Polaris’ Ullas Trust spreads the “Can Do” spirit to 2087 students

Polaris’ Ullas Trust spreads the “Can Do” spirit to 2087 students

…Has reached out to over 17000 students in a span of ten years

Chennai, Saturday, September 15, 2007: Ullas Trust celebrated its 10th Annual Workshop at the Kamaraj Memorial Hall on Saturday. 2087 Ullas Achievers from Tamil Nadu participated in the “Can Do It” workshop and were felicitated by His Excellency, Shri Surjit Singh Barnala, Governor of TamilNadu.

Continuing its tradition of recognizing academic excellence in students from Corporation, Government and Government-aided schools, the Ullas Trust awarded scholarships to 2033 students across 198 schools in Chennai and 113 schools from 29 district headquarters of Tamil Nadu this year. Amongst the 2033 Ullas Achievers, 40 students are from Government Higher Secondary School from the Tsunami-affected village of Killai near Chidambaram.

The Trust also awarded ‘Ullas Young Achievers Higher Education Scholarships’ to 24 students.

Speaking at the annual workshop of the Ullas Trust, Mr. Arun Jain, Chairman and CEO, Polaris Software Lab, said, “It is a fulfilling and humbling moment for the Polaris family to see the initiatives of the Ullas Trust reaching out to 17000 students in the last ten years. The ‘Mentorship’ programs enable Polaris associates to ignite young minds and engage with the Ullas Students and nurture their dreams. Some of the students, who have been recipients of the Ullas Scholarships from their 9th standard to their higher education, have gained employment in reputed corporates and multi nationals. This truly is the ‘Power of Dreams’, which is the underlying philosophy of Ullas.”

Highlights of the annual workshop include:

1. 21 Ullas achievers topped their schools in the 10th & 12th standard public examinations.
2. 2033 scholarships were awarded to students from 9th to 12th standard, from which 262 Ullas scholarship holders are from 29 districts of Tamil Nadu.
3. 24 students were awarded Higher Education scholarship, out of which 2 students are pursuing MBBS, 1 student is pursuing MBA, 11 are pursuing BE, 6 pursuing B Sc and 4 are pursuing B Com.
4. 30 existing Higher Education Scholarships have been renewed.
5. ‘Encouraging Excellence in Education – The EEE Award’ for 2006 was won by Govt. Higher Secondary School, Velachery, Vellayan Chettiar Higher Secondary School, and Corporation High School, Kanniappa Nagar, Chennai. Their respective Principals – Ms S. Sumathi, Mr. M. Mahadevan, and Ms D. Ranjani, were awarded the Best Principal award.
6. District library membership cards have been issued to Ullas achievers, to nurture the habit of reading

Amongst the special guests present at the event to engage and motivate the students were, His Excellency, The Governor of TamilNadu, Shri Surjit Singh Barnala, Dr. Radhakrishnan, IAS, Additional Secretary to the Government, Finance Department, Dr. Vijay Shankar, Consultant, Eye Surgeon, Apollo Hospitals & Shankar Eye Care and Col. Varadan, Office-in-charge, Deparment of Standardization Cell, Ministry of Defence.

Ullas Trust has been organizing ‘Can Do It’ workshops for the last ten years to provide a forum for public recognition to the Ullas Achievers and to give them an opportunity to meet and interact with eminent personalities and role models. As an ongoing activity, Polaris employees act as mentors to Ullas Achievers, offering career counseling and coaching classes related to personality development, English communication, and basic and advanced computer training.

So far Ullas has touched the lives of over 17000 students across Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Mumbai.

About Ullas Trust:

Ullas Trust was started in 1997 with an aim to integrate the associates (employees) of Polaris with a larger community and enable them to enjoy the bliss of working with young minds. The trust recognizes and rewards academic excellence in economically challenged students through annual scholarships. Ullas Trust has been organizing an annual workshop for the past ten years, with the aim of exposing young minds to role models and achievers from the real world. Every year, the workshop culminates with the trust awarding educational scholarships to students identified through a selection process. Going beyond scholarships, the volunteers in the trust act as “Mentors” to the Ullas Achievers, by engaging them regularly on interactive sessions.