Kerala Chief Secretary Distributes HLL Pratheeksha Scholarships

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Chief Secretary of Kerala, S.M Vijayanand today distributed HLL Lifecare Limited (HLL)’s Pratheeksha Scholarships to 28 students from Thiruvananthapuram for the 2016-2017 academic year.
The scholarship is part of Pratheeksha Charitable Society, HLL’s CSR initiative for students belonging to the BPL category who are pursuing MBBS, Engineering, B Pharm, diploma and nursing courses.
Emphasizing the importance of education, Vijayanand said that the scholarship was a positive step to mould the next generation. “Always keep in mind that only education can take you forward in life and reach greater heights. Students should not get affected by any distractions at college and should dedicate themselves to studies,” said Shri Vijayanand in his address to award recipients.
He applauded HLL’s leadership management and its support to and collaboration with state government for making improvements in various fields in society, especially in the health sector.
“This year, we received 201 scholarship applications from the capital city, from which we selected the 28 students,” said HLL Director (Marketing) Dr Babu Thomas.
Registered in March 2014, Pratheeksha Charitable Society offers financial assistance to students from Thiruvananthapuram and Belgaum districts.
This year, 275 applications were received from Belgaum, out of which 19 students were selected.
There has been also been a steady increase in the number of beneficiaries for the scholarships. In Thiruvananthapuram, it went from seven students in 2014-2015 to 17 in 2015-2016 and to 28 now; Belgaum saw an increase from four, to ten and then 19 in the corresponding academic periods.
An annual grant of Rs 30,000 each will be given to five selected MBBS students, Rs 20,000 will be offered to students pursuing Engineering and B Pharm, and students taking diploma and nursing courses will get Rs 10,000 each. Students pursuing ITI will receive Rs 5,000 annually, until they complete the course successfully.
“We have plans to expand our Pratheeksha scholarship to other loca
tions whre HLL’s units are situated,” said HLL HR Senior Vice President and Company Secretary P Sreekumar.
HLL Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President (Finance) R Ganesan, Mahilamandiram Secretary, Sreekumary; Associate Vice President (HR), Saraswathi Devi also attended the function.