The Hindu Business Line : These NRIs are back to serve the cause of education in Karnataka

THE cause of education binds them together. Though their overall objective was to harness their resources and experiences gained from their stint abroad to help in other social upliftment programmes, the Returned NRI Association (RNRI) aims at concentrating on primary education by contributing to improve the infrastructure in schools and provide children with materials for their studies.

RNRI, formed about 12 years ago by like-minded NRIs, who returned to India due to various reasons, will be launching `Back-to-Serve' programme, a scheme aimed at providing assistance to schools to enable them to provide quality education.

Mr Manjunath P. Bijjhalli, President of RNRI, said India's biggest problem was illiteracy and despite a large number of schools being run by the government and local authorities, the standards of education and facilities in schools remain far from satisfactory. There was urgent need to share the burden of the government to focus attention on improvement so that unhindered education prepared youth to build a strong and vibrant society for a balanced economic progress.

Mr Manjunath said realising their social responsibility, like-minded NRIs, who returned from various countries, decided to form the RNRI to further the cause of primary education. RNRI has already undertaken some projects, which provides materials for the children and help schools improve facilities for students.

RNRI would identify schools and prepare a project report about their needs and seek the help of NRI associations active in various countries. Besides, it would also seek the cooperation of RNRIs willing to participating in the Back-to-Serve programme.

As a sequel to its initiative, RNRI has planned to formally launch its programme on July 4 here where it also proposes to honour former Chief Minister, Mr S.M. Krishna, who had a stint abroad for his education and Mr Vivek Javali, eminent cardio thoracic surgeon, who returned to India after a stint abroad and made notable contributions in their respective professions.

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