As India is gripped by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, pressure on its medical infrastructure has intensified. There has been an acute shortage of oxygen, beds, and other facilities in several parts of the country.

The challenges are further aggravated in rural areas which have their unique features. In the Palghar district of Maharashtra, due to tough geographic conditions, the possibility of supplying oxygen cylinders and timely refilling is difficult. Oxygen concentrators are, hence, the best solution to this problem.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, IIFL Foundation partnered with Raah Foundation to provide 40 oxygen concentrators of varying capacity (5 or 10 liters per minute) to COVID care centers in Jawhar and Mokhada regions. These regions are dominated by the native tribal community – Warli. They have witnessed the addition of 2,100 new cases every day.

Ms. Madhu Jain, Director, IIFL Foundation said, “We have been closely watching the developments around the pandemic and are committed to supporting our communities in these testing times. An important step in this direction is addressing the shortage of oxygen in our communities. This will facilitate proper and timely treatment of patients, and a reduction in the number of deaths. It is our strong belief that by staying together and supporting each other, we can abate this crisis soon.”

Going forward, IIFL Foundation will continue to undertake relief measures and support the underprivileged sections of the society in their fight against the pandemic.

IIFL Foundation is the CSR arm of diversified financial conglomerate IIFL Group, which runs one of India’s largest girl child education programs – ‘Sakhiyon Ki Baadi’ – which has already educated over 36,000 girls in rural districts of Rajasthan.

The post IIFL Foundation donates oxygen concentrators to rural community in Palghar district of Maharashtra appeared first on PuneDiary.Com.

IIFL Foundation, which runs one of India’s largest girl child education programs – Sakhiyon Ki Baadi (SKB) – across 1200 remote schools in Rajasthan, has been able to leverage the digital medium to impart seamless education to over 36,000 girls making it one of the largest such program anywhere in the world.

SKB schools are dedicated to educating out-of-school girl children of primarily underprivileged tribal communities, where girl child literacy is in the single digits and worse than many sub-Saharan countries. IIFL Foundation’s Sakhiyon Ki Baadi program brought these out-of-school girls to education fold in remote inaccessible areas mostly making them the first female members or in any case the first member to receive formal education.

The Covid-19 pandemic which started a year ago disrupted the education system of 1200 SKB schools managed by 1200 teachers or Daksha’s.  Lockdown meant field staff could not visit the centers or conduct home visits and meetings with the community members.

There was of discontinuation of education for girls who with so much difficulty got into schools in the first place. There were reports of girl-child marriage in many communities across India.

IIFL Foundation led by Ms. Madhu Jain decided to ensure that the education continues using the digital model so that 2020 doesn’t become a zero year and many dreams don’t get shattered.

Ms. Madhu Jain, Director of, IIFL Foundation said, “During the pandemic, IIFL Foundation focused on turning challenges into opportunities. We revisited our vision and stayed true to our values of integrity and discipline. Lockdown provided us the opportunity to equip 500+ Dakshas with the knowledge to use a mobile phone, engage on online platforms, upgrade their English language skills and develop an understanding of basic financial concepts. This wisdom was then passed on to the students enrolled at the SKB centers through continuous online sessions.”

Most of the Daksha’s belong to tribal hamlets and did not have access to or knowledge of technology prior to the pandemic. One by one, the team at IIFL Foundation successfully removed several obstacles such as the absence of gadgets (Android phone), poor network connectivity, and lack of technical knowledge among Daksha’s. This was achieved by working closely with the community members. For instance, a community member lent his android phone to the teacher so she could attend training, another community member educated them over usage of mobile app for attending online training, and so on. The Daksha’s were enthused to complete these training and took measures such as climbing a hill near their house to address network issues, attending sessions in groups to help each other, and so on.

To begin with, the Daksha’s were brought together over WhatsApp Groups, establishing a two-way communication channel. Thereafter, they were taught to interact and participate in online training over virtual platforms such as Zoom and Google Meet.

With the newly built digital connect, video tutorials and PDF documents were prepared to facilitate the teaching activities. These study materials were shared over WhatsApp with the teachers. Live training sessions were conducted over Zoom and Google Meet with the students.

Through this robust system of remote working, the training team was able to coordinate with the on-field team. Similarly, Block Managers, District Managers, Trainers, and Program Managers were connected remotely through several online platforms.

Working remotely allowed the team to define new objectives of the program (building awareness around the pandemic, ensuring continuity of the literacy programs) and staying connected. Thus, it was ensured that the learning never stopped at the SKBs.

The post IIFL Foundation Iruns seamless digital education for 36,000 girls amid pandemic appeared first on PuneDiary.Com.