At KPMG in India, we view citizenship as a responsibility and a core value, essential to who we are. We define our purpose as ‘inspiring confidence, empowering change.’ We buttress confidence in the capital markets that allow for the flow of investments and the creation of jobs. We work to enable our clients, our communities and the countries where we work to change for the better.
In these truly unprecedented times, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to escalate, the call to rise to the demands of constructive citizenship is particularly strong.
Accordingly, KPMG teams stepped up and volunteered our services to the central and many state governments to help them navigate the crisis. We made available our capabilities and talent in healthcare, artificial intelligence and data analytics to help track and manage the spread of the disease. Our teams worked on the front lines even during the lockdown phase, contributing to critical national goals.
Over the last year, we have continued to champion the cause of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a keen focus on Quality Education, SDG number 4. By empowering the leaders of tomorrow with skills, resources and knowledge through Lifelong Learning, we advance education, instill confidence and build capabilities for the long-term success of communities in India and around the world.
Our efforts span the educational continuum - and the results have been tangible. Through our flagship initiative, KPMG’s Family for Literacy, we have helped set up and support libraries, placing books in the hands of the children in need. We continue to pair our people with primary schools where they volunteer their time reading to young students. Equally, we believe in investing in our teachers, as effective teaching is key to achieving learning outcomes.
Our Aspire programme aims to empower young disadvantaged girls who are also first-generation learners in their families; over 225 girls across six schools benefited last year. The programme does not just stop with learning at the school or college level. This year, we proudly welcomed Shilpa Sharma, an Aspire beneficiary since 2014, to our Financial Risk Management team in Mumbai.
We believe that learning extends beyond the classroom and beyond school and college years. Together with the KPMG Foundation, we are delivering meaningful outcomes by supporting education and lifelong learning. Such activities help prepare the workforce of the future, help with readiness to embrace the challenges of a global, interconnected marketplace.
Our people remain the strength and backbone of our Corporate Citizenship initiatives. Congratulations to Dudhsagar Shambhuche, for showing exceptional commitment towards our community initiatives, and for being recognised by the firm as ‘Citizen of the Year’ for 2019-20.
Through Enactus, an integral part of KPMG's Corporate Citizenship programme, 40 partners and senior staff mentors continued to guide students from over 50 colleges across the country, helping students develop talent and perspectives that will propel many of them to become India’s future entrepreneurs and leaders.
As always, the Infrastructure, Government and Healthcare team continued to engage in nation-building efforts tirelessly, advising and assisting in the implementation of both central and state government projects in a variety of areas. For instance, by working with the Rural Development Department, Government of Maharashtra on its special scheme, the ASMITA Yojana, our teams helped create awareness about menstrual hygiene, establishing an efficient channel for the distribution of affordable, good quality sanitary napkins. Around 300,000 school girls in Maharashtra have been provided with ASMITA beneficiary cards and 29,538 Self Help Groups have registered for the scheme.
Our Corporate Citizenship initiatives embody our values, Integrity, Excellence, Courage, Together, For Better, making them real every day. Our people show extra-ordinary commitment towards giving back, working together to make the world a better place. Our people invested 82,000 hours in 2019-20 towards community development by participating in a diverse range of volunteering initiatives.
My profound thanks to all our partners and professionals for their contributions through the year, for the jOSH they brought to our citizenship activities.
