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State Bank of India
Source Name: State Bank of India

State Bank of India Chairman Inaugurates SBI Youth for India Programme

Sep 09, 2014   16:02 IST 
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

As a step towards bridging India’s growing urban-rural divide, the one-year SBI Youth for India Fellowship Programme provides a platform for outstanding young professionals & graduates from metro/urban centres to work on rural development projects of NGOs at 35 locations across 15 states in the country. The inauguration of the second batch of the fellowship took place on Monday, September 8th at the campus of BAIF Development Research Organisation in Pune in the presence of Ms Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, State Bank of India and Ms Lise Grande, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative.

The ‘SBI Youth for India’ Fellowship is a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative designed, funded and managed by the State Bank of India in partnership with five reputed NGOs. The partner NGOs for the programme include Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India), BAIF Development Research Foundation, Gram Vikas, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation and Seva Mandir.

The second batch of SBI Youth for India fellows were selected out of 6,500 applicants from leading corporations and premier academic institutions like the IITs, IIMs, LSE, amongst others. As these young men and women start working towards creating change at the grass roots, their passion and desire to contribute towards the cause of rural development, makes them look forward to their year-long stay in rural India with enthusiasm. During the Fellowship period, specific emphasis will be laid on helping the Fellows to understand and experience rural realities, as well as to provide them with opportunities to undertake initiatives that can tangibly enhance the welfare of rural communities.  

While mainstream careers pursued by the majority of India’s educated youth tends to leave them unaware about the real challenges that a large part of the nation faces, the fellowship envisions to become a national initiative that turns the tide. In the context of India’s growing urban-rural divide, Ms. Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, State Bank of India calls this fellowship “a very responsible endeavor” and cites this as the reason that “State Bank of India – the bank with the largest rural footprint, has thought it necessary to come forward and institute this fellowship, so as to make it easier for those who want to have this experience, to actually go ahead and fulfill their dreams”.

On the occasion, Ms Lise Grande, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative said, “It's terrific that such talented young people are committing themselves to work in rural areas. This is a wonderful opportunity provided by the State Bank of India and supported by a number of frontline NGOs.It is an excellent example of how corporate social responsibility is helping transform India”.

This year the fellowship has been offered to 100 fellows, after being scaled up from a pilot batch of 27 fellows. Majority of the past fellows continue to be involved with the development sector through their current assignments with the government, NGOs, corporate foundations or in policy, planning and research.

More details about the programme are available on the website: www.youthforindia.org


 
 
Ms Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, State Bank of India, inaugurates SBI Youth for India programme
Ms Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, State Bank of India, inaugurates SBI Youth for India programme
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