About the organization and location of work
Kshamtalaya Foundation is a not-for-profit company founded to support children in achieving their true potential. Kshamtalaya since its inception has worked in the states of Rajasthan, Karnataka, Bihar, and the Union Territory of New Delhi, in partnership with the respective governments. Our key mission is to build the local/regional leadership to transform the quality of learning, well-being, and school governance. Kshamtalaya’s vision is to demonstrate how schools in rural India can be used as hubs for community-led sustainable development. It is also a demonstration that high-quality, child-centric education and development can be successful in the areas that are considered the most backward.
Partner updates
As the academic year draws to a close, it is time to reflect on the journey that our organization has taken in the past year. It has been an eventful year, marked by growth, expansion, and innovation. We started the year with a lot of hope and enthusiasm, with a clear vision to expand our reach and impact, and to provide relevant, meaningful, and compassionate education to every child.
One of the highlights of the year was the expansion of our operations to two new locations, Pindwara and Bihar. This was a major milestone for us, as it allowed us to bring our transformative programs to new communities and to work towards our goal of creating centers of excellence in education across the country. We also focused on building institutional support in all three states – Rajasthan, Bihar, and Delhi – by working on content and curriculum development, teacher training, and assessment support.
Recruitment, onboarding, and building alignment with new team members were major focus areas for us in the first quarter of the year. We learned from our experiences in Kotda and worked to build a synergy with the district administration, moving towards a more systematic approach. We also spent time building relationships with teachers and communities, conducting surveys, and realigning our goals for the year.
One of the most significant developments of the year was the implementation of our programs in a full-fledged manner. We held Learning Festivals in Delhi after the pandemic, and in Kotda, we welcomed new teachers who joined government schools, creating space for us to onboard new teachers and work towards transforming their 40 schools into centers of excellence. We also took our CELL (Cluster Excellence Learning Labs)_ program (Idiscover Fellowship) to Bihar, and initiated our first-ever cohort of Wellbeing-preneurs, who are currently supporting almost 2,000 teachers of Rajasthan with a 21-day mental and emotional well-being program named, Hausla.
The second quarter of the year saw the arrival of a new cohort of wellbeing-preneurs, with great energy and enthusiasm. It was heartening to see a group of well-being practitioners coming together to make well-being accessible to every educator. As the mid-year mark approached, we paused to reflect on our achievements and growth areas as an organization and to innovate and plan for the next phase of our journey.
As the year progressed, we organized boot camps for kshamta sathis, career awareness camps by the Diganth team, mid-year boot camps for fellows, and learning festivals for children. These events provided our team with opportunities to rejuvenate, learn, and grow, and to bring back refreshed energies to lead their goals ahead.
We collaborated with RSCERT in designing online teachers’ training to make it more engaging and interactive and also contributed to designing an Induction training module for new teachers. In this way, we got an opportunity to spread the learning across Rajasthan.
The year has been marked by a sense of connection, commitment, and hope. We have grown as an organization, expanded our reach, and made significant progress toward our goal of creating centers of excellence in education across the country. We have worked tirelessly to provide relevant, meaningful, and compassionate education to every child, and to support teachers and communities in their journey toward growth and transformation.
As we look back on the year, we are grateful for the support of our team members, partners, and stakeholders. We are proud of the progress we have made and the impact we have created, and we are excited to continue on our journey toward creating a brighter, more equitable future for all. We know that the road ahead will be challenging, but we are confident that with the support of our community, we will continue to make a difference in the lives of children and communities across the country.
Challenges and Learning
Once the school reopened to its full potential in a new academic year, the departmental priorities for Initiating Mid Day Meal, Janadhar, increasing enrollment, and conducting surveys took away a huge time of teachers into administrative work and affected their academic time with students. This could have been distributed among different teachers in a school but in the geographies where we work, there is a lack of teachers so most of the work falls upon one or two teachers in primary schools.
Apart from the administrative responsibilities, consistent training had been planned by the department to lead innovations such as Rajasthan Ke Shiksha Me Badhte Kadam (RKSMBK), Gramin Olympics, Palanhar Yojna, and sessions based on Teacher need analysis through in-person and online mediums. It affected teachers’ motivation to attend workshops and impacted their attendance in teacher workshops
Fellows worked closely with teachers to distribute the work and supported them in taking the RKSMBK bridge course by working on the concept of FLN with children. They also supported teachers in mobilizing the community, conducting surveys, and organizing PTMs in school.
We further learned that teacher support programs and workshops need to be done in a decentralized manner working in synergy with the block’s calendar of cluster workshops to ensure more attendance.
Most of our fellows come from the same communities and education system where there were very limited opportunities for them to cultivate leadership skills. Not having enough knowledge and theoretical understanding affects their confidence to work with teachers directly in supporting their pedagogy and becomes a barrier for some fellows to overcome that hierarchy. Consistent capacity building of fellows in supporting their domain-related knowledge and skills. Also, tweaking our teacher support program by adding time for relationship building, shadowing and observing teachers, and sharing the relationship with them.
During this financial year, we also discovered that SMC members’ Literacy level and functional understanding of school-related responsibilities is very marginal because of the limited opportunities to cultivate that awareness which further affects their motivation to participate in the meetings and add their input. To strengthen their confidence and understanding of the functioning of the school, we would need to increase the intensity of inputs related to building relationships, working on their comprehension, orienting them gradually with the school’s processes, bringing them to school and then gradually moving to the responsibility of SMC and development of SDP.
Future plan of action
Keeping our three-pronged approaches to strengthen the education ecosystem of a child, we have been able to draft a 3 years Operational Plan.
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.
