Empowering girls to fend for themselves and become financially independent: Priyadarshini Nigam, Director and Manager – CSR, Newgen

In an interview with Rusen Kumar, Editor-in-Chief, India CSR; Priyadarshini Nigam, Director and Head of CSR explained that, under his leadership, Newgen launched the “Sadbhavna” initiative in 2006, to support the education of less privileged children and equip them with basic life skills. Newgen’s area of ​​CSR focus has been digital education and holistic development. Since the start of our flagship program, NDDP, in 2015, the goal has been to promote digital education to students in public schools.

Newgen is one of the companies carrying out CSR activities in India. What are your priority areas of work?

Newgen’s CSR is focused on the holistic development of less privileged children by ensuring continuity of education and improving digital skills to bring them on par with their peers. Other activities, such as career counseling, personality development and soft skills, have also been incorporated into the program.

Newgen’s CSR activities extend to remedial education, personality development, mental health counseling, public speaking and overall development. Newgen’s flagship CSR program is Newgen Digital Discovery Paathshala (NDDP) which focuses on promoting quality education through equitable digital learning among 3,000 public school students. The program uses web technology and an audiovisual mode to turn classroom lessons into fun learning sessions.

To ensure the success of the online sessions, Newgen provided smartphones and tablets with SIM cards to all students. The structure of the program mainly focuses on creating a digital awareness and research-oriented attitude, encouraging completion of studies and aiming for a career. In addition, Newgen has partnered with Khushii to empower more than 4,000 students in grades 1 to 5 digitally.

Newgen also believes that meeting the nutritional needs of students is a prerequisite for their development during the formative years. To do this, Newgen has partnered with the Akshaya Patra Foundation to provide healthy and nutritious midday meals to more than 8,000 children per year.

How has the implementation of CSR at Newgen been impacted due to the Covid-19 pandemic?

The implementation of CSR activities has been adapted according to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Previously, classroom sessions were conducted using iPads and the Internet. With the onset of the pandemic, schools closed and sessions went online.

We understood that the transition would not be achievable for all students, so to ensure online connectivity, 850 digital devices (smartphones, tablets and iPads) and SIMs were provided to students. Gradually, we have observed an increased involvement in the online sessions. Student interest in studies and participation in sessions remained our main parameters for scaling progress.

Various engaging activities are also carried out to improve skills and provide exposure for students, such as quizzes, newsreaders, debates, declamations, virtual celebration of important days, such as Independence Day, New Years, etc. This greatly improved their self-confidence, public speaking skills and digital skills. Additionally, mental health and counseling sessions also helped students cope with the stress and anxiety caused by the pandemic and being in confined spaces.

For the nutrition program, midday meals took shape with the distribution of monthly rations of non-perishable food to students and their families. We call them “Happiness Kits”. This initiative aimed to ensure that students had access to nutritious and healthy food and that their studies did not suffer from the lethargy that is often due to insufficient intake of necessary nutrients. To date, Newgen has distributed over 22,500 happiness kits.

How do you continue your CSR activities while respecting the Covid-19 protocols?

Education programs – NDDP and remedial education – are implemented online on digital platforms. When dispensing devices or whenever there is a requirement for physical interaction, COVID-19 protocols including hand hygiene, mask use, temperature monitoring, and social distancing , are correctly observed. It is suggested that students visit in small numbers and for a given time to avoid overcrowding.

How has your company’s CSR focus area evolved over the past 4 to 5 years?

Newgen’s area of ​​CSR focus has been digital education and holistic development. Since the start of our flagship program, NDDP, in 2015, the goal has been to promote digital education to students in public schools.

Over the years, the program has grown by updating its implementation approach to include cutting-edge technology and resources. Additionally, to improve the curriculum, we have changed the sessions and course materials including topics such as mental health and personality development to meet the overall development of children and include engaging activities like quizzes, debates, declamations, drawing contests and news reader.

We continue to reinvent ourselves based on the changing needs of students. Many teachers and parents have pointed out that students’ interest in their studies has increased due to the audiovisual mode of teaching and access to digital devices.

Over the years, Newgen has also expanded its partnerships with organizations such as KHUSHI and the Akshaya Patra Foundation to achieve impactful results in ensuring quality education, nutrition and holistic development.

In the current scenario, Newgen has extended its digital umbrella to include NDDP alumni from grades 9 to 12. Together with NDDP alumni, we formed an alumni association and decided to work closely with them to strengthen and amplify the impact of the NDDP program. We have regularly organized online sessions to support them with their school lessons, mental health and career counseling. The sessions have been designed to focus on soft skills, personality development, and professional and personal guidance.

The approach helped the students to orient themselves towards research and to develop analytical skills.

CSR fundamentally changed after CSR was made mandatory by the Companies Act 2013. It has been seven years since then. What do you think of the CSR laws in India?

The CSR law was a constructive step in the development of the nation. It empowered companies and gave a structured framework to the idea of ​​giving back to society. By integrating CSR into the corporate framework, the whole nation can come together to improve the current social and economic situation. In recent years, companies have also realized the importance of this and have started investing more resources for the noble cause. In the emerging paradigm of CSR, companies understand their social responsibility and try to make a contribution to the communities in which they operate. We are delighted to have contributed to the growth of our beneficiaries.

What key CSR activities have you undertaken in 2019-2020?

In 2019-2020, the digital education program focused on the overall development of public school students. With Khushii, the remedial school project continued to support the basic learning needs of students up to the 5th grade. We followed a child-based pedagogy focused on the learning abilities and academic standards of individual students which helped improve their performance. When the pandemic struck, to avoid the discontinuity of studies, we switched to the online course mode. NDDP students received digital devices with SIM cards. For the students in the remedial class, Khushii distributed study materials at the students’ doorsteps to ensure the continuity of their studies.

We also contacted ex-NDDP students (grades 9 to 12) to assess the impact of digital education on their personal and school lives. We have built around 100 case studies based on their feedback. Regular sessions are organized with the students to help them in their school career and the development of their personality.

Newgen also supported the Akshaya Patra Foundation with the distribution of midday meals to the students.

With this initiative, Newgen ensured that healthy and nutritious meals were served to children. In 2019-2020, the program reached over 8,689 children in Vrindavan and the remote areas of Jhalawar and Guwahati.

With schools closed due to the pandemic, Akshaya Patra began distributing monthly rations of non-perishable food items to students and continued to meet their nutritional needs.

What would be your CSR objective for the next 2-3 years?

Newgen’s vision is to empower every girl to fend for herself and become financially independent. In this regard, Newgen will continue to support students through digital education, scholarships and providing a platform for knowledge sharing and reflection.

The objective is to continue to develop the program to improve the technical capacities of beneficiaries and make them digitally competent to keep up with the current digital revolution.

In addition, Newgen CSR looks forward to continuing to support NDDP alumni towards a stable education and career. In addition, Newgen’s CSR also strives to increase the interaction between parents of students and teachers to improve the sustainability of our efforts.