Kotak Mahindra Group (Kotak) today announced the launch of Kotak Shiksha Nidhi – an initiative to provide financial assistance to students who have lost a parent/ parents and/or a primary earning family member to COVID-19, for the purposes of completing their education. Kotak Shiksha Nidhi is a collaborative CSR Project on Education & Livelihood of Kotak Mahindra Group companies, which is being implemented by Kotak Education Foundation (KEF).

Kotak Shiksha Nidhi is open only to Indian nationals. The application window opens today--September 20. 2021 and KEF will accept application forms up to March 31, 2022.

Students who have lost a parent/parents and/or a primary earning member of the family from April 1, 2020 onwards, and are studying in a government recognised State and Central Board or Indian University in any standard from the first grade to diploma or graduation (i.e. from age six years to 22 years) are eligible to apply.

Kotak Education Foundation has tied up with Buddy4Study^ - one of India’s largest scholarship platforms, to provide pan-India access to students interested in applying for Kotak Shiksha Nidhi. Applications can be submitted online by clicking here.

Rohit Rao, Joint President & Group Chief CSR Officer, Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited said, “Kotak Shiksha Nidhi will financially assist selected beneficiaries who have lost the bread winner in their family from April 1, 2020 and also subsequent cases, if any, up to March 31, 2022, by taking care of their education expenses to help them complete their school and college education.”

Dr Ganesh Raja, CEO, Kotak Education Foundation said, "The financial assistance under Kotak Shiksha Nidhi will cover school and college fees, library deposit, stationery & other relevant expenses payable to the school/college, including hostel lodging & boarding expenses.”

The selection of eligible students and the level of assistance that can be extended under Kotak Shiksha Nidhi will be at the discretion of KEF and will be based on the fulfilment of the eligibility criteria and the merit of the application.