Eklavya Saksham Scholarship

Higher education remains by and large inaccessible to India’s underserved communities – Dalits, Adivasis, and other marginalized groups. Data from the NSSO 2014, indicates that enrolment in college education for Dalits is 20.8% and for Adivasis, is 15.7 %. Their presence is even bleaker in premier universities as out of 10 top universities in India students from Dalit and tribal groups are underrepresented in 7 universities (All India Survey on Higher Education 2018-19).

Higher education is a tool for social transformation plays an important role in enhancing the knowledge and skills of people, and is a primary engine of upward mobility. But generations of Dalit, Adivasi, Nomadic tribes, and other marginalized communities remained deprived of higher education and its benefits. It resulted in limited career opportunities and a lack of representation in influencing leadership positions in different spectrums for them.

Eklavya India Foundation's mission is to facilitate a successful career transition of 20000 first-generation students through admission into world-class higher education institutes by 2030.

We are working to improve access to quality higher education among first-generation students from marginalized communities. It provides career awareness, exposure, mentoring, and coaching to enable students to pursue higher education from top universities and open their pathways for modern careers. In the last 7 years, over 700 students secured admission into top universities like TISS, Azim Premji University, IITs, Delhi University, Pune University, and Central Universities. Over 300+ alumni have been placed in white-collar jobs multiplying their family incomes by 8-10X and bringing their families out of poverty.

We recognize inequality in access to quality higher education due to financial limits. Thus, it is important to encourage these students to pursue higher education through scholarship support. This scholarship program provides need-based financial support to socially and economically marginalized students to cover their college fees and living costs to complete their undergraduate education.

Through this fundraiser, we aim to support 200 first-generation students to continue and complete their higher education through scholarship support.