. We endeavor to make a positive contribution to the underprivileged communities by supporting a wide range of socio-economic, educational and health initiatives. Many of the community projects and programs are driven by active participation from our employees. Our commitment to address important societal needs extends throughout our philanthropic outreach programs driven by the Zensar Foundation.
Established for the purpose of improving, guiding and inspiring the lives of the underprivileged, the Foundation facilitates programs and gives direct assistance and resources to individuals, families and other charitable organizations. Nurturing experiences and personal opportunities are also provided for those in the community who have little or no access to any assistance.
The Zensar Foundation has taken up several initiatives to improve living conditions of the underprivileged and make a positive difference in their lives. The Foundation has adopted Ambedkar Nagar, a small community near the Zensar Campus for sustained community development programs.
Health and education have been identified as the primary objectives in the community development process. The foundation works relentlessly to ensure improvement of general health and spread of non-formal education among all members in the community. A number of focused initiatives have been implemented to bring about general health awareness and improve the level of education.
HEALTH: Health has been identified as a primary objective in the community development process. As a part of the healthcare initiatives weekly clinics, counseling sessions, health camps are regularly held to promote general health and well-being in the community. The health perils in the community are numerous and in order to treat some minor ailments and casualties, community members have been identified and are being trained to treat minor ailments.
EDUCATION: Education too has been a primary focus area for the foundation, and a number of initiatives have been designed to promote non-formal education in the community. Akanksha, a non governmental organization that focuses on developing a strong educational foundation, deep sense of self-esteem and facilitates fun activities for underprivileged children has been identified to facilitate education and awareness. PMC schools have been given computers to promote IT education in the neighboring area of Chandan Nagar. Simultaneously, IT education programs have also been deployed to spread computer literacy within Zensar's support staff. The response to all these initiatives has been overwhelming and the foundation is now taking up more initiatives to address the requirement.
LIVELIHOOD ADVANCEMENT BUSINESS SCHOOL (LABS): a unique program to create more opportunities for less privileged youth. Pune Corporate Consortium for LABS was inaugurated on April 4, 2006. LABS, a flagship program of Dr. Reddy’s Foundation (DRF), promotes customized programs for youth and women in the age group of 18-30 years from economically weaker sections of society, and empowers them to gain access to opportunities for sustainable livelihoods and growth in the New Economy. This program is implemented in Pune with the help of organizations such as Thermax, Forbes Marshall, Confederation of Indian Industries – Young Indians (CII-YI) and Zensar Technologies in association with Pune Municipal Corporation to actively support this initiative. CII-YI is the primary coordinator of this activity that plans to train 300 young members in the coming year. This program aims to empower students who have discontinued formal education for various reasons. A total of 80 students have already enrolled for this batch which began from April 4, 2006 in Pune.
NGO PARTNERSHIPS: In addition to the community initiatives, the Zensar Foundation has been working with various NGOs on multiple social programs for Pune. It has been associated with NGOs such as NFBM Jagruti School for blind girls, Surajya Sarwangeen Sewa Sanstha, Sahitya Rangabhoomi Pratishthan, SAATHI, Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat, Maher etc for development and social benefit.
OTHER INITIATIVES: The Tsunami Relief operation at Zensar was an outstanding success story of solidarity and support. The overwhelming response to the appeal of employees donating a day’s salary went on to building a Tsunami Relief fund which is being used for a sustained three-year Tsunami Rehabilitation Program. Through the Center for Youth Development Activities (CYDA) the fund is being utilized to support the education of 120 students from Nagapattinam who were worst affected by the calamity
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