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SharePorayar (TN): Inspired by former President APJ Abdul Kalam's appeal, a group of over 200 techies are rendering academic as well as financial aid to rural poor students in Tamil Nadu, helping scores to pursue engineering, medical and polytechnic courses.
It all started a decade back at Anna University, Chennai when a group of final year engineering students joined hands under the banner 'Helping Minds' to teach technical subjects for first year students from rural areas, who found it difficult to cope with the rigours of the curriculum.
During the process, they found that some students were unable to pay their college fees and started helping them financially. Slowly, their helping hands touched the lives of many students within the University campus and in 2001, they registered 'Helping Minds' as a public charitable trust.
Their colleagues in various software firms then joined the Chennai-based trust. Every month, each member started contributing a minimum of Rs100 and proceeds donated to deserving poor students. V Balasubramanian, a member of Helping Hands, said they were inspired by Kalam's appeal to help poor rural students.
The trust extends financial help to students identified and validated by the members. Those having consistently very good academic record and hailing from poor families are given priority, Sankaranarayanan, founder-trustee of Helping Minds who works with Infosys, Chennai, said. "The parents' annual income should not exceed Rs36,000.
Our aim is to help only those students who do not have any other means to meet the expenses," Sankaranarayanan said. Their assistance has helped scores of students pursue Engineering, Medicine, Polytechnic, Paramedical and other job-oriented courses. The beneficiaries have now settled in top jobs, members said.
The trust also successfully conducts evening tuition classes for Scheduled Tribe students belonging to the Kattunayakkan community at Porayar in Nagapattinam district. During the past three years alone, the trust has donated around Rs5.5 lakh for over 40 students, besides developing infrastructure in 10 Government schools.
"We take utmost care in ensuring that the financial aid reaches the colleges concerned directly in the form of DDs to avoid any possible misuse during the intervening stages. Every single Rupee contributed by members is properly accounted. We send periodic updates to the members," Muppitathi, founder of Helping Minds, who works with Geometric Limited, Chennai,said.
Members were making their contributions purely on voluntary basis, he said. The trustees said students who wish to apply for scholarships could obtain details from its website.
