Mumbai students gift smartphones to underprivileged kids

‘Be someone’s Santa’ is an extension of Project Pahunch, an initiative launched by five students from Mumbai in August, to help provide smart devices to students of Classes 10 and 12.

In keeping with the spirit of Christmas, a group of five students have launched an initiative asking people to donate or sponsor smartphones for students belonging to economically weaker sections.

Smart devices, old and new, have been distributed to students from municipal schools and government schools in Mumbai, Palghar, Karjat and Pune. (HT photo)

‘Be someone’s Santa’ is an extension of Project Pahunch, an initiative launched by five students from Mumbai in August, to help provide smart devices to students of Classes 10 and 12. Smart devices, old and new, have been distributed to students from municipal schools and government schools in Mumbai, Palghar, Karjat and Pune.

“Christmas is the season of gifting our loved ones. With the help of social media, we are asking people to gift a device and be a Santa to the student,” said Malaika Shivalkar, 20, co-founder of the project.

“So far we have provided 215 devices and reached out to over 1,000 students through the initiative. Over the past four months, we have realised that the number of students, who require a smart device to attend online classes, is far greater than the number of devices we have distributed,” said Shivalkar who is pursuing her undergraduate law degree at National Law University, Jodhpur. She launched the initiative along with her younger brother Ishaan and friends Anoushka Jaipuria, Natalia Mistry and Malini Dasgupta.

The students used social media to crowdsource the devices. “In case anybody wants to donate an old device, we arrange for pick up and drop. For those who want to sponsor a new device, we ask the donor to make the payment to our vendor. The devices are then distributed every week,” said Shivalkar.

Following the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, schools and colleges adopted an online mode of instruction, for the safety of students. However, access to smartphones and internet connectivity, particularly in areas around the city, has been a concern.

While the number of requests for these devices is swelling, Project Pahunch has restricted the distribution to Class 10 and 12 students.