Joda: As part of its Affirmative Action Policy and efforts towards inclusive growth and development of Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST) community, Tata Steel awarded ‘Tata Steel Jyoti Fellowship’ to 279 meritorious students of Joda and Khondbond region during a mega function at Valley Club, Joda on March 7, 2020.
An amount of Rs 14.24 lakh towards Fellowship was disbursed among the students enrolled in schools and colleges across Joda, Barbil and Keonjhar.
Pratap Pritimaya (OAS), Sub-Collector, Champua (Keonjhar) graced the occasion as chief guest along with Atul Kumar Bhatnagar, General Manager (OMQ), Tata Steel and Rajesh Kumar, Chief (Joda), Tata Steel.
Appreciating the efforts of Tata Steel, Pratap Pritimaya said, “It is a great initiative by the company for the underprivileged students for their education.”
Addressing the students, Pritimaya added, “Success is with everyone. Overcoming any hurdle in life is a success. Success is a holistic term encompassing not only education but fitness, happiness, sociability, etc. It is only with dedication and hard work that success can be achieved in any field.”
Reiterating Tata Steel’s commitment towards education, Atul Bhatnagar said, “The provision of fellowship opportunities for meritorious students has been an important part of Tata Steel’s endeavor in the field of education. This helps the meritorious students from economically weaker families to accomplish their educational and career aspirations.”
While, all the students were given fellowship amount and certificates during the award ceremony, the top three performers of Class VIII of Jyoti Fellowship Test were also provided with computer tablets and the freshly inducted 133 students in the fellowship programme were given school bags.
The Fellowship, being given since the mid-70s, was branded as Jyoti Fellowship in 2004-05. Structured to help high school, intermediate, under-graduate and post-graduate students from economically backward SC/ST families, the fund committed by the company has increased over the years. A mix of school and college going students are identified based on merit test for the Fellowship.
Among others present on the occasion were senior officials of Tata Steel and Tata Steel Rural Development Society along with parents and teachers.
The event was jointly organized by Tribal Cultural Society, Jamshedpur and Tata Steel Rural Development Society, Joda.
