The iconic bell at the National Stock Exchange rang on Wednesday to mark a historic day as a Delhi-based non-government organisation became the first art and culture NGO to be listed on the Social Stock Exchange. Routes 2 Roots became the sixth non-profit organisation to be listed on the market and the first organisation to be oversubscribed at the social stock exchange.
Routes 2 Roots: NGO To Enrich Culture, Art & Heritage
Routes 2 Roots, an NGO dedicated to disseminate culture, art and heritage to the common people and children throughout the world, became the sixth NPO in the country to be listed at NSE’s social stock exchange. The founders, advisors and executive members of the organisation were present at the NSE office in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex to mark the listing on Wednesday, with actor Juhi Chawla, who is also an executive member of the organisation and music composer Ehsan Noorani, who is an advisor to the organisation.
With the most oversubscribed listing at the social stock exchange, Routes 2 Roots was oversubscribed by around 130 percent against their target of collecting Rs. 1 crore. With the initial funds, the organisation will implement a free teaching programme along with music training in 100 schools of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, which suffered due to the floods in 2023.
"Utilising Oversubscription To Enhance Education And Promote Cultural Diversity": Rakesh Gupta
Rakesh Gupta, founder of Routes 2 Roots, said, “Since there is no framework to utilise oversubscription for an NPO, we had to ask our donors to stop funding after we were oversubscribed by 130 percent. We will start the installation of smart classes in the schools from this month itself and will also provide music instruments as well as training to the teachers in four schools in each of the 25 districts of these states.”
The organisation Routes 2 Roots had launched Virsa in 2016 to enrich the education of school going children by integrating classes of performing art forms with the digital medium. Today, the organisation works in each district of India catering to lakhs of students. It has also hosted 26 international events, 14 exhibitions and 110 concerts throughout the world to provide the masses with a shared experience of diverse cultures freely.
"Pioneering Transparency in Art And Culture Sector Through Social Stock Exchange," Says Founder Tina Vachani
Tina Vachani, who is also a founder of the organisation, said, “We always used to think that the stock market is only for big corporates but when the finance minister introduced social stock exchange in 2019, we decided to get our organisation listed to bring complete transparency in our work and win trust of our donors. To become the first art and culture NPO to be listed, we are grateful to NSE, which helped us in each step of the procedures and compliances to this historic day.”
Routes 2 Roots also plans to help other NGOs to get listed on the social stock exchange to build the ecosystem and make India’s social stock exchange the first successful social market in the world.
