Sampath Bank’s ‘Gamata Viduliya’ project assists Ipalogama village children to study

Saturday, 3 May 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sampath Bank, a responsible corporate citizen in Sri Lanka provides electricity to ten families in Ipologama, Nochchiagama, a remote village in Anuradhpura District under their latest CSR initiative ‘Sampath Gamata Viduliya’. The project was initiated by Sampath Bank City branch and Commercial Credit division. This CSR program is implemented under ‘Empowering the Community’ which is one of the five pillars of Sampath Bank’s 5E CSR Model, the prime focus of which is to provide essential infrastructure facilities enabling the children to continue their studies in a comfortable manner. Commencing its maiden project, the bank facilitated the village with the required infrastructure, providing electricity to 10 houses with children who are performing well in their education.

At present, the village Ipalogama faces difficulty with the lack of basic infrastructure facilities like electricity, resulting in school children in particular and suffering. It also hinders the progress of the adults in their self-employment activities. Appreciating being transparent in their CSR initiatives, Sampath Bank sought the assistance of the principals of Ipalogama Vidyalaya and Parakkugala Vidyalaya in identifying families who would benefit most by having electricity. When identifying these families, the Bank focused on families with children who are presently scoring high marks in school and children who are preparing themselves for a competitive examination during the next six months. Special attention was also paid to single parent families and those with non-alcoholic fathers who are either farmers or daily paid workers. Under the Sampath Gamata Viduliya CSR project, eighteen families came beneath the scrutiny of the Bank’s CSR Committee which personally went through books and study material of every child and considered the children’s performance and enthusiasm of the parents to give their children a better environment to live in. Considering required criteria, ten families including nineteen children were selected by the bank. The total beneficiaries of the project were 33. Besides the Sampath Gamata Viduliya project, Sampath Bank took another initiative to provide text books and sports goods for the selected schools. Sampath Bank intends to pursue similar CSR initiatives to strengthen its identity of being a Sri Lankan Bank which truly presents the future of the nation.