Bank of India (BoI) on Monday donated four advanced electric wheelchairs to students and research scholars with locomotor disabilities at the University of Hyderabad (UoH). This is the bank’s first CSR initiative at UoH. Leaders of both institutions said they see it as the start of a long, meaningful and sustainable partnership.
The event was attended by the University’s senior officials: the Vice-Chancellor (i/c), Prof. J. Anuradha; the Registrar, Dr. Devesh Nigam; the Finance Officer, Sri B. Srinivas; the Coordinator of ECDAP, Prof. Pammi Pavan Kumar; the Grievance Redressal Officer for PwBD, Prof. P. Srinivas; and members of ECDAP. The BoI team was led by Sri Mukesh Kumar, Deputy General Manager and Zonal Manager (Telangana), with other bank officials and representatives of bank employees.

A short formal programme was held in the Vice-Chancellor’s Conference Hall before the wheelchairs were handed over. Dr. Devesh Nigam introduced the Empowered Committee for Differently Abled Persons (ECDAP). The committee is the University’s nodal agency for implementing programmes, delivering services and giving advice on all matters concerning students, research scholars and employees with disabilities. The Registrar also listed what UoH offers students with benchmark disabilities: full tuition fee exemption, assistive devices for those who need them, accessible infrastructure in academic blocks and hostels, and five per cent reservation in admissions.

Welcoming the initiative, Prof. J. Anuradha thanked Bank of India. She said the gesture reflects the genuine commitment of one of the country’s oldest banks to the upliftment and empowerment of people often left at the margins. She also thanked the Finance Officer and his team, who worked with BoI to make the initiative happen.

Sri Mukesh Kumar said that in its more than 120 years of operations, Bank of India has always been at the forefront in responding to social issues. He called the donation a milestone in the bank’s CSR work because it lets BoI reach learners with special needs at one of the country’s leading higher education institutions. Officials of BoI and UoH agreed that the two institutions have strong potential to work together in the future.

Sri N. Annavaram, ECDAP member, proposed the vote of thanks on behalf of the University. He said the bank’s decision to focus its CSR activity on disability, and especially to provide electric wheelchairs, had touched the campus community deeply. For people who could not reach even common spaces on their own, he said, this fulfils a lifelong dream.