|
|
SIKH HUMAN DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION Inc., USA
Non-profit Tax-exempt Organization
Registered in Maryland in 1999
A Snapshot of Mission & Accomplishments
(January, 2008) |
SHDF Mission is to provide scholarships to bright
but poor students in Punjab and neighboring states for higher professional
education in subjects like engineering, medicine, accounting, business
administration, agriculture, architecture, journalism, Gurmat Sangeet ,
Nursing, home science etc.SHDF operating methods, including selection of
students.
Why is SHDF doing this? Three major considerations:
One, the concept of seva of humanity in Sikh religion. Two, in this information
age, higher education alone can help you get decent jobs or be properly
self-employed. Three, the costs of professional education in India have
skyrocketed; it is now between Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 1,25,000 per year. This is far
above what lower income families can afford. Our scholarships help improve
access to higher education, and help overcome frustration and anger amongst
the youth and minimize their potential drift to drugs and crime.
Who Are The Beneficiary Students? The list includes orphans, wards
of widows/terminally sick parents, drivers, bicycle repairers, female tailors
operating from home, female domestic servants, Gurdwara sevadars, milkmen,
agricultural laborers, pensioners and others; most of them from families
with a gross per capita income of less than a dollar a day.
What are SHDF Accomplishments until January 2008?
Number of Scholarships Granted
| 2000-01 |
2001-02 |
2002-03 |
2003-04 |
2004-05 |
2005-06 |
2006-07 |
2007-08 Est. |
ToTal |
22 |
48 |
47 |
82 |
100 |
123 |
153 |
203 |
778 |
More than 50 percent of scholarship recipients are females; also more than
50 percent of scholarship holders are from villages.
Scholarship Costs
Average cost of annual scholarship: $ 400 per recipient
Cost of the maximum admissible scholarship: $ 500 per recipient
How does SHDF operate?
In India, it has strong partnership arrangements with Nishkam Sikh Welfare
Council, Delhi and two universities in Punjab, viz. Guru Nanak Dev University
and the Punjab Agricultural University. They handle all the work according to
Guidelines established by SHDF. Every year, the SHDF Board members also visit
India at their cost to supervise program implementation. Nishkam conducts written
moral science test at five locations and interviews them before sending its
recommendations to SHDF Headquarters, SHDF Board takes final decision on each
application.
In USA, SHDF determines the rules of the game, application formats, the
selection criteria, quality assurance procedures, and takes final decision on the
award of scholarship as well as the amount of scholarship, which is calibrated to
the specific needs of each student.
What are the results so far? 178 scholarship recipients, out of an
estimated total of 778, have completed their courses and graduated. Many of them
have already found jobs. A few of them have found jobs with large establishments,
including multinational companies like Infosys.
SHDF Operating Principles: transparency; accountability; and low
administrative costs. It has zero staff costs and zero international travel costs.
SHDF Accounts: SHDF accounts are audited every year and the audit
report is available to donors.
SHDF Annual Budget is estimated to increase from the current level
of some $100,000 to over $200,000 in the next three years. SHDF is institutionally
organized to put through this scholarship program on the ground, provided it is able
to garner adequate donor support to meet the cost of the program on a sustainable basis.
|
|