New Delhi - August 19^th, 2019: Tech Mahindra Foundation (TMF), the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of Tech Mahindra, a leading provider of digital transformation, consulting and business reengineering services and solutions, announced today its collaboration with The Loomba Foundation – a United Nations (UN) accredited global charity supporting widows and their children. The collaboration will facilitate employment-oriented skill training for widows and their children in India with focus on Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. TMF will support the training needs of the students selected by the Loomba Foundation at its state-of-the-art academies in digital technologies and healthcare.

The initiative was announced at a lunch hosted by the British High Commissioner to India, Sir Dominic Asquith KCMG, to mark the initiative ‘CYCLING FOR WIDOWS BY CHRIS PARSONS’ from Kanyakumari to Srinagar, 4500 Kilometres in 45 days.

CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra, said, “At Tech Mahindra we believe skilling is core to building the future of our nation. We are delighted in joining hands with the Loomba Foundation in championing the cause of widows and their children through skill development in India, with focus on Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. I am confident that this collaboration will bring joy, happiness and employment opportunities for the widows and their families”

The SMART (Skills-for-Market Training) programme will be held at Tech Mahindra Foundation’s Healthcare and Digital Media Academies and will focus on facilitating job opportunities for these students. TMF’s SMART programme has successfully trained 90000+ young women and men across 110 centres. TMF will drive the cause for widows and their children along with the Loomba Foundation through skilling.

Lord Raj Loomba CBE, Philanthropist, Founder of The Loomba Foundation and a member of the House of Lords, said, “We are truly pleased to be associated with Tech Mahindra in India and hope to work with them for a long time.” He added, “At the Loomba Foundation, it is our endeavour to empower 100,000 widows and their children over the next 5 years in India along with partners like Tech Mahindra Foundation. We laud Tech Mahindra’s earnest efforts in enhancing the employability opportunities for the widows and their children.”

Tech Mahindra Foundation’s academies are state-of-the-art centres providing a blend of classroom, practical and on-the-job training. The academies closely engage with the industry for constant curriculum upgradation and placements.

About The Loomba Foundation

The Loomba Foundation was established in the UK in 1997 by Lord Raj Loomba CBE and his wife Lady Veena Loomba, in memory of Lord Loomba’s mother who became a widow at the early age of 37 and succeeded educating all her seven young children single handedly. The Loomba Foundation has sister charities registered in India and the USA. The Loomba Foundation is accredited by the UN Department of Global Communications and the Economic and Social Department (ECOSOC). The Loomba Foundation is the first global charity which is committed to empower widows and to educate their children in India & around the world. The core work of the charity is in India; however, it has empowered widows in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal in South Asia; Syria in middle east; Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Rwanda, Malawi across Africa; Guatemala and Chile in South America. In addition to empowering widows and educating children of poor widows the Loomba Foundation is actively engaged in advocacy to improve the lives of widows around the world.

In 2005 the Loomba Foundation launched International Widows Day at the House of Lords in the UK, as an effective day of action for widows and their children around the world. After a tireless campaign for five years the UN adopted 23rd of June as the UN International Widows Day at its 65th UN General Assembly in 2010. 23rd of June is a significant day as it was on this day Lord Loomba’s mother, Shrimati Pushpa Wati Loomba, became widow in Punjab in India in 1954. In India, the Loomba Foundation to date has educated over 10000 children of poor widows in all 30 states, who received a monthly scholarship of Rs.500 per month for a period of five years or more. In addition, the Foundation has empowered over 12000 impoverished widows, who received skills training in tailoring and upon completion of the training, they were also donated a sewing machine free of cost.

The Loomba Foundation is currently campaigning with the Govt. of India to set up a National Commission for Widows and Widows Help Centres through Panchayats in India, as part of our advocacy initiatives. The Loomba Foundation has published books (i) Invisible Forgotten Sufferers : The Plight of Widows Around the World (ii) A Hidden Calamity – the plight of widows (iii) One Man walking – 30 X 30 a walk for Widows (iv) World Widows Report.

About Tech Mahindra Foundation

Tech Mahindra Foundation is the corporate social responsibility arm of Tech Mahindra Limited, a Mahindra Group Company. The Foundation was set up in 2007, as a Section 25 Company (referred to as a Section 8 Company in the Companies Act, 2013), has been working tirelessly in the areas of education, employability and disability with a keen focus on corporate volunteering.

For more information on Tech Mahindra, please contact
Abhilasha Gupta, Global Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
Email: media.relations@techmahindra.com; Abhilasha.Gupta@TechMahindra.com