The Best Tej Kohli Foundation & Corporate Philonthropy

Corporate Philanthropy Corporate philanthropy has become a popular trend with many corporations in

the world. It is seen as a way of giving back to the community in an

attempt to liberate the people from ignorance and poverty. In the past,

Philanthropy was seen as an obligation where a prosperous corporation had

to donate some of its resources to development projects through grants.

However, this misconception is slowly giving way to a new Phase of

Philanthropic activity in which big conglomerates willingly dedicate some

of their resources to charitable courses. Tej Kohli is one of the

celebrated CEO’s who found it in its heart to dedicate some of his

resources to the Underprivileged.

The Tej Kohli Foundation

The Tej Kohli foundation was founded in 2005 as a non-profit organization

which started out by catering for the needs of underprivileged children in

Costa Rica. Although nutrition was a major concern, Tej Kohli had an

emphasis on education. If all people had an equal chance to quality

educational facility, it would be easier to eradicate poverty in most

communities. Currently, the Tej Kohli Foundation maintains a special focus

on six major projects. These are:-

Provision of education to underprivileged children

Nutrition for malnourished children

Rural health care

Women Empowerment

Corneal Transplant and eye donation awareness

Vocational training for the disabled

Vocational training for the disabled

In most communities, the disabled are entirely dependent on other members of the society.

There is a misconception which leads people to believe that a disabled person is deprived of

the chance to earn their living by venturing into an activity which generates substantial profit.

However, the Tej Kohli Foundation holds a different perspective. Everyone has their fields of

strength regardless of their physical capabilities; by exposing the disabled to appropriate

training courses, they can earn their own money and therefore decrease the dependency rate

in any community.

In other views, it lowers one’s self esteem if they cannot indulge in an activity

which makes them Independent. Vocational training for the disabled will certainly

help in eradicating poverty by increasing the productivity of any community. As a

philanthropic organization, the Tej Kohli foundation has found it important to

involve the disabled in building the nation by providing short term training

courses.

Provision of Education to Underprivileged

Children

Ignorance is one of the reasons why most people find it hard to break free from

the captivity created by poverty. Irrespective of how bright a child is, their

talent goes to waste if they can’t find access to quality educational facility.

In India, a large number of children will drop out of Primary School just because

their parents cannot afford to pay their fees. Only a few will join secondary

school for the same reasons. Eventually, just a small percentage from well up

families will be lucky enough to join Institutions of Higher Learning.

So, what it is the fate of those children who are deprived of a chance to quality

education? Most of them will find their way to casual working environments which

hardly meet their daily needs. A good number will compromise on moral virtues and

get involved in criminal activities or indulge in high risk sexual activity.

Although these activities are condemned in the society, uneducated youths have no

alternative options from which they can earn a living.

Ever since it was founded, the Tej Kohli foundation has been providing

scholarships to underprivileged children in a quest to narrow the gap between the

rich and the poor. The beneficiaries are expected to improve the living standards

in their communities afterwards. It has to be noted that children reflect any

nation’s future; exposing them to education which helps them discover their

talents is a fundamental milestone in eradication of poverty.

Nutrition for the malnourished children

Statistics show that acute malnutrition accounts for 54% of the 2.1 million of

Indian children who die under the age of 5 each year. Some Philanthropic

organizations have been trying to ease this situation although they have not been

successful considering India’s immense population. The Tej Kohli foundation does

not discredit these efforts. However, it has been working hand in hand with

smaller organizations to secure the future of underprivileged children by

providing relief food.

Providing a nutritious midday meal has been an effective strategy. In rural areas,

most underprivileged children rarely have a balanced diet. It becomes difficult

for them to concentrate on education since they always need medical care or are

often hungry. The foundation hopes it will brighten the lives of these children by

providing good nutritional care.

Rural health care

Improving medical infrastructure in the rural areas is one of the projects which

have been undertaken by the Tej Kohli foundation. India has the largest population

of people in the world. Keeping this in mind, the few medical centers in rural

areas are not enough to cater for the needs of the entire population. Shortage of

medical equipment and drugs has been a problem which leads to a high death rate.

The foundation is renovating units which already exist and will continue to

provide rural health centers with essential medication. Although a permanent

solution can be found in improving the living standards in rural areas, the

situation must be taken care of. Cases of acute malnutrition, HIV/AIDS and other

serious ailments are given a higher priority. The foundation has been funding

ambulances which will cater for the needs of those people who live far from the

hospitals.

Women empowerment

The role of women in any community can never be overlooked. A campaign has been

put in place to put an end to domestic violence, gender disparity and stereotyping

which affects women negatively. In rural area, women are deprived of a chance to

quality education, good employment opportunities and leadership with the general

view that women are inferior to men.

Corneal Transplant and eye donation awareness

India accounts for the world’s greatest population of blind people which is

estimated at an astonishing 15 million. Good news is that 4.6 million of this

people can regain their sight through corneal transplants. 90% of the 15 million

are below the age of 45 while 60 % of them are children below age 12. One is bound

to wonder why the Tej Kohli Foundation took such a special focus in corneal

transplants and eye donation awareness. Most blind people are in their productive

age; however, they cannot earn a substantial profit considering their impaired

sight. The Tej Kohli Foundation dedicated some of its resources to corneal

transplant with the belief that the large population of blind people will venture

into profit generating activities and therefore ease the dependency rate in India.

Among the challenges faced by the foundation is the shortage of Corneal Transplant

surgeons and inadequate medical facility to cater for the 4.5 million blind people

who can regain their sight. If India plans to treat all its corneal blind

citizens, more than 100,000 patients should be addressed each year. A mobile

clinic was launched on the 25th of August this year and is expected to treat more

than a hundred blind people everyday. The Drishti Rath Project is one of the

strategies which were laid out to reach poor communities who live in the rural

areas. Among the services which will be provided are free eye check ups and

corneal transplants.

The Tej Kohli foundation would also want to bring it to the nation’s attention

that it cannot possibly succeed in its mission if people will not be willing to

donate their eyes. A campaign was set up in the year 2010 and has been effective

in mobilizing the masses towards eye donation. However, a great number of blind

people are still on the queue and waiting for a well wisher who is willing to

donate their corneal. Although the foundation is already in the process of

building a specialized clinic which will cater for the medical needs of corneal

blind people, The Philanthropic project is a collective responsibility and will

only be successful if different parties including citizens and the government join

hands.

Corporate Philanthropy by other organizations

The Tej Kohli foundation is not alone in the strive to bid poverty goodbye.

Google, which happens to be one of the most celebrated computer mega firms in the

world, is contributing immensely to the development of clean-energy technology.

The corporation pledged 1% of its equity and 1% of its profits to philanthropy

after its initial public offering in the year 2004. Google has supported the

completion of several projects including studies on prediction and prevention of

diseases.

Tej Kohli sees philanthropy as a voluntary act which plays an important role in

liberating the masses from calamities and poverty. At first he did not want to

disclose his philanthropic efforts fearing that people would view it as arrogance.

However, his mind changed when he saw a friend of his donate after realizing that

Tej Kohli had been doing it out of free will. He proceeds to say that people

should view philanthropy as an obligation; instead they should contribute to

charity courses as a way of maintaining the virtue of humanity.

References : http://www.philanthropyuk.org/quarterly/articles/inspired-inspire

Contact Tej Kohli Foundation:

India Address

C/O Tej Kohli Foundation

122, First Floor, Vipul Agora,

M.G Road, Gurgaon

Pin code - 122001

Phone: 0124-466-3900

For any suggestions,feedback or to volunteer email us at -

suggestions@tejkohlifoundation.com For any other information related to the foundation email us at -

info@tejkohlifoundation.com

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