Our Anchors

Message from the Chairman

Mr. Jayaprakash Jagateesan

“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants”. This quote, attributed to Sir Issac Newton, serves as an apt metaphor for the work we do at SIET. I am deeply honoured to be appointed Chairman of the SIET Management Committee. I stand on the shoulders of giants: Mr Gopal Varutharaju, my good friend and immediate past Chairman, and all the other Chairmen who led SIET with passion and purpose before us.

Under Gopal’s leadership, together we started the process of reorganising how SIET operates, to make best use of the talents of our volunteers. We set up sub-committees, each with a specific terms of reference, so that our volunteers know exactly how they can help, and have a meaningful and productive experience with us.

We also stepped up our fundraising activities, expanding our outreach among corporates and showcasing why SIET is worthy to be considered among the beneficiaries of companies’ CSR efforts. While growing our base of members, we also worked towards getting commitments of recurrent, annual donations from our major sponsors. We offered flexibility around how individuals and companies could set up structures – endowments, trusts, and the like – that served their needs, as well as the needs of SIET. Each year over the past few years, we have increased our fundraising targets, and happily, we were able to meet our targets, with the help of committed volunteers, and generous sponsors. Thanks to generous donors, we were able to support more students over the past three years. In 2021, SIET extended bursary support to 367 deserving students, a figure that climbed to 389 in 2022, and to 485 in 2023. We also disbursed approximately $908,000 in interest free study loans to 104 students in the same period. In addition to loans, in 2023, SIET disbursed outright grants totalling about $75,000 to 26 deserving students, so that they could complete their studies without interruption.

In the years ahead, my committee and I will continue the good work started under Gopal’s chairmanship, and further entrench how we organise ourselves, and grow our outreach among both potential donors and talented volunteers. It is these giants upon whose shoulders we stand.

If you will allow me to extend the metaphor, our beneficiaries also hope to stand on the shoulders of giants – so that they can go further in life, by fulfilling their educational aspirations and ambitions. The hopes of our deserving students serve as our motivation to push harder for donations and to give our students the assurance that lack of funds will not stand in the way of them acquiring a good education. Even after completing their education, our support for our students continues through our growing alumni network and corporate partnerships to help them secure internships and employment opportunities.

Our objective, as it was when SIET was conceived, is to help deserving Indian students through their educational journey so that they can contribute to society and uplift their lives and that of their families. No doubt, they will need shoulders to stand on. I sincerely hope that you will join us in lending your shoulder.

Jayaprakash Jagateesan
Chairman
SIET