Varitra Foundation is a section-8 company founded in 2018 and works on rural education, youth development, and women empowerment in Haryana. A Sanskrit word, “Varitra” means Umbrella. In development terms, Varitra symbolizes synergy, collaboration, and a canopy of ideas.
Over the past four years, Varitra has worked in over 20 villages in Karnal district (Haryana) on strengthening education access in rural government schools through initiatives like setting up libraries, running reading programs, infrastructural transformation, running post-school remedial classes, and enhancing student leadership.
About the problem
Lack of quality education access to rural children of India is the key social issue that we at Varitra are trying to address. We believe in the words of Marian Edelman – “Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it”. In terms of the demography of out-of-school children, India ranks fourth highest in the world. These under-privileged children grow up in an impoverished environment which affects their overall development and educational attainments.
The educational levels of the disadvantaged children paint an extremely grim picture. They usually go to schools with fewer facilities and opportunities for quality education. Then again, there is a considerable mass of disadvantaged children who are deprived of basic access to primary education despite the ‘Right to Education’ enactment. It is a matter of grave concern that in India, more than 12.6 million children under the age of 14 are reported to be working as child laborers. In some of our intervention villages, not even a single child/youth has opted for higher education/college.
Our geography
Over the past five years, Varitra’s intervention has been focused on Whole School Transformation in the Karnal District of Haryana. The majority of Varitra’s associated villages are in the ‘Yamuna Belt’ region which is geographically located along the stretch of the Yamuna riverbank bordering the states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. These interior villages are known for socio-economic backwardness. Furthermore, the lack of geographical access to major towns like Karnal, Panipat, and Kurukshetra has also contributed to the lack of education access at various levels. The villages to date have very low literacy levels or minimal higher education rates. Along with high drop-out rates from schools, these trends further percolate into other issues like early marriages, alcoholism, debt, and gender violence.
About the project
In 2018, Varitra started ‘Project SEARCH’ (Strengthening Education Access to Rural Children of Karnal) using a whole school transformation approach to transform rural government schools into quality education spaces. Enhancing school infrastructure, providing safe reading spaces through libraries, and improving learning outcomes of children through Varitra remedial centers were three key initiatives started under project SEARCH. The project focuses on providing remedial classes for Mathematics and English to 4th and 5th-grade students having low learning levels in government schools using innovative teaching-learning practices.
The above project aims to create a Learning Enhancement Centre at the school level which is run and managed by one or two Shikshan Mitra. A Shikshan Mitra or SM is a local teaching volunteer who is the primary driver of Creative Learning Centres and teaches the children as well as works on their overall development through a diverse range of learning and extra-curricular activities. The Shikshan Mitras are rural youth (age 18-35 years) belonging to local communities.
All the SMs have been identified through local channels like Panchayat, SHGs, and SMCs. A capacity-building strategy is created to provide training to the SMs to nurture teaching, self-awareness, and leadership skills amongst the cohort for quality and committed work. The SMs are also encouraged to serve as bridges between the community and school through regular interaction with schoolteachers and parents, setting role model behavior for young children and actively participating in their community affairs.
Partner updates
During this year, Varitra’s core focus remained on providing remedial learning in 6 partner schools for children from grade 4 to 5. Through these 6 LECs, Varitra engaged approximately 360 children and worked on building English and Mathematic proficiencies. Varitra also focussed on creating libraries in 6 partner schools and undertook reading sessions. Each library comprises bi-lingual books from a diverse range of publishers to encourage a healthy reading environment in schools.
Wipro Foundation is the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) entity of Wipro Limited. Going back over two decades, we focus on social initiatives in the domains of Education, Primary Healthcare, Ecology, Disaster Response, and Cities & Public Spaces.
Sachin Bansal heads finance function for Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting in India and South Asia.
He moved to Wipro Consumer Care in 2022 and prior to that was the head of finance of Wipro Infrastructure Engineering (WIN). He joined WIN in 2007 and over the last 15 years has essayed several roles including Plant Finance, India Hydraulic Business Finance, Global Operations Finance and Mergers & Acquisitions.
A qualified Chartered Accountant and a Black Belt in Six Sigma, Sachin has led several successful initiatives to streamline and strengthen the Finance function. As part of the leadership team of WIN, he played a pivotal role in driving profitable growth with improved focus on ROCE, Productivity and Cost Optimization.
Isaac George has held several positions at Wipro across Sales & Marketing, Consulting, and IT Operations for over two decades. Since 2014, he has been leading People Function and Employee Relations at Wipro Infrastructure Engineering. Isaac also heads the group’s social initiatives efforts and works towards creating an inclusive environment for Persons with Disabilities.
Samir Gadgil is the Head HR for the Chief Growth Office and all Corporate Functions at Wipro. He is also Wipro Cares’ Pune Location Head.
Previously, Samir has worked as Head – HR for Digital Operations & Platforms and managed multiple initiatives under HR and People Supply Chain Functions, including Talent Acquisition, Talent Transformation, Workforce Management, Facilities & Transport.
A seasoned professional, Samir has also served as the Global Head- Compensation, and Benefits at Wipro and worked with best-in-class Manufacturing, Consulting, Financial, and IT Service Companies in a career spanning over two decades.
Narayan P S is the Global Head of Sustainability and Social Initiatives at Wipro Ltd. He is also the Managing Trustee at Wipro Foundation, the social initiatives arm of Wipro Ltd. He has been instrumental in the creation of Wipro’s sustainability initiative and has stewarded it since its inception in early 2008. Wipro’s sustainability charter is built on the core principle that business and social purpose must reinforce each other in addressing several key challenges around ecology and the environment, education, and communities.
In addition, Narayan is Visiting Faculty at the Azim Premji University where he teaches ‘Ecology and Development’ in the MA ( Development) program. He is also a Visiting Faculty at Xavier School of Sustainability, Xavier University, Bhubaneswar. Narayan also conducts learning sessions regularly on Sustainability at IIM Bangalore and IIM Indore.
Narayan’s interests center around (i) the broad interplay between Ecology, Economics, and Humanities (ii) the role of the business sector as a change agent in sustainable development (iii) Sustainability in Education, and (iv) Sustainable and Inclusive Cities.
Prior to the current role, Narayan was the Global Head of Information Systems for Wipro’s IT business, when he was chosen as one of CIO’s global 25 Ones to Watch.
A graduate in Electrical Engineering with a post-graduation in Management, Narayan has more than twenty-seven years of cross-disciplinary experience in Business Development, Enterprise Systems, and Corporate Sustainability. He is also involved in sustainability advocacy as a member of several industry forums on sustainability. He is currently the Chairman of the CII-GBC Greenco forum for Bangalore.
Vikrant has recently joined to lead the human resources function for Wipro Enterprises which includes Wipro Infrastructure Engineering (WIN) and Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting businesses.
Vikrant comes with 25 years of diverse global leadership experience in Strategic Talent Management, Mergers & Acquisitions, Organization Design, Cultural Transformation & Change Management, D&I, and Leadership Coaching & Development across Services, Manufacturing, Retail and Technology industries. Besides Human Resources, Vikrant has also led roles across Finance & Audit.
With a career spanning L&T, GE Healthcare, Nike, Accenture, HCL, and Harman International, Vikrant has a distinguished track record and is an alumnus of the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune.
Aparna C. Iyer is Wipro’s Chief Financial Officer.
Aparna joined Wipro in 2003 and over the years has held several finance roles, including Internal Audit, Business Finance, Finance Planning and Analysis, Corporate Treasury, and Investor Relations (IR).
Most recently, Aparna was Senior Vice President and CFO of Wipro FullStride Cloud, leading finance operations for one Wipro’s fastest growing global business lines.
Prior to taking over as CFO of Wipro FullStride Cloud, Aparna was the Corporate Treasurer and Head of Investor Relations for Wipro Limited. As a part of that role, she was responsible for building and executing forex risk management framework, investment of surplus cash, working capital management, customer credit risk evaluation, driving capital allocation decisions, managing balance sheet exposure as well as investor and analyst relationships.
As the Head of Treasury & IR, Aparna devised Wipro’s forex strategy, aiding the operating margin performance of the company, and driving improved predictability.
Aparna is a Chartered Accountant (CA) and was a gold medalist of the CA 2002 batch.
Saurabh Govil is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Wipro, and a member of the Management Team. He leads all Wipro’s HR functions, including talent acquisition, talent engagement, and learning and development programs.
Saurabh has been a HR practitioner for over two decades, and has worked with organizations like ITC and GE. Since joining Wipro in May, 2009, he has been instrumental in transforming the organization. His work with people, processes, and organizational structure over the last three years has contributed significantly to Wipro’s growth, improving operations and introducing many new initiatives.
Saurabh is an alumnus of XLRI, Jamshedpur where he completed his master’s in human resources. He is on the advisory board of SHRM India. Saurabh has been a regular speaker at NASSCOM’s HR summit. He also contributes to NHRDN’s journal as an author.
Anurag Behar is the Chief Sustainability Officer of Wipro Limited & Vice-Chancellor, Azim Premji University.
Anurag is a member of the Committee that has developed India’s National Education Policy (2019), the first comprehensive education policy for the country, since 1986. He has been deeply engaged with efforts to improve education in India, for the past seventeen years.
He has been a vocal advocate for the critical importance of public systems, in particular the public education system. His many years in business have given him an insider’s view of both the possibilities and limits of markets. For the past few years, he has also been engaged with environmental and ecological issues. He writes widely, including a fortnightly column for the national newspapers Mint & Hindustan, and other publications.
Anurag has earlier played leadership roles in business. As the CEO of Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, he led the business from being No. 20 in the world to being the No. 1 in 5 years. He has also been responsible for many corporate functions for Wipro including Brand, Quality, and Innovation. He continues to provide oversight to the social and ecological initiatives of the Wipro Group, as its Chief Sustainability Officer. He is a member of Wipro’s Group Executive Council.
Anurag has served on various boards including that of Wipro GE Healthcare Ltd, The University of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences, and of the TERI University. He serves on many government & sector councils, such as MHRD’s EQUIP, the National Mission on Teachers and Teacher Education, the Government of India implementation committee for the Justice Verma Commission, Karnataka Knowledge Commission, and with the CII’s National Climate Change Council.
He has an MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur, and a BE in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Trichy. Both institutions have honored him with their Distinguished Alumnus award. He was elected as a ‘Young Global Leader’, by the World Economic Forum in 2008. He enjoys long-distance running.
Narayan P S is the Global Head of Sustainability and Social Initiatives at Wipro Ltd. He is also the Managing Trustee at Wipro Foundation, the social initiatives arm of Wipro Ltd. He has been instrumental in the creation of Wipro’s sustainability initiative and has stewarded it since its inception in early 2008. Wipro’s sustainability charter is built on the core principle that business and social purpose must reinforce each other in addressing several key challenges around ecology and the environment, education, and communities.
In addition, Narayan is Visiting Faculty at the Azim Premji University where he teaches ‘Ecology and Development’ in the MA ( Development) program. He is also a Visiting Faculty at Xavier School of Sustainability, Xavier University, Bhubaneswar. Narayan also conducts learning sessions regularly on Sustainability at IIM Bangalore and IIM Indore.
Narayan’s interests center around (i) the broad interplay between Ecology, Economics, and Humanities (ii) the role of the business sector as a change agent in sustainable development (iii) Sustainability in Education, and (iv) Sustainable and Inclusive Cities.
Prior to the current role, Narayan was the Global Head of Information Systems for Wipro’s IT business, when he was chosen as one of CIO’s global 25 Ones to Watch.
A graduate in Electrical Engineering with a post-graduation in Management, Narayan has more than twenty-seven years of cross-disciplinary experience in Business Development, Enterprise Systems, and Corporate Sustainability. He is also involved in sustainability advocacy as a member of several industry forums on sustainability. He is currently the Chairman of the CII-GBC Greenco forum for Bangalore.
