Canara Bank, the country’s third-largest public sector bank, extended scholarships worth Rs 18 crore to 44,742 students under its Dr. Ambedkar Vidya Jyothi Scholarship scheme on the 78th Independence Day. These scholarships are for girl students in classes 5 to 10 from the SC/ST community.

The pan India CSR initiative started at the bank's head office in Bengaluru and was marked by the distribution of scholarships by  K Satyanarayana Raju, managing director and CEO of Canara Bank.

Canara Bank branches across the country held scholarship distribution camps on 15 August in which a total of 177 regional offices and 26 circle offices participated. The event was also conducted by the bank in its designated 7,457 branches as a testament to its deep-rooted presence in communities across India.

“Canara Bank is proud to express its commitment to social responsibility through Dr. Ambedkar Vidya Jyothi Scholarship Scheme,” the bank said in a statement.

Launched in 2013-14, Dr. Ambedkar Vidya Jyothi Scholarship Scheme has transformed the lives of 95,000 students over the past 11 years with a total disbursement of Rs 46 crore. “This year, the scheme continues its mission by extending scholarships to 44,742 more students, amounting to Rs 18 crore in financial aid, as each branch selects one meritorious SC/ST girl student from classes 5 to 10. It provides them with scholarships of Rs 3,000 per year for classes 5 to 7 and Rs 5,000 per year for classes 8 to 10,” the bank said in a release.

Commenting on the occasion, Raju said: “Dr Ambedkar Vidya Jyothi Scholarship is a mega CSR initiative of Canara Bank across India. With the education of girl students being a national priority, Canara Bank also stands committed to this journey. Through this scholarship, we want the deserving girl students from underprivileged communities to achieve greater heights.” 

During the last two years, Canara Bank has offered compassionate appointments to 106 families of deceased employees who are indigent and deserve immediate assistance for relief from financial destitution.

Besides, Canara Bank has extended ex-gratia amount in lieu of  compassionate appointment, to a maximum of Rs 8 lakh as per their eligibility, to 39 families who deserved immediate financial assistance.

On the eve of Independence Day, Canara Bank provided assistive devices to persons with disabilities and also distributed needy equipment to women from old age homes.