Microsoft's Citizenship Partner of the Year award recognizes exceptional partners who have made a sustained commitment to society and their communities, and can demonstrate the results of their work. The award honors organizations that apply innovation to empower underserved communities through technology or technology skills training.
Since 2007, Koenig has contributed to raising the literacy level of underprivileged children in Delhi. Koenig also provides free Vocational Training to unemployed adults of Delhi.
School Project
Tackling poverty is one of the most critical challenges faced by India. Lack of education is the root cause of poverty (and the associated problems). This is despite the fact that education is highly subsidized by the Indian government (the monthly school fees is less than $1 in government schools).
Most students drop out after grades 8 and 9 because they are not able to keep up with the studies. The subjects get tougher. The education in government schools though free is not adequate. To overcome this problem, Koenig provides extra tutoring in the evening at rented premises close to 3 government schools in North West Delhi. This has been a very successful project. The dropout rate has gone down significantly and the students are performing better in studies (as indicated by their exam results).
Apart from giving extra tuition classes in the evening, Koenig also distributes books to them every year. On 29th April, 2010 we distributed books to 150 students of Shalamar Village & Shakurpur Village, Ring Road, New Delhi. Many Koenig students enthusiastically participated along with Koenig staff, School Principals and the local area Social Workers. One of our students Mr. Cesar Melo donated Rs. 4,000/- to further the cause of underprivileged children who cannot afford to buy books. More
Koenig will donate an additional $50 worth of books to the underprivileged students for every student successfully placed after completing a Career Enabler Program at Koenig.
Sang Sui, a Koenig Student from USA along with Washington de Asses (left) from UK giving books to the children of Shakurpur Village.
Chris Kelly, a Koenig student from UK giving books to the children of Shalamar Village.
Vocational Training Project
Under this project, Koenig provides free computer training to unemployed adults in Delhi. Currently we train 20 adults every two months. All the graduates are working as IT executives and are earning handsome salaries. Last year 120 adults made the switch to skilled jobs.
Koenig has chosen education as its vehicle for social upliftment. Giving food, clothes and shelter to the needy might help them for a day but if we give them knowledge and education, they will not need further help for a lifetime.
CSR had a noticeable effect on employee motivation in Koenig. In fact, the effect is very profound. Our people are now working even more as a team for the progress of the company as a whole.
People working just for money have a greater chance of giving up when faced with an adversity. If a scientist is at work for the benefit of humanity, he will not give up. So we need a large sense of purpose to be able to draw from a larger source of inner strength. The purpose determines the power.
– Dalai Lama
Our students are welcome to visit the project sites during their visit to India.
Key principles of Koenig's CSR are:
Unifocus on education
Free but top class education
Targeting the most under-privileged constituents of society
Imagine the scale of social upliftment if thousands of small enterprises (like Koenig) commit their resources and management skills to further the cause of education at the most deprived level. Imagine the possible change in social outlook.
Koenig's CSR efforts are guided by Koenig Ethos (a set of philosophical principles followed by everyone working at Koenig).
Koenig sees a direct relationship between honesty and business success.
