The Weekend Leader - Bhumi founder Dr. K Prahalathan conferred with Unsung Hero award

Bhumi founder conferred with Unsung Hero award

Vellore

06-April-2015

Dr. K K Prahalathan, whose campaign for rationalizing auto rickshaw fares in Chennai in 2013 led to the Tamil Nadu government implementing new fares and a police crackdown on autos that charged excess fare, was conferred with The Weekend Leader Unsung Hero of Tamil Nadu Award at a function held at VIT, Vellore last week.

Dr. Prahalathan receiving The Weekend Leader Unsung Hero of Tamil Nadu trophy from Dr. Kalyani Rangarajan, Dean, VIT Business School, Vellore (Photo: Media Ramu)

Addressing the students of VIT Business School, Prahalathan, an ophthalmologist, spoke about the social activities of ‘Bhumi’, an NGO that he founded with two others in 2006.

Bhumi enrolls young volunteers, those aged under 30 years, to teach basics of English, Mathematics, Science, and Computers to underprivileged children in cities like Chennai, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai.

Providing statistics of the dismal quality of education in the country, Prahalathan pointed out through a video presentation that only 47 per cent children in Class Five can read Class Two text in their mother tongue, and only 48 per cent children in Class Eight can solve a simple mathematical division.

He also stated that only 7 per cent youth in the country are able to graduate from college and 75 per cent graduates are unsuitable for employment.

Prahalathan encouraged students of VIT Business School to volunteer for social causes and suggested that they could start a Bhumi chapter in Vellore.

P C Vinoj Kumar, Editor, The Weekend Leader, moderated an interactive session between Prahalathan and the MBA students.

Dr. Kalyani Rangarajan, Dean, VIT Business School, presented The Weekend Leader Unsung Hero Trophy to Prahalathan, who was accompanied by his wife Vaishnavi Srinivasan, a full time volunteer with Bhumi. – TWL Bureau
 



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