Finalists For HCL GRANT 2017 Announced, Winner from each category to receive a grant upto Rs 5 crores

India CSR Network

NOIDA: HCL Grant has shortlisted nine NGOs (Non-governmental Organizations) as finalists of its second edition. The NGOs have been shortlisted in each of the three categories – Health, Environment and Education. HCL Grant is a first of its kind initiative from HCL Foundation that identifies NGOs doing path-breaking work in the area of rural development, through an independent, robust and democratic process. The Grant for this year is upto Rs 15 Crores equally divided into Rs 5 Crores per category.

This is the second edition of HCL Grant and has witnessed an overwhelming response from NGOs from almost all Indian states and Union Territories across the country, receiving more than 3000 entries amongst all three categories

HCL Grant has a robust and multi-level evaluation process that involves intricate screening of all applications. A total of 616 NGO applications made it to the first screening, of which 48 NGOs made to the round of Field Investigation, wherein, a team of experts went to the project locations and evaluated the work being done by these NGOs on ground.

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Basis the due diligence of reports received from field level investigation and profile evaluation, 32 NGOs were presented to thematic sub jury. As per the pre-designed process, 9 NGOs have now been identified for the final Jury evaluation.

9 Finalists NGOs for HCL Grant

Category – 1: Health
• Child in Need Institute: West Bengal
• Karuna Trust: Karnataka
• Tamil Nadu Network of Positive People: from Tamil Nadu

Category – 2: Education
• Meljol: Maharashtra
• Breakthrough: Haryana
• Urmul Setu Sansthan: Rajasthan

Category – 3: Environment
• Wildlife Trust of India: New Delhi
• Foundation for Ecological Security: Gujarat
• Development Research Communication

The best 3 NGOs will be selected by an eminent jury panel which will comprise of:

Robin  Abrams – Former President of Palm Computing, and the longest serving Board member of HCL Technologies

Dr. Isher Judge Ahluwalia – Leading Economist and Chairperson, Board of Governors, the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations
Pallavi Shroff – Eminent Legal Counsel, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co.
B.S. Baswan – Former Director, Indian Institute of Public Administration and former HRD secretary
Richard Lariviere – President, Field Museum, Chicago and Former President of the University of Oregon
Dr. John E. Kelly – Senior Vice President, Cognitive Solutions and Research, IBM Corporation
Shiv Nadar – Founder & Chairman, HCL and Shiv Nadar Foundation

Nidhi Pundhir, Director CSR and Lead – HCL Foundation, said, “The HCL Grant has scaled new heights this year with the addition of two more categories, and the response has been overwhelming. We have received over 3000 entries from all parts of the country, even from the remotest locations of India. It has been an enriching as well as a challenging experience for the sub-jury members to select these three finalists in each category from a massive pool of NGOs doing exemplary work in the development sector.”

HCL Foundation has partnered with Grant Thornton, a leading assurance, tax and advisory firm and a team of independent experts for the vigorous selection process.

HCL Grant, an initiative by HCL Foundation, the philanthropic arm of HCL Technologies is a step towards recognition of the The Fifth Estate contributing towards Nation Building. Started in 2015, it is a commitment by HCL to strengthen transformation in the areas of Education, Health and Environment, by reaching out to marginalized, isolated and underdeveloped rural communities, and achieve sustainable socio-economic development. A unique aspect of the HCL Grant is that the organizations are recognized not only based on the “idea”, but also for their power to transform ideas into implementable projects and thereby, transform Indian villages in a sustainable way.