SASTRA & Society

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SASTRA fraternity actively engages in various National Mission projects such as Swachh Bharat, Swasth Bharat, Skill India, Unnat Bharat Abhiyaan, etc., for the benefit of neighbourhood communities and bring about transformational changes in villages.

A few flagship activities are listed below:

• Rural Empowerment through Vocational and Entrepreneurially Reliant Ecosystem (REVERE), a joint initiative of SASTRA with TATA Trust trains socio-economically challenged rural youth with a monthly stipend of Rs 4,000 through three/six-month programmes on driving, tailoring, cooking, house-keeping, etc., that enables them to gain sustainable livelihood. Thus far, 787 youth have benefitted.
• SASTRA-TCS Teaching Learning Centre conducts New Age MAntra for Smart Teacher Education (NAMASTE), a six-day residential training programme for school teachers on digital teaching methodologies. Over 3,000 Government/private school teachers have benefitted.
• Trained Youth Ready for Employment programme conducted since 2016 with support from M/s TVS Sri Chakra Ltd., provides training to unemployed engineering graduates in Tier II and III cities to impart technical skills and improve their employability. Participants in this 6-month programme receive Rs 1,500 as monthly stipend and free accommodation. Out of 117 participants, 93 have been placed.
• Free medical treatment provided to children from economically challenged families in Thanjavur district. Ninety six surgeries were performed at a total cost of Rs 55 lakh at Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre, Chennai.
• SASTRA fraternity generously contributes to relief measures during various natural calamities. Contributions were made to PM Cares & CM Relief fund during COVID. Relief materials were provided during various disasters across the country.

Student-driven extension activities: Students are sensitized to actively participate in various outreach activities and social community internships, a few of which are listed below:

• Active student NCC & NSS cells
• Gramaseva: Students from School of Education, conduct sessions in rural schools to promote digital literacy and create awareness on civic conduct, environment, cleanliness, etc.
• Legal aid clinics are conducted by Law students in nearby villages to offer free legal consultation and spread awareness on legal rights. They help villagers draft legal petitions and submit the same to authorities.
• SASTRA Community Outreach Programme (SCORE) involving the entire student community, conducts awareness camps on various social, environmental issues and government policies/schemes. SCORE also conducts "Daan Utsav" to donate materials to nearby old-age homes and orphanages. During the pandemic, volunteers are actively involved in boosting the morale of quarantined individuals through telecon and also provide guidance on availability and access to COVID-care.
• Volunteers of student organization, ‘PLASMA’ donate blood regularly and in emergencies. Number of blood donors remains the highest from a single camp.
• Medical camps including eye screening are organized for screening the local population for their health.
• Women empowerment: Volunteers actively interface with women self-help groups and help them display their products/produce for sale in campus.
• KS Upahaar: Volunteers serve inmates of orphanages, old-age homes, children's homes by providing them with required materials through fund-raising. Inmates of orphanages are brought to campus during cultural festivals for sharing the joy.
• Awareness campaigns on single-use plastic, road safety, COVID-19, etc., are periodically conducted.