NCPEDP in Collaboration with Bajaj Finserv Launches a Scholarship Scheme for Students with Disabilities

• The program will provide financial aid and education to 100 Students with Disabilities

• It will cater to 30 Secondary, 30 Senior Secondary and 40 from higher education students across Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra

National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), a 26-year-old cross-disability, non-profit organization, working as an interface between the government, industry, international agencies, and the voluntary sector towards empowerment of persons with disabilities has partnered with Bajaj Finserv Limited, the holding company of the financial services businesses of the Bajaj Group, one of India's oldest and largest conglomerates for a Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities in India.

The launch of the scholarship is in alignment with the recently launched National Education Policy 2022 - a forward-looking framework that proposes a paradigm shift in education planning and transaction in the country. As per the UDISE+ report, in 2018-19, only 29.47% schools across the country had children with disabilities enrolled in them and there is a wide inter-state variation. The enrolment of children with disabilities at the secondary level of school education was also reported to be almost half of the total number of children with disabilities enrolled in the elementary level. The GPI (gender parity index) of children with disabilities from 2014-15 to 2018-19, too, indicates a consistent low ratio of girls with disabilities to boys with disabilities. Addressing this problem, the program aims to provide financial support to 100 Students with Disabilities who can have access to education whilst overcoming social barriers and inequality. 30 students from Secondary Education, 30 from Senior Secondary Education and 40 from higher education will be selected for the scholarship program based in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra (The states identification is a strategic decision).

Arman Ali, Executive Director at NCPEDP, said, "By starting the scholarship in Uttar Pradesh, the largest state with the greatest number of persons with disabilities and Maharashtra, one of the largest and most heavily populated states in the entire country, we see it as an opportunity to reach students with disabilities who might be in utmost need of this scholarship. This is an effort to identify, reach out and document the stories of excellence, good practices, gaps and challenges concerning disability-inclusive education,"

Ajay Sathe, Group CSR Head, Bajaj Finserv Ltd, said, "We are delighted to join hands with NCPEDP for a scholarship program focusing on children with disabilities that will benefit 100 students. At Bajaj Finserv, we support organisations working for corrective treatment, provision of prosthetic equipment, education, and skilling of people with disabilities. The new partnership is an important step towards providing them with equal education and a dignified life. We hope that this association will inspire more schools to admit children with disabilities. "

Along with providing scholarships, the project also includes capacity-building workshops for students as well as for parents, teachers, and research studies. The application forms for the scholarship are available at www.ncpedp.org . The last date to submit the applications is 25 January 2023, Wednesday.

About NCPEDP

Registered as an independent trust in 1996, National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) is a non-profit voluntary organization working as an interface between Government, Industry, International Agencies and Voluntary Sector towards the empowerment of persons with disabilities. In the past 25 years, NCPEDP has established itself as a leading cross-disability organization which has later been strengthened by the formation of the National Disability Network (NDN) in 1999. Since then, NCPEDP has been successful in reaching people with disabilities across all states and union territories of the country and has successfully advocated several policy changes for the empowerment of people with disabilities. Know more at www.ncpedp.org.

About Bajaj Finserv Limited

Bajaj Finserv Limited is the holding company for the various financial services businesses under the Bajaj group. Its vision is to provide financial solutions for retail and SME customers through their life cycle. These involve: (i) asset acquisition and lifestyle enhancement through financing, (ii) asset protection through general insurance, (iii) family protection through life and health insurance, (iv) providing healthcare needs for the family, (v) offering savings products, (vi) wealth management, and (vii) retirement planning and annuities. Through these businesses that offer various attractive solutions, BFS serves millions of customers.

BFS participates in the financing business through its 52.49% holding in Bajaj Finance Limited (BFL) and in the life, general and health insurance businesses through its 74% holding in two unlisted subsidiaries, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Limited (BAGIC) and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited (BALIC). BFS has an 80.13% stake in Bajaj Finserv Direct Limited (BFSD), which is a digital marketplace for financial services products from loans to insurance, mutual funds, investments, lifestyle products, payments and e-commerce. The balance 19.87% is held by BFL. Bajaj Finserv Health Limited (BFHL), which is a health tech venture seeking to create a digital preventive, personalised and pre-paid health solution is a wholly owned subsidiary of BFS. Bajaj Finserv Ventures Limited, Bajaj Finserv Asset Management Limited and Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund Trustee Limited are wholly owned subsidiaries of BFS. Bajaj Finserv Asset Management Limited is awaiting final approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India for commencement of the mutual fund business.

Bajaj Housing Finance Limited (BHFL), which is a profitable and fast growing enterprise engaged in various aspects of housing finance and development and Bajaj Financial Securities Limited (BFinsec), which is a stockbroker that provides its clients a full suite of investment products and services in an all-in-one digital platform, are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Bajaj Finance Limited.

Both BFS and BFL are included in the benchmark BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 index of large cap stock.

To know more, visit www.bajajfinserv.in.