BC Tripathi, Chairman and Managing Director, GAIL (India) felicitated 14 students belonging to the lower income strata on their selection for B Tech programme in IIT- JEE, NIT and UPTU under a pilot CSR programme taken up by GAIL.

Under the programme titled ‘Utkarsh Superb 30’, GAIL provided free residential coaching to the students by Abhay Anand, ADG of Bihar Police and the founder of Super 30.

Present on the occasion were RK Goel, Director (Finance), RD Goyal, Director (Projects), SL Raina, Director (HR) and Prabhat Singh, Director (Marketing ) along with other senior officials of GAIL and CSRL.

The first batch of 23 students from Uttar Pradesh were selected through a written test held at Kanpur, Etawah and Pata in and around GAIL major work centres, in collaboration with the Centre for Social Responsibility and Leadership (CSRL), a non Government Organization in the supervision of a panel of experts headed by Abhyanand, the founder of Utkarsh Superb 30.

The economic criteria of poverty has been taken for children whose family income is not more than Rs 75,000 per annum. The coaching programme for IIT/NIT exams was started by GAIL with Centre for Social Responsibility and Leadership (CSRL), as a pilot programme at a total cost of Rs 32 lakhs in the year 2009-10. This year the intake for this programme has increased to 60 students.

Speaking on the occasion, CMD GAIL said, “I’m quite elated with a great sense of satisfaction for these boys and girls who have made it possible to qualify to such prestigious institutions of the country with their diligent and hard work, under the superb guidance and mentoring of Abhay Anandji”.

He further said, “GAIL will also extend support to these students during their engineering course, by grant of a monthly scholarship.”
Director (HR) said that “such endeavour of the company may not accrue much in the Company’s balance sheet but the achievements of these children will certainly add up in the company’s social balance sheet.” Congratulating the selected students Raina mentioned that these students will always have a special place in GAIL’s context.

Certificate of merit and symbolic token of appreciation was given to all the successful students during the occasion.