ASSAM (India C SR): For talented students in remote communities, limited access to high-quality coaching and mentoring can sometimes make it challenging to realise their academic ambitions. To help bridge this gap, Axis Bank, one of the largest private sector banks in India, under its flagship Axis DilSe® initiative, recently inaugurated its eighth and largest Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Tezpur, Assam.
The Centre was inaugurated by Lt. General Vikas Lakhera, AVSM, SM, Director General Assam Rifles, in the presence of Major General Inderjit Singh Bhinder, IGAR (E); Brigadier Nishant Chandel, DIG, 21 Sector Assam Rifles; Dr Rohit Srivastava, CEO, NIEDO; and senior representatives from the Bank.
Named the Dhurba Jyoti Dutta Centre of Excellence, it honours Rifleman Dhurba Jyoti Dutta of 33 Assam Rifles, recipient of the Shaurya Chakra, India’s third-highest peacetime gallantry award. Earlier based in Dibrugarh, the CoE is now housed at the 41 Assam Rifles Garrison in Tezpur and will mentor up to 80 students annually.
Launched in 2022, the Axis DilSe® Centres of Excellence is a broad-based CSR partnership of Axis Bank with the Assam Rifles and National Integrity and Educational Development Organisation (NIEDO), providing fully residential, high-intensity coaching and mentoring for up to one year to students aspiring to participate in national-level competitive examinations, including NEET and JEE. Under the umbrella Axis DilSe® program, there are now eight such Centres in six north-eastern States that have already supported over 1,000 students to enter into prestigious colleges and universities across India, including the IITs and AIIMS. Mentoring is a significant part of the Centres’ curriculum aimed at building confidence, discipline and leadership among students.
The programme, a successful model of public-private partnership in the education space, has demonstrated encouraging results. In the 2025-26 cohort, 264 of the 308 students from across the 8 Centres who appeared for NEET have qualified, a success rate of 86%. Five Centres recorded a passing rate of over 90%. Among the 41 students who appeared for JEE, 32 secured admissions to prestigious engineering institutions including IITs, NITs, and BIT Mesra.
Speaking at the inauguration, Lt. Gen. Vikas Lakhera, AVSM, SM, Director General, Assam Rifles, said, “The youth of Northeast India possess immense talent and aspiration. Through partnerships such as this, we can provide deserving students with access to quality guidance, mentorship and opportunities that help them realise their full potential. The Centre at Tezpur will serve as a platform for nurturing future leaders and professionals from the region.”
Dr. Rohit Srivastava, CEO, NIEDO, said, “The Tezpur Centre reflects the power of collaboration between government, industry and implementation partners. Together, we are creating opportunities for young people to realise their potential and build brighter futures. I encourage every student to make the most of this opportunity and strive for excellence.”
Vijay Mulbagal, Group Head – Wholesale Bank Coverage, Corporate Salary, Sustainability & CSR, Axis Bank, said, “At Axis Bank, we believe that opportunities should not be constrained by geography or economic circumstances. This has been the core purpose of our Axis DilSe® philosophy for almost a decade, which has supported thousands of children and youth from India’s international borders in the North-east to its remotest interiors to pursue their ambitions and build meaningful futures. We are proud to inaugurate our largest Axis DilSe® Centre of Excellence at Tezpur with the Assam Rifles that once again reaffirms our commitment to supporting education-led development in India’s North-East.”
The Axis DilSe philosophy is rooted in the shared belief that neither geography nor limited access to resources should stand in the way of students from the North-East realising their potential. Through the Centres, Axis Bank, Assam Rifles and NIEDO aim to help build the next generation of youth from the North-East that are equipped to contribute not only to the progress of their own states but also to India’s ambition of Viksit Bharat 2047.
(India CSR)
