176 Girls From the Lowermost Economic Strata Dare to Dream With Sheer Guts, Gumption and Glory

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Kalpana Temgire is the daughter of a farmer, hailing from Shirur taluka in Pune district. The annual income of the family, which is dependant on agriculture is barely Rs. 80,000/. Her parents have never been able to afford her education, yet today Kalpana is in the second year M. Sc. Agriculture (Plant Pathology) and she has reached this far purely on her academic excellence that has won her many a scholarships. She is presently pursuing her 1st year B.Sc in Agriculture, while writing the MPSC exams which she is confident she will get through as she has already cleared the preliminary MPSC tests. She is presently supporting herself with a part time job, but finds it extremely difficult to bear the expenses involved for her study and also finds it difficult to manage study and work. To ease her burden, we award this determined young agriculturist the Fair and Lovely Scholarship.

She is just one of the 176 girls who, with the dint of her will power and determination fought against the odds to realise her dreams.

The scholars received the Fair & Lovely Foundation Scholarships for 2007 at the hands of the first lady Air Marshal of the Indian Air Force, Ms Padmavati Bandopadhyay. The scholarships which are in their fifth year now are given to deserving, young women to pursue graduate, post-graduate, and doctorate studies.

Most of the scholarships have gone to women who are the first graduates in their families. With Fair & Lovely Foundation's Scholarships, these students will now be able to pursue their further studies in fields ranging from Computer Applications, Medicine, Business Administration, Technology, Journalism, Engineering, Veterinary Science, among others.

On the occasion, Ashok Venkatramani, Vice President, Skin Care, Hindustan Unilever Limited (HLL) said, "We believe in supporting any good initiative that works towards girl child and women empowerment. To us education could be the first biggest step towards making this empowerment possible. Fair and Lovely Foundation has reached out to women from the smallest part of India and is a platform to carry this empowerment across to the women of India".

Congratulating the scholars, Ms Bandopadhyay said, "I am very happy to be a part of such an honourable cause. It is a pleasure to meet these young enthusiastic women from such far away places in India, who are so focused and determined to succeed in their life. I am sure they will prove that they are worthy of this scholarship and I wish them all the luck in their future."

The Fair & Lovely Foundation seeks to encourage empowerment of Indian women through information and resources in the areas of education and career guidance. Fair & Lovely Scholarships, one of the projects of the foundation aims to provide support in the form of scholarships to enable financially constrained girl students to pursue their higher education. From 3 lakh applications received across India, candidates were short-listed on the basis of their academic performance, economic need and drive to achieve. These candidates were then invited for personal interviews. The final candidates were chosen after personal interviews by a panel of eminent personalities, some of who are Lila Poonawalla, Juhi Babbar, Poonam Soni, Kavita Krishnamurty, Sivasankari, Neena Rao, and many such well-known names.

About the Fair & Lovely Foundation:

The Fair & Lovely Foundation is an initiative from Hindustan Unilever Limited. The foundation seeks to empower Indian women to change their destinies through Education, Career Guidance and Skill Training. Comprising of an advisory body of leading women and professionals, this foundation has undertaken various projects and initiatives in keeping with its vision of empowering women.

For more information visit www.fairandlovely.in

To view the photographs click the link below:
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Source: Hindustan Unilever Limited (Business Wire India)

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