Chandigarh, As many as 450 needy and meritorious students received educational aid under the aegis of Saksharta 2026 program organised by Bharat Vikas Parishad (BVP) at Tagore Theatre, Sector 18 on Tuesday. Beneficiaries from around 70 schools of Chandigarh received school bags, stationery, uniforms and shoes.
Gulab Chand Kataria, Hon’ble Governor of Punjab and Administrator, U.T. Chandigarh graced the occasion as Chief Guest and distributed educational aid. In his address, he appreciated the efforts of Bharat Vikas Parishad in strengthening the educational foundation of students and instilling values among the younger generation.
The Governor especially lauded the achievement of 57 meritorious yet economically weaker students who secured over 95% marks. He suggested that Parishad should prepare a dedicated project enabling sponsoring families to adopt these students and support their higher education expenses. He said such an initiative would help these students realise their potential, create meaningful impact in society and set an example for other NGOs working in the field of education and social welfare. He also urged the Parishad to organise quarterly interaction sessions with beneficiary students to regularly monitor and guide their progress.
Earlier, in his welcome address, MK Virmani, President, BVP, Chandigarh Prant, expressed gratitude the teachers, donors and members of Bharat Vikas Parishad in improving literacy standards in Chandigarh. Suresh Jain, National Organising Secretary, BVP, encouraged students to pursue knowledge along with character building. Ajay Dutta, Director, BVP Charitable Trust, briefed the gathering about various Sanskar and Sewa projects undertaken by the organisation.
Ashok Kumar Goyal, Director, Saksharta, informed that the project was initiated in 1987 to support needy and meritorious students so that financial constraints do not interrupt their education. He said that following the initiative of the Governor after attending SAKSHARTA 2025, students of Govt schools are now being provided NCERT textbooks by the Chandigarh Administration. Consequently, Parishad modified its support by providing competition/help books and scholarships of ₹5,000 per annum to 200 students of Classes XI and XII, subject to economic criteria and participation in personality development sessions.
In his vote of thanks, Anil Kaushal, Secretary, BVP Charitable Trust thanked dignitaries and corporate donors including Allengers Care Foundation, Satia Industries Ltd., KISCO India Pvt. Ltd. and TextingXperts along with other donors for their continued support to the project.
