Mahindra’s Truck and Bus Division has launched various initiatives to better the transport ecosystem. The underlying philosophy driving these initiatives is to enable & better the lives & businesses of various stakeholders, contributing to the overall growth of the business environment. All of these initiatives are structured around key consumer insights, ensuring that the platforms are filling critical gaps.
While many of our initiatives have been industry firsts, the latest one is truly the closest to our hearts. Christened the ‘SaarthiAbhiyaan’, the initiative aims at MTB providing scholarship of Rs. 10,000 to truck driver’s daughters who have completed their education till the 10th standard for their higher education. In today’s time we believe that women empowerment and girl child education is of primary importance not only for the safety & development of women, but for the cause of nation building at large. The drivers have challenges of their own and education of the girl child doesn’t seem to feature in the priority list. With this initiative we intend to applaud and appreciate their foresight in getting their daughters educated. As a pilot the scholarship was launched in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Rajasthan and Haryana. The first felicitation ceremony was held recently in Pune.
Speaking at the felicitation ceremony, Mr. Nalin Mehta MD and CEO – Mahindra Truck and Bus, who is also the Chairman of MAHINDRA SAARTHI ABHIYAAN Governing Board said, “True to its philosophy of driving a positive change within the transport ecosystem, through this pioneering effort we are striving to improve the life of drivers at a grass root level as they are one of the most important stakeholders in our business. There are more than 70,00,000 truck drivers in India today and I look forward to that day when every truck driver’s daughter is highly educated and self-sufficient. Mahindra SaarthiAbhiyaan, is a salute to these drivers who inspite of all odds, have shown great mettle in educating their children, especially daughters. Through this initiative we salute these heroes who have ensured their daughters become the next engineers, IT professionals, Teachers etc. This is our way of thanking them, showing a sense of gratitude for this exemplary effort!”
Mahindra and Mahindra is one of the first OEM to have thought of this unique way of applauding the efforts put in by the drivers. Before embarking on this project the Mahindra SaarthiAbhiyaan’s Operating Committee undertook a need assessment within the Driver Communities across India, to understand what would be the most necessary improvement that MTB could offer. A survey was undertaken in various parts of India revealed that the average age of a driver in India is about 38 years with an average monthly salary of Rs. 12,000. His family consists of 2 children who go to private schools. He bears an average annual spends of Rs. 10,000 to 12,000 per year on education. Hence the amount of Rs.10,000 was decided upon. But as one dives deep, you can see the drastic drop in the ratio of females pursuing their further education. In India, it is endemic to dissuade girl child from achieving further education due to many socio economic reasons. Within the driver community only 20% attain their secondary education and 10% make it to higher secondary. In such an environment, motivating the drivers to send their daughters for higher education becomes a strong need gap.
The pilot project garnered many hundreds of applications from across India and the program touched the lives of thousands of drivers. The reach and response both were extremely overwhelming. A series of felicitation events have been lined up post the Pune event to recognise the other shortlisted applicants.
MTB’s constant effort to better the transport ecosystem, with each program targeted sharply at improving specific beneficiary has been lauded by the industry. We are extremely confident of the ‘SaarthiAbhiyaan’ ensuring that not only the drivers but their daughters too will travel that extra mile.