With selfless contributions from the donors and members, the corpus of the fund currently stands at Rs 9.88 crore even as members are hopeful that the amount will touch Rs 10 crore by the end of year.

The Coorg Education Fund, a trust incorporated in 1919 in Kodagu, is extensively promoting education among the Kodava community. With over 450 members in the trust and numerous other donors, the trust has succeeded in providing scholarships to merit students and students from financially backward families.

This year, the education fund has handed over scholarships to 855 Kodava students amounting to a total of Rs 47.43 lakh. “The Coorg Education was founded in 1863 and it started providing scholarships to merit students from 1916. It was, however, formed into a legal corporation in 1919,” explained KP Uthappa, present president of the trust. While an average of 450 to 500 students receive scholarships every year, over 800 students have been benefited by the trust this year. “Priority is given to merit students and the students are required to possess 75% and above results in the academic and competitive exams. Nevertheless, students from financially backward families are also provided with scholarships based on recommendations. We are stressing the community students to opt for medical, dental and engineering courses. Apart from this, we are extensively encouraging students to take up defense and IPS courses and an increased scholarship – up to Rs 50,000 for each student is being offered to students who opt the same,” explained Uthappa.

With selfless contributions from the donors and members, the corpus of the fund currently stands at Rs 9.88 crore even as members are hopeful that the amount will touch Rs 10 crore by the end of this year. Meanwhile, a contribution of Rs 75 lakh was made to the trust this year by benefactor Raghu Madappa in the memory of his department sons.

“This year, a youngster B Rachith Aiyappa received a maximum donation of Rs 5 lakh. The youngster has opted to pursue PhD in Informatics & Data Science and this impressed the donors resulting in such a huge scholarship,” confirmed Uthappa. The trust, in its annual ceremony, encourages and motivates Kodava students to work with “dedication, concentration and efficiency,” as explained by Uthappa.

source: http://www.edexlive.com / EdEx, The New Indian Express / Home> News> Kodava Community / by EdEx Live / November 19th, 2020