Reliance life Insurance Company (RlIC), a part of Reliance Capital limited, on Thursday inaugurated its first library in Chhattisgarh in partnership with Room to Read. Room to Read is a global non-profit organisation committed to promoting literacy and gender equality in education across Asia and Africa by providing libraries in schools.
The partnership between Reliance life and Room to Read aims to set up over 100 libraries in Government primary schools and their aim is to reach out to over 10,000 children across the country through this initiative. The library was inaugurated here by Manoranjan Sahoo, Chief Agency Officer, Reliance life Insurance at Government Primary School in Champajhar Village of Raipur District.
“We are delighted to be a partner with ‘Room to Read’ in a bid to empower children with books and knowledge. Education, like insurance, protects the long-term future of the family’’, he said. libraries provide children an environment of knowledge and inculcate habits of learning and curiosity amongst the young minds, Sahoo said.
We are happy to compliment and support the initiatives of the Government towards improving the quality of education in India. We believe that setting up libraries in schools is a small but an important step towards making a difference in the lives of the children and thereby leading them to a better future,” he said.
The Reliance life Insurance and Room to Read will create and maintain libraries in Municipal Corporation Schools across Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarhand Maharashtrain the first year of their programme, a company press release issued here stated.
The partnership, which is part of Reliance life Insurance’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) endeavour, will support more schools with such libraries in the following years. Through this initiative, Reliance life Insurance aims to compliment, support and strengthen the efforts of the Government to improve the quality of education in India. “Chhattisgarh is a key State for the company as it enjoys a strong market position and strong distribution of 10 branches, over 50,000 customers and 1,350 advisors,” Sahoo said.
Earlier, Reliance life Insurance had joined hands with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Room to Read to launch the ‘Boundaries for Books’ campaign in 2011.Under the ‘Boundaries for Books’ campaign, Reliance life Insurance contributed Rs25,000 for every six hit during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.
This donation was given to Room to Read for setting up libraries and providing local language and English books to underserved children across India. Established in 2003, Room to Read-India currently has presence in nine States and has set up more than 6,421 school libraries across India. Room to Read seeks to transform the lives of millions of children by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education.
Working in collaboration with local communities, partner organisations and Governments, it develops literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and supports girls to complete secondary school with the relevant life skills to succeed in school and beyond.