New Delhi:  Indore Hub, an initiative of World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers community to address the local challenges, recently bagged the Abraaj Group Growth Markets Grant of USD 10,750 by the Global Shapers Community, an initiative of The World Economic Forum. The project has been selected for grant to be provided to Indore Hub for is commendable project that aims at metamorphosing the unhealthy sanitation situation in Girls’ Schools of the rural areas of Indore.  A total of 178 applications for a wide range of projects were received, out of which 9 projects were selected, on the basis of parameters like quality, efficiency, sustainability, scale of impact, consistency of measurement, and replicability.

The Abraaj Growth Markets Grant has been funded entirely from personal bonuses of Abraaj employees who have allocated a portion of their bonus to this grant, as part of the 5+5+5 model, in order to support the projects of the South Asia Region.

The Indore Hub shortlisted some of the most important areas of community welfare and social impact as part of their focal areas for the initiative. The list includes building/repairing toilets in local schools for the girl child, where such facilities do not exist and building toilets in villages as well as urban areas to tackle open defecation issues, setting up computers in schools with the help of donations of machines from corporates or individuals and educating students about the basics of computers. Also, projects in the nature of survey/ gap analysis followed up with action on actual impact and organising primary and basic health checks in slums, villages and schools,  are the other areas that were identified.

Raman Singh Saluja, Founder of Gramco Infratech and Founding Curator of Indore Hub say – “We are extremely delighted to have got our proposed project recognized and selected from scores of other applications globally. All the Hubs are full of very capable and passionate individuals; it is an opportunity that we will be leveraging to create a positive and long term impact. The selection for grant has already elevated motivation levels of our Shapers and we are looking at attracting more potential Shapers to the Indore Hub

After conducting in-depth surveys in schools in the rural areas of Indore and its surrounding areas that lack adequate sanitation facilities, the Indore Hub identified the utter need for developing the sanitation of this area. The sole aim of the project is to build new toilets and repair those that are in dilapidated condition. The Indore Shapers approached various schools for their approval on the proposed project for which they have received the prestigious grant.