212 girls awarded with Fair & Lovely Foundation Scholarships 2010 to pursue their dreams, Saluting the spirit of women empowerment

212 girls awarded with Fair & Lovely Foundation Scholarships 2010 to pursue their dreams, Saluting the spirit of women empowerment



Mumbai, 17th December, 2010: It was an afternoon that brought smiles and tears of joy, all at the same time, to the faces of several girls, their families and the audience. In a packed ceremony at the Y B Chavan auditorium, 212 girls, from underprivileged backgrounds but with a burning drive to strike big in life, were awarded scholarships by the Fair and Lovely Foundation. If some wanted to overcome societal prejudices against educating girls, others strove to give their ailing parents a better lifestyle and a few were delighted be the first graduates in their families thanks to this scholarship. “Higher quality education is necessary to empower the Indian woman in her every day struggle in dealing with multiple deprivations on the basis of class, caste and gender,” said chief guest Narendra Jadhav, an eminent economist, educationist and member of the Planning Commission.

The Fair & Lovely Foundation Scholarship helps academically brilliant girls from the lowest economic strata of the society fulfill their dreams of higher education. These students are supported with course fees, accommodation, local travel, books and stationery costs, depending upon the need.

In its eighth year of awarding scholarships to girls, the Fair and Lovely Foundation has helped more than thousand young girls realize their dreams of a brighter future. Mr. Govind Rajan, Category Head, Skincare, Hindustan Unilever Limited said, “Women’s empowerment is linked to the India’s growth story. Look at the National Literary Mission. It was renamed to make 70 million people — 60 million of them women — functionally literate by 2012. We, at HUL, also believe that education is the key to upliftment of the girl child and women in the country. The Fair & Lovely Foundation Scholarship is a humble but vital step in support of this belief.”

With its mission of empowering women, the Fair & Lovely Foundation also felicitated women achievers from different fields. Deepika Kumari from Ranchi was honoured for winning a gold in the women's archery (individual recurve) at the Commonwealth Games; Shriya Dinakar from Ranchi for being the youngest pilot and youngest trainee astronaut while Mary Kom from Imphal was applauded for being first Indian women boxer to have won Five World Titles consecutively. Dr. Gitanjali Yadav from Delhi was recognized for winning the Innovative Young Biotechnologists Award (IYBA) of the department of biotechnology, Govt of India in 2009, and power girl, Ashwati G. Dorje, from Mumbai, who single handedly managed to change the mindset and attitude of people in the Naxal controlled region of Gadchiroli towards the Government and the Police. These women achievers not only set an example for the scholarship awardees but also serve as role models to pursue their life goals.

Says, Jyoti Sultane from Aurangabad, who is studying to be a computer science graduate: “It is only because of this scholarship that I can dream of becoming a graduate, with my father suffering from paralysis and blood pressure disorders my mother is trying to make ends meet working at a local AIDS awareness organization this scholarship will help me to complete my further studies and assist my mother.” The Fair & Lovely Foundation hopes to bring a ray of hope into lives of many more girls like Jyoti.

In India, Millions of children, particularly girls, are deprived of education and opportunities to improve their lives. Today, our country ranks at 122 out of 138 nations on the Gender Inequality Index, with only 27% of adult women having a secondary or higher level of education, compared with 50% of men. The Millennium Goals also stress on gender parity in education, stating that India will have to promote female participation at all levels to reach an equal female-male proportion by 2015.

The Fair & Lovely Foundation contributes to the area of female education in the country. Deserving candidates are selected through a screening-and-interview process. Our panel of noted professionals from various fields, which included Padma Shree Ms Lila Poonawala, Padma Bhushan Manju Sharma, educators Sneh Bhargava, member National Knowledge Commission, Mr Pabitra Sarkar, former Vice Chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University of Kolkata, Mr R Venkat Rao, Vice Chancellor of the prestigious National Law School of India University, Smita Bansal, actress, Sivasankari, Tamil writer and activist and vocalist Sudha Raghunathan among others, carefully interviewed these girls in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkatta, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Chandigarh. Their level of need and desire to excel was taken into account while selecting the list of awardees.