NFCH assistance
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, December 19 2018: National Foundation for Communal Harmony (NFCH), an autonomous body under the MHA, is working tirelessly to help more than 2202 orphans, who lost their fathers to terrorist activities and communal violence, in getting proper education in the State.

Speaking to media persons secretary Manoj Pant (retd IFS) said that the foundation was established in 1992 with an aim to preserve communal harmony and National integrity, and has been working tirelessly to achieve its goal till date.

The foundation, which is under the administrative control of the MHA, is also assisted by various NGOs and stakeholders in its quest, he added.

Speaking about' Project Assist', which is one of the most successful programmes of the foundation, Manoj Pant said that under the said programme, children who lost their fathers to terrorist activities or communal violence are provided financial assistance every year so as to help them get proper education.

Till today, a total of around 13,000 children from many States like Jammu and Kashmir, the North East States and the Union Territories, have been assisted by the foundation, he informed adding that the benefit of the programme will not continue if the beneficiary attains the age of 25.Under Project Assist, around 2202 children have been helped by the foundation for the last 20 years and today, 2 of the beneficiaries have gone on to do MBBS, 1 is pursuing MBA, 11 Engineering, 1 studying BBA, another is pursuing BA, while one more is pursuing Bachelors and 3 are pursuing BSc Nursing, he added.

Manoj Pant explained that the eligible individuals/children are selected through the District Administration concerned and the annual income of the family should be below Rs 2 lakh as well.

He said that under the programme, Rs 15,000 is provided annually till class XII standard, Rs 18,000 is provided annually for graduate and PG and Rs 21,000 is provided annually for professional courses.

Informing that Power Grid Corporation of India also contributes immensely in helping the unfortunate children of Manipur as well as Assam, Manoj said that out of the said 2202 children, 834 have already completed their education and have been able to fend for themselves in society.

Replying to a query, he said that for the financial year 2017-18, the foundation has provided Rs 1.9 crore in aid to 1368 children of Manipur and explained that the said amount was also transferred to the respective accounts of the beneficiaries through the District Administrations concerned.

Out of the said 1368 children, 24 are from Bishnupur, 101 from Chandel, 152 from Churachandpur, 49 from Imphal East, 566 from Senapati, 122 from Thoubal and 23 from Ukhrul.

Maiioj Pant continued that a team of NFCH led by him went to Imphal West district yesterday and Ukhrul district today and met the family of the children, who are beneficiaries of Project Assist, at the respective DC offices.

Stating that many helpful feedbacks were also collected from the interactions, he appealed interested research scholars to approach the foundation if they have any interest to conduct research based on communal harmony and National integration.

He further conveyed that the DCs have also been urged to establish a career counselling cell at their offices to help guide the beneficiaries and added that the foundation had also apprised the Commissioner of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalay Samiti to establish ]00 Harmony Clubs by selecting 100 schools from all over the country.

Manoj informed that an event called 'Know my India' will be organised at the international campus of the Art of Living Foundation, located at Bangalore.

44 children from various parts of the Country will take part in the event out of which 6 children (3 boys and 3 girls) are from Manipur.

The boys are from Senapati while the girls are from Imphal West, Manoj Pant added.

Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) Chief Manager Vipul Singh and NFCH programme manager Ravi Shanker were also present at the meet.

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