IIT Kanpur institutes relief fund for troubled students seeking monetary help

As a rescue initiative for students dealing with medical emergencies in their families, a crowdfunding program was initiated at IIT Kanpur. Attaining success within a short span of time, the scheme has raked up over Rs one crore with the help of around 650 donors. Apart from providing immediate aid to the students in dire circumstances, the fund will also cater to those pupils who are encountering food and medication related problems due to the ongoing lockdown.

With an objective of raising over 5 crore rupees!

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The idea was propounded after certain students from the institution reached the college authorities with monetary requests. Most of these were battling with medical emergencies on the family front. As per IIT-K director Prof Abhay Karandikar, the scheme was initiated on May 1 and an online platform for registering requests was commissioned on May 5. All troubled students can seek the required help by apprising the officials through the portal.

"We had been receiving requests for help from students and so we decided to set up a relief fund. Our target is to raise Rs five crores," said the director. He further informed that the college has a strength of about 8,300 students and if an urgent financial need of ₹1 lakh arises for 500 of these, then a total of 5 crore rupees would be required. While 1 crore has been raised, the goal is to expand the fund to an amount of ₹5 crores.

A special committee set up to review requests

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Detailing the tally of donations, IIT K Director stated that he is overjoyed by the contribution of the institute's alumni and other altruistic donors. Further, a special committee of Dean Students' Affairs, Deam of Resources and Alumni, student president and two other representatives from the alumni group has been formed. This group is deputed with the responsibility of assessing requests and deciding the recipients of financial aid.

The committee will hold online meetings to deliberate upon the requests. After the applicants are chosen, they will be acquainted with the donation and the amount will be relayed thereafter. Expressing concern over the current scenario, the IIT K director stated that the distressing times of the pandemic have brought urgent needs of large sums of money for some individuals. Given the severity of the situation, financial help of any kind will lead to umpteen benefits.

-With inputs from IANS