Their effort for the uplift of the girl child, especially in the India's rural quarters, has won the Jagatguru Kripalu Parishat Education the prestigious Nari Award instituted by a prominent media house.
The institution, managed by the followers of Jagadguru Kripaluji Maharaj, was especially recognised for its effort on education in the remote village of Mangarh in Uttar Pradesh that is now an inspiration for many similar endeavours nationally, a statement said.
In this village, some 5,000 girls from all religions are receiving quality education from the primary to doctorate levels, without any doles from the state government -- an effort that has been recognised by iNext, a bi-lingual e-paper of the Jagran Group.
In the past, the story was different.
"Most young girls in this socio-economic set up, either stayed at home to help run the household or were destined to get married at an early age so that the family had one less person to feed," the trust said.
"Despite the fact that the organization draws its inspiration and values from the deep rooted Hindu tradition of Bhakti, this group does not discriminate in any manner on the basis of religion when the question is to help the under-privileged."
The girls also receive free transportation, including free bicycles for those who travel long distances, along with uniforms, school bags and other related requirement at no cost, to remove as many obstacles as possible on their to way to proper education.
The trust runs the Kripalu Mahila Mahavidyalay for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in arts, science, education and computers, an intermediate college, a middle and high school for classes 6-12 and a primary school till class 5.
The educational trust's president Vishakha Tripathi received the award.
