Educating and rehabilitating people
At the Sobha Academy that we started last July, we follow the ICSE syllabus and provide free education and maintenance -- that include three meals, uniform and books to all the students. I expect to educate 2,000 students. We take students only from the impoverished families in the locality.
The biggest challenge for me will be creating employment for these 3,000 families where they live. If I set up a business in these two panchayats, it will not be to make money. I will not even drink a cup of tea from that business. The entire money will go to their benefit.
I will not own even one inch of land in these two panchayats. If I create a business vertical there, it will only be to benefit them. It is easy for me to take them out elsewhere but I want to avoid migration. Migration should be avoided if we want to empower rural India.
No amount of money can give me the kind of satisfaction I get when I see these little children in uniform. It fills my heart.
Image: Menon's company has been serving free meals to the impoverished in rural Kerala since many years.
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