Nasscom Foundation set up to promote IT

NEW DELHI: Nasscom, the apex industry association of IT Software and Service

companies in India, has announced the establishment of the Nasscom Foundation.

The foundation has been set up with the primary objective of bringing the

benefits of IT to the masses and will focus on initiating special projects,

research activities and allocating funds for promoting IT projects in India.

Coinciding with the late Nasscom president Dewang Mehta's birthday today, the

association donated Rs 1 crore towards the setting up of an institution in

Gujarat. Nasscom will donate Rs 3 crore as corpus to the Nasscom Foundation.

With this corpus, the foundation will work with IT firms in India, NRIs,

government bodies and other leading international bodies to further enhance the

activities of the foundation.

The other members of the Nasscom Foundation Committee will include past

chairman of Nasscom Harish Mehta, Ashank Desai, and Phiroz Vandrevala, serving

chairman. Nasscom Foundation's activities will primarily focus on the following:

Promoting IT education, Internet adoption, IT and women, IT empowerment for the

underprivileged, IT innovation, entrepreneur and e-governance.

Speaking on the occasion, Nasscom chairman Phiroz Vandrevala said, "The

need has arisen for the IT revolution to reach the grassroots and the inception

of the Nasscom Foundation is part of our effort to use IT to bridge the digital

divide. Some of the key activities of this foundation will be dedicated in the

memory of the late Dewang Mehta as a tribute to his contribution towards the IT

industry."

"We have also announced special scholarships in the name of Dewang Mehta

for the disabled and mentally handicapped children," he added.