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Shaping the future of software driven business
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Highlight of the Year
One of the Foundation’s core values is to strive
to achieve excellence in everything that we do.
The steps we took towards this received formal
recognition in the year 2018-19. A third-party
impact assessment was conducted this year,
analyzing all the Foundation’s projects so far
as it completes its tenth year of CSR work. This
assessment was carried out through the agency
Chhaaya Strategic Advisors LLP.
The study covered:
Location No. of
Projects
No. of
representatives
interviewed from
associated
NGO’s/partners
and beneficiaries
in person
No. of
employees
interviewed
5
54
300
714
The study appreciated the Persistent Foundation
as the CSR arm of Persistent Systems. These
were the top three observations made:
1.
The Foundation has a
clear purpose and
visionary leadership.
It is led by visionary
trustees. Not only are these leaders
accomplished professionals, but they are also
passionate and dedicated to the cause of
nation-building.
2.
The
activities of the Foundation have had
a significant impact.
These activities are
continuous, genuine, and in line with the CSR
policy.
3.
There is
100% compliance
with the CSR
mandate under Section 135 of the Companies
Act 2013 since the Act was introduced.
The agency shared its recommendations with
us. The three most significant of these were:
• Consolidate projects. Reduce the number of
projects to three per theme, not based on
impact scores, but on the projects’ potential
for creating shared value.
• Use a combination of hardware and software
to create tangible and intangible impacts.
• Create a 5-year roadmap with an annual
budget release based on performance.
Based on the recommendations of the agency,
we are making changes to our strategy during
the planning process for the year 2019-20.
Here are the highlights:
1. Education:
defined age group for intervention
- standard 7 and above. The Foundation to
focus more on improving qualitative aspects.
2. Health:
started implementing flagship
projects in ‘project mode’, added on as
support services as part of our projects.
3. Community Development:
an integrated
approach to our Watershed Projects, increasing
the scope of our Skill Development Projects.
Education
In the thrust area of Education, Persistent
Foundation has a strong presence in all five of
its locations. The needs of students at different
stages of education from Pre-Primary to
Engineering are addressed under this thrust
area. In the year 2018-19, we were able to reach
out to 6,106 students and 38 teachers through
13 initiatives.
Corporate Social Responsibility