Deadline: 08-Aug-2020
The HCL Foundation has launched the call for applications for the 2020-21 Grant program to support breakthrough award-winning projects to NGOs, that have a proven track record of evident impact, high credibility and distinct ability to deliver.
NGOs that reach out to marginalized, isolated, underserved and underdeveloped rural communities in India, and work jointly to achieve sustainable socio-economic development. A unique aspect of the HCL Grant is that the organisations are recognized not only based on the “idea”, but also for their power to transform these ideas into reality and thereby, transform Indian villages.
Objectives
HCL Grant aims to achieve sustainable rural development by supporting NGOs that are doing path-breaking work, anywhere in India. HCL Grant has following specific objectives:
- Award financial Grant to innovative, replicable, scalable, sustainable & time-bound projects, proposed by NGOs which are committed towards transformative rural development, in the categories of Environment, Health & Education.
- Identify NGOs that have made significant impact in rural transformation and publish a compendium capturing work of these NGOs, such that they become globally visible for their efforts.
Thematic Areas
Currently focused on rural development, the HCL Grant is awarded in three thematic categories, namely
- Environment:
- Conservation of environment, the indigenous flora and fauna.
- Access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and clean energy for all.
- Combating climate change and its impact.
- Protecting, restoring, and promoting sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystem and wetlands
- Conservation of natural water bodies, including river rejuvenation, oceans, natural springs, lakes and others.
- Combating desertification, deforestation, land degradation, biodiversity loss, pollution and promoting use of renewable resources. (Please note – proposals that come from agriculture domain only, without any environmental impact, will not be considered under Environment category)
- Wildlife conservation and preservation.
- Health
- Equitable & Universal access to Health for all segments of population.
- Access to clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, prevention and elimination of water borne diseases.
- Maternal, adolescent, child health, nutrition and eradication of communicable and non-communicable diseases.
- Education
- Right to Education for All by up scaling initiatives that strengthen Early Childhood Care & Development (ECCD), Elementary, Secondary, Higher Education, Adult Literacy & Inclusive Special Education
- Education that promotes learning opportunities through skill development and confidence building, including digital literacy.
- Education that leads to better livelihood opportunities and improved income & better living for young people and adults.
- Holistic education that encompasses co-scholastics such as sports, art and craft, performing & fine arts, promotion of culture, orientation on national heritage, theatre, provides opportunity for not only overall development but also sustainable livelihoods.
- Equitable, inclusive, technology enabled and relevant quality education, leading to gender equality and human resource development.
Funding Information
- HCL Grant awards the winning NGOs in each of the categories of Environment, Health and Education, a grant of 5 Crore (~US$0.71 Million) for a 5 years project.
- The HCL Grant rewards the other finalists too, who are doing great work in their own right. So the 2 other finalists in each category receive a grant of 25 lakhs (~US$0.04 Million) for a year-long project which is mutually agreed with HCL Foundation after the final Jury meet.
- Thus, the total committed fund for HCL Grant is 16.5 Crores (~US$2.36 Million), for Edition VI.
Eligibility Criteria
- The Grant is applicable for NGOs working in the field of Education, Health and Environment with experience of implementing projects in rural India.
- HCL encourages organisations from all over India to apply with innovative, replicable and sustainable models, which can make significant contribution towards rural development.
For more information, visit https://www.hclfoundation.org/hcl-grant