US: $2mil raised in New York for rural schools in India

The event was held at Cipriani on Wall Street in New York.

Washington, Nov 9: During a fund raising event in New York, an NGO known for its innovative single teacher schools in remote rural and tribal areas of India has raised USD 2 million, the foundation said.

This is the largest ever single-gala fund raiser for the foundation which has been a major contributor to its single school missions in India, it said.

The event was held at Cipriani on Wall Street in New York. Organiser, Mohan Wanchoo, who is chairman and Founder of EC Infosystems, siad the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation currently has 58,000 schools in India.

"They accommodate 56 million children - more than half of which are girls," he said.

Meanwhile, the US state department has said that the United States wants to "increase societal tolerance" in India with its recently announced nearly USD 500,000 grant to non-governmental organisations in the country. The department had yesterday announced the grant for organisations which can come up with ideas and projects to promote religious freedom in India.

PTI