Japanese insurance firm set up schools for tsunami hit

Chennai, June 18 (UNI) IFFCO-TOKIO General Insurance Company, a trusted player in General Insurance has inaugurated four primary schools in three tsunami affected districts in Tamil Nadu.

The schools, to support about 700 children, were opened in Kancheepuram, Villupuram and Cuddalore districts as part of the company's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative for Tsunami Relief.

The Insurance Company has undertaken the project in partnership with Round Table India, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) and its foreign partners Millea Holdings Inc, Tokio Marine and Nichido Fire and Millea Asia Pte Ltd, a company release here said.

Speaking at the inauguration of the schools, Mr Masahiro Ogawa, Director, Operations, IFFCO-TOKIO, said, the company has initiated the project, in keeping with its philosophy ''life you deserve.'' ''We believe it is the duty of every corporate citizen to address the most basic requirements of the people immediately in a disaster situation such as the Tsunami. This initiative is an extension of the same beliefs,'' he said.

Mr V S P Sakthivel Raja, National Convenor Tsunami Rehabilitation, Round Table India (RTI) said the organization has been actively working towards providing relief to the tsunami-affected areas.

''Children are the future of tomorrow, and no resources should be spared to provide them a safe and secure life. We are proud to be associated with IFFCO-TOKIO in this project and the company has been really helpful in providing us all the required resources to build these schools,'' he said.

Under the programme, Millea Holdings Inc, Tokio Marine&Nichodo Fire Company, and Millea Asia Pte Ltd, have come together to raise around Rs 30 lakhs for Round Table India to build these schools.

The four schools are part of a larger project of six schools that have been planned in four districts, including Tiruvallur, he said.

The four schools were Panchayat Union Primary School (PUPS) opened at Sulerikattukuppam in Kancheepuram, Aachikadu in Villupuram, Salangukara and Killaipattinavar in Cuddalore districts. Two more such schools would be opened at Chinnur in Cuddalore and Ennore in Tiruvallur shortly, he said.

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