The Aviva Great Wall of Education, a book donation drive, presented by The Hindustan Times, for the underprivileged children culminated into a book distribution ceremony today.
The Aviva Great Wall of Education, a book donation drive, presented by The Hindustan Times, for the underprivileged children culminated into a book distribution ceremony today. The Honourable Minister of State for Communications and IT, Shri Sachin Pilot, along with Gaurav Rajput, associate director - marketing, Aviva India, Sudeep Mukhiya, resident editor, Hindustan Times and Arindam Kunar, vice-president, DLF Place, Saket presented 136,370 books to the representatives of Save the Children India, Khushii and Handpaper, the recycling partner.
As part of Aviva’s Street to School program, the books from the wall will be used to move thousands of underprivileged children with Save the Children and Khushii closer towards education. The event was well attended by close to 200 children from select schools across Delhi, who had participated in the donation drive.
Speaking on the occasion, Gaurav Rajput, associate director - marketing, Aviva India, said: “At Aviva, we believe that ‘Education is Insurance’ and we are truly grateful to the people of Delhi for making the Aviva Great Wall of Education a big success. We have collected more than 136,370 books here compared to 123,000 books collected last year. It is indeed a great encouragement for us to work towards building a brighter future for the underprivileged children by helping them into education. We appreciate the patronage of the people of Delhi towards this noble cause.”
In Delhi, the "Aviva Great Wall of Education" is presented by The Hindustan Times and in association with DLF Place, Saket. Landmark is the book store partner, Handpaper is the recycling partner and the students of School of Planning and Architecture (Delhi) have designed the wall. Like last year, Scholastic Publishing House has again come forward in support of the cause by donating 10,000 books towards this initiative.
Shantanu Bhanja, vice president marketing, Hindustan Times said: “It is great to see that a simple idea that we developed with Aviva last year has now become a big movement. We sincerely hope that this initiative which stems from our core purpose of bringing a meaningful change in the lives of our readers will become a calendar event in the minds of Delhiites.”
Arindam Kunar, vice president, DLF Place Saket said: “DLF Place Saket, has always been committed to extending its very best support to kids and society at large. We are delighted to partner with Aviva and Hindustan Times in this commendable initiative and also in line with us being a family mall, we look forward to wholehearted support & participation from all our shoppers!”
Leena Singh, Eminent designer of Ashima Leena Group and board member Khushii, said: “Khushii is known for its philanthropic work, in both rural and urban areas. Over the last seven years, Khushii's endeavours have impacted over 10,000 men, women and children daily, through its outreach programs and social initiatives. Aviva's initiative is motivating the fortunate to share this treasure with those who don't have access to it. We are proud to be a part of this revolution under the aegis of the World Action Forum and hope to spread knowledge across all boundaries.”
Thomas Chandy, CEO, Save the Children, said: “There is no better gift than a book and in this case, the gift also ensures that hundreds of children from the most marginalized communities will have a chance at education. This is the year when a fundamental right - the Right to Education - came into force.
"Save the Children strives to ensure that the RTE Act become a reality for all children in the age group of 6-14. It is fitting that Save the Children has partnered with Aviva to ensure that a large group of children benefit from this noble exercise.”
The four day donation drive starting 11 November – National Education Day - was activated across Delhi through drop boxes placed at schools, corporates and residential apartments. Children from 200 schools actively donated their old text books, note books towards the cause. Many individuals have also come forward and donated books for the underprivileged children. Many who did not have relevant books to donate brought books from the Landmark Book Store counter.
The "Aviva Great Wall of Education" marks another step by Aviva, towards helping underprivileged children into education. Aviva Life Insurance has partnered with CRY’ (Child Rights and You) and "Save the Children" to facilitate education (including other related factors that could prevent a child from attending school) for over 50,000 children by 2012 under the Street to School initiative.
This year, in addition to donating books, people of Delhi had an opportunity to get their pictures clicked for Aviva’s Global Brand campaign. For every picture donated to www.youarethebigpicture.com microsite, Aviva contributed Rs60 or £1 to the Street to School programme in India.
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