Purposive philanthropist

For socio-economically disadvantaged higher secondary school students in Tamil Nadu‚s rural Erode district (pop. 2.5 million) pursuing tertiary education was a distant dream until Ram Duraiswamy, a US-based NRI (non-resident Indian), decided to lend a hand. In December 2003, he promoted the Toplight Educational and Social Trust in Chennai to identify academically bright but economically challenged class XII students and fully fund their college education. Since then the trust has funded 102 students from the district who are currently enrolled in colleges across Tamil Nadu. “As a first-generation degree holder from an agrarian family, I am well aware of the benefits of higher education. Providing capable but economically disadvantaged students opportunities to pursue higher education is my way of giving back to society,” says Duraiswamy, an engineering alumnus of Madras University, with a Masters from the University of Texas. After postgraduation Duraiswamy signed up with software major Oracle for two years before co-promoting Kintana, an IT governance software firm with two friends in 1995. In 2003 after a successful run, Kintana was acquired by Mercury Interactive with whom Duraiswamy served as vice-president before he decided to call it quits. Currently he is a San Francisco-based software consultant. To manage the Toplight trust, Duraiswamy roped in his uncle K.S. Palanisamy, former director of research at the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai, as managing trustee. With the help of volunteers in Erode and Chennai, the trust identifies meritorious but needy students. “We have established a good rapport with state education officials in Erode district who connect us with school headmasters to identify bright students. The trust gives preference to orphans, children of single parents and widows, and those with many siblings. Thereafter we visit their homes to assess their socio-economic condition and persuade parents to allow them to continue their studies. Currently our scholarships are restricted to students who have chosen maths or biology as their main subjects in higher secondary, as they have better scope for employment,” says Palanisamy. The motivation and support offered by the trust has reaped rich dividends. The 102 students funded by Toplight are proving their potential in reputed government engineering colleges, teacher training institutes, medical, nursing and agriculture colleges, while some have secured employment in software and other firms. For the future, Duraiswamy is keen on expanding the catchment area (number of schools and students) of the trust. “We want to fund 1,000 scholars by the year 2012 and also provide job security to students. Our motto is ‚Ëœinspiration, motivation and realisation‚ and we can proudly say that we have not only inspired students to study hard and avail of college education, but also philanthropists who want to set up similar trusts to serve the cause of education,” says Duraiswamy.Right on, brother!Hemalatha Raghupathi (Chennai)Children‚s champion”On Children‚s Day (November 14) every year, it‚s a customary ritual for the Central and state governments to hoodwink the public into believing that the welfare of children is top priority with them. But in reality, it‚s a blindspot…