SFPI is also working on increasing the scale of its programmes by collaborating with corporates and other philanthropists willing to sponsor education costs for adult children.
Infosys co-founder SD Shibulal’s family office is starting a new philanthropic initiative called Sangamam to revive art and culture. Born out of Shibulal’s personal interest in classical Carnatic music, Sangamam intends to create an ecosystem for music artists and lovers.
“I believe that music has the ability to bring people together and create a common platform. Indian art and music are also cultural heritage that needs to be preserved. The initiative will conduct a bunch of events that will evangelize foundation activities as well as make it enjoyable for the audience,” Shibulal told businessline.
The Sangamam series will bring live performances to Bengaluru, sharing the classical arts with a broad audience. At present, Sangamam concerts are planned two times every year. The Shibulal Family Philanthropic Initiatives (SFPI) intends to bring on stage artists such as Sudha Ragunathan, T Krishna and Aruna Sairam for the series. The first concert will take place on November 5 at Jyoti Nivas College Auditorium, Bengaluru, featuring Ranjini-Gayatri sisters.
Focus on Education
Started in 1999, The Shibulal Family Philanthropic Initiatives (SFPI) runs various initiatives in the field of education, healthcare, social welfare, and organic farming, among others. However, the majority of their initiatives are in the education sector, including its flagship Vidyadhan scholarship programme, a residential scholarship for school students called Ankur, and Vidya Kreeda, scholarship for the higher education of talented sports players, among others.
Speaking about the family’s focus on education, Kumari Shibulal, co-founder & chairperson of SFPI, said the focus on facilitating education is inspired by the couple’s personal journey. “Both our parents were not much educated, but they understood the importance of it and provided us with education. We believe we are here now because of the education we have received,” said Kumari.
Along with the launch of Sangamam, SFPI is also working on increasing the scale of its programmes by collaborating with corporates and other philanthropists willing to sponsor education costs for adult children. Under the Vidyadhan scholarship program, which is aimed at supporting the college education of meritorious students from economically challenged families, SFPI will provide scholarships to 1600 students this year. In the next four to five years, SFPI wants to increase this to 5000 scholarships every year.
“Vidyadhan funds 80 per cent of the student’s education cost and provides mentorship for about five to six years. It has been a phenomenally successful program. We have 5000 children in the program and over 2500 children have already come out of the program and have become engineers, doctors, etc,” said Shibulal. In almost two decades of this scholarship program, some of these scholarship recipients have also come back to sponsor students in the more recent batches.
