Cognizant rehabilitates over 100 government schools impacted by 2015 Chennai floods; gives wings to dreams and aspirations of over 50,000 students

As someone who experienced first-hand the devastating floods in 2015 that brought Chennai and its neighboring areas to their knees, I just cannot erase the agonizing memories of helpless people of all demographics and backgrounds crying out for a shot at survival. Nor can I forget how the citizens of the city, state, country and the world came together to save lives, provide food, shelter and medicines, and eventually, help rebuild lives and hopes.

Even before the flood waters had fully receded, Cognizant leadership had resolved to contribute in whatever way possible to rebuild Chennai and its neighborhood. One of the key initiatives we undertook was to rehabilitate more than a hundred government schools in Chennai, Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur districts that had borne the brunt of the floods.

Cognizant Outreach, our employee volunteering program, led from the front in working with partners such as Round Table India Trust, Rotary International District 3230, and Rotary Club of Madras East, to identify and work with schools in need of support.

Under the initiative called “Project 100 Schools”, hundreds of passionate Outreach volunteers oversaw the construction and renovation of these schools as if they were their own living spaces. Between Q1, 2016 and Q3, 2019, Cognizant helped restore critical school infrastructure such as buildings, classrooms, libraries, laboratories, sporting arenas, mid-day meal centers, drinking water facilities and toilets, empowering over 50,000 students to fulfill their educational and extra-curricular needs, while also providing them with better, more hygienic facilities and clean drinking water.

I share with a deep sense of satisfaction and fulfillment that this morning, the Honorable Minister of School Education, Youth Welfare and Sports Development, Government of Tamil Nadu, Mr. K. A. Sengottaiyan, formally inaugurated the refurbished infrastructure at Panchayat Union Primary School and Government High School, Mannivakkam, in the presence of Mr. Pradeep Yadav, Principal Secretary (School Education), Mr. Kannappan, Director (School Education), and select Chief Education Officers. I would like to place on record my sincere gratitude to the entire government apparatus—Ministers, Secretaries, Collectors, local authorities, school administrators and our implementation partners, Round Table India Trust, Rotary International District 3230 and Rotary Club of Madras East for their wonderful support.

I would fail in my duty if I do not thank my team of Outreach volunteers—Deepak Prabhu Matti, Balakumar Thangavelu, Jayaseela Baskal Rajan, Sankara Mahalingam—and hundreds of other volunteers for their dedication. I would also like to thank Archana Raghuram, former head of Cognizant Outreach, Madhavan Satagopan, former CEO of Cognizant Foundation, Rajashree Natarajan, CEO of Cognizant Foundation, Francisco D’Souza, Vice Chairman of Cognizant, Karen McLoughlin, CFO of Cognizant and R Chandrasekaran, former Executive Vice Chairman of Cognizant India, for their guidance and unstinted support.

Here is a slide deck containing representative photos of the “before and after” of these rehabilitated schools.