Mangalure,maarch.13: PNB MetLife India Insurance Company Limited (PNB MetLife) and Karnataka Bank Ltd (KBL) donated a 32 seater school bus to Prajna Counselling Center in Mangaluru on Friday as s a part of the CSR program to benefit underprivileged children and their families residing in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. The bus was formally handed over jointly by Mr. P Jayarama Bhat, MD & CEO, KBL and Mr. Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO, PMLI to Prof. Hilda Rayappan, Director, Prajna Counselling Center. This initiative will help Center’s children to commute with ease. Interesting and playful images of Snoopy, the global brand ambassador of PNB Metlife, and the cheerful emblem of KBL on the bus will surely cheer the children.
Sharing the progress of the CSR program launched with Prajna Counselling Center, PNB Metlife reported enrolment of 648 children in crèches, and sensitized over 750 poor and marginalized families about early childhood care and development of younger children across 30 villages among many other initiatives within first 8 months.
Other initiatives in the area of education and development of underprivileged children include training programmes for mothers; awareness programmes on Malaria, Dengue fever, HIV/AIDs, Drug Abuse, Child Health and Education; awareness programmes for pregnant women; regular health check-up camps for children; distribution of nutritious food at the crèche centres; training for teachers and helpers to track malnutrition. Special events like Children’s Day, Christmas, New Year, Kannada Rajyothsava were also organized for community participation.
Mr. P Jayarama Bhat, MD & CEO, Karnataka Bank Ltd, said, “We are delighted with the successful implementation of the CSR program launched by our Bancassurance partner PNB MetLife. The CSR initiatives will bring in required awareness among the communities we live in and positively impact the lives of targeted group. We are happy to flag off the bus today and see the smiling faces of children associated with “Prajna Counselling Center.”
Mr. Tarun Chugh, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, PNB MetLife, said “Looking at the impact of our CSR program with support from Karnataka Bank and its benefit to the beneficiaries is quite fulfilling. Taking this forward, we continue to provide necessary support to our NGO partners for faster and impactful implementation of our program in the state of Karnataka. We will continue to identify and spread our projects in the area of education and development of underprivileged children across the country.”
Professor Hilda Rayappan, Director, Prajna Counselling Centre, expressing her gratitude for the support, said, “We sincerely appreciate PNB Metlife and Karnataka Bank for extending necessary support for our various projects. The program launched in last Aug 2014 has been quite successful. With the focus on improvement of quality of crèches in Dakshina Kannada Dist., our program impacted lives of identified 600 plus children of migrant workers, laborers and domestic help who attend these crèches. This bus will help us in ferrying children to different programmes and make it easier for them to commute.”
Prajna Counselling Center Project: This project works with Dakshina Kannada District Council for Child Welfare (DKDCCW) in the spirit of Public Private Partnership. The objective is to promote early childhood care and education for children in the age group of 0-6 years in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. This project which is a part of the existing Rajiv Gandhi Crèche Scheme works in tandem with the Government agenda towards strengthening and supporting the 30 crèche centres. The project impacts 751 children of migrant workers, laborers and domestic workers in the districts.
Among other initiatives, PNB Metlife launched Junior Badminton Championship in India wherein the 16 identified talented children from the underprivileged community will be provided with a full scholarship to a top badminton academy in their home city. Focused to nurture talent, PNB Metlife continues to work in the areas of education and children development. The zonal matches for Southern India have been concluded. PNB MetLife is also supported by MetLife Foundation in this endeavour.
