FAQ

What is TCS-READS?
READS (Rajabazar Educational and Awareness Development Society) is a non profit organization that arranges sponsorship for the education of children belonging to economically backward families and also monitors their education. READS also helps women to be self dependent by arranging stitching classes for them. TCS-READS is a branch of TCS CS that works in collaboration with READS in arranging sponsors for the kids and tutoring the kids.

Who are the target audience for this initiative?
Target audiences of this initiative are mainly of two broad categories. The first category comprises of the kids belonging to economically backward families who benefit from the initiative. The second category comprises of the sponsors and the volunteers who provide the benefits to the kids.


What are the activities that take place in the TCS READS initiative?
TCS READS initiative is divided into two broad categories.
1. PRAYAS
Activities taking place in this initiative includes:
a)Sponsoring the education of one (more than one) kid(s).
b)Volunteering to tutor the kids on weekends.
There are currently 30 students being funded in this initiative. The students are from standard 1 to standard 10.
2. SAHAYOG
Sahayog helps arrange stitching classes for women. This includes arranging for stitching machine, raw materials and also faculty for the class.
There are 15 women availing this facility as of now. Aim is to help them earn a living for themselves with the skill aquired.

What are the location(s) where the classes take place?
The curent location is:
Islamiya Library (Opposite TaswirMahal Cinema Hall)
Gas Street, RajaBazar
Route direction:
Take a Karunamoyee-PhoolBagan auto From Salt Lake and reach PhoolBagan . From PhoolBagan take College Street / Sealdah bound auto and get down at Taswir Mahal Cinema. From any other place, take AJC Bose Road and reach RajaBazar junction.
Taswir Mahal is very near to that junction.

Am I eligible to be a part of this initiative?
The only criteria required to be a part of this initiative is the urge to make a difference by sponsoring a kid or volunteering to tutor them. If you have the urge, you are eligible.

Since the initiative involves teaching local children, do I need to be conversant in Bengali to be of help?
The children are mostly from Urdu Medium and Hindi-speaking. They understand little English and Bengali. So being conversant in Bengali is not necessary. You might consider learning Urdu numerical (0 to 9 ) in Urdu since the maths textbooks of the kids are in Urdu.

What is the cost of sponsoring a child for a year?
Cost of sponsoring one child for one year is Rs 1200/- only.
However, like any other kid, these kids too like many other things other than text books. And, they like visiting places other than school. All of which needs funds. Hence we welcome any donation that you might want to make in cash or kind throughout the year.

Do I get to know about the progress of the child I sponsored?
Yes. You will be mailed the report-card of the kid after every exam.

What should be the mode of payment?
You can hand over cash to any of the volunteers.
Or can do an EFT to this SBI account : SBI A/C No. 20012217092
Incase you opt for EFT, we request you to kindly mail any of the volunteers after doing the EFT.

Who do I contact to be a part of TCS-READS?
To be a part of TCS-READS drop in a mail or call any one of our volunteers:
Koyel
(Koyel Ghosh/KOL/TCS@TCS; 9331019565)
Satyasekhar
(Satyasekhar I/KOL/TCS@TCS; 09748489684)
Azim
(Azim Khan/KOL/TCS@TCS; 09903632117)
Santanu
(Santanu Gh/KOL/TCS@TCS; 9874411083)
Arpit
( Arpit Gawande/TVM/TCS; 9748265261)
Saswata
(Saswata Kar/KOL/TCS@TCS; 9432142793)