Cricketer Ajay Jadeja visits Upper Primary School, Jhundpur Village in Sonepat with management trainees from Coca-Cola’s Mantra program, to encourage active healthy lifestyle through active participation in sports
Students got an opportunity to play and interact with Jadeja and get tips from the player
The school has been revitalized under the Support My School campaign with facilities such as upgraded separate functional toilets for boys and girls, improved access to water, facilities for the encouragement of physical sports and recreation, and a structure for rain water harvesting
Jhundpur, April 3rd, 2013: Cricketer Ajay Jadeja today visited the Upper Primary School in Jhundpur Village, one of the schools revitalized under the Coca-Cola NDTV Support My School campaign, to promote active and healthy living amongst the students. Accompanying the cricket star were management trainees from Coca-Cola’s university relations program – Mantra, which constitutes students drawn out from some of the top universities and colleges of the country. The Support My School campaign, which has been revitalizing rural and semi-urban schools with facilities such as sanitation for boys and girls and access to clean water, focuses majorly on providing sport facilities to these schools in order to promote physical education amongst the students.
With this visit, students got an opportunity to play cricket and interact with Jadeja as well as receive batting and bowling tips from the former cricket star himself. Management trainees from Coca-Cola’s Mantra program, which focuses on talent recruitment from universities, also joined in to play cricket and interact with the. The visit was an endeavor towards familiarizing the trainees to the work being done under the Support My School Campaign which is one of Coca-Cola’s primary sustainability endeavors in the country. The group went on to tour the school to observe new facilities put in place and interacted with students and faculty on the importance of physical education.
Speaking to the students, Cricketer Ajay Jadeja said, “Sports are an integral part of growing up. They help build team spirit, leadership qualities and truly aid one’s personal development to face bigger challenges in life. I am truly delighted to see a campaign which is focusing on development of essential sports facilities in rural and semi-urban schools to encourage students on this path. We have seen some great talents emerge from the towns and villages of this country. These basic sports facilities will help these children inculcate a love for sports and open new opportunities on this path for them. Congratulations to Coca-Cola and all campaign partners for the work done. I feel the space for children to play outdoors even in urban areas has been steadily shrinking in recent times. Coupled with the fact that distances are getting longer, children have fewer opportunities to develop their sporting interests. Therefore, I am particularly happy that this initiative is focusing on smaller towns to develop sporting facilities for children.”
Speaking about the initiative, Mr. Sameer Pathak, Senior Manager, Public Affairs and Communication, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia said, “At Coca-Cola India, we believe in a holistic concept of sustainability encapsulated in our “Me, We, World” sustainability framework which aims to extend benefits to consumers at the individual, social and environmental levels. With Support My School, we aim to encourage students in rural and semi-urban schools with basic facilities to promote their love for education. Providing sports facilities is a major part of this campaign as we believe that this is integral to support active and healthy living amongst these students. This campaign is an all-round initiative to create a holistic learning environment for students in rural and semi-urban schools.”
Mr. Yagdut Arya, Principal, Upper Primary School, Jhundpur said, “We are honored to be the first school to be revitalized under the Support My School campaign. Our school has gone on to accomplish the title of “Best Middle School” in Sonepat district, by the Education Department, thanks to the facilities provided by the campaign. It is a great pleasure to have Mr. Jadeja here with us today, along with these aspiring youngsters. With the encouragement provided by them, I am sure our students will find a new zest for sports and go on to achieve high accolades in the field. Thank you Coca-Cola and all campaign partners for their support and hard work.”

About Support My School Campaign

Coca-Cola India joined hands with NDTV to launch Support My School in association with UN-Habitat, Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), Pearson Foundation and Tata Teleservices. It undertakes the following core activities:
Provision of improved access to water
Appropriate sanitation facility for girls and boys
Improvement in the overall infrastructure and environment
Provision for sports and recreation facilities and
Recharging groundwater through rainwater harvesting
With such necessary amenities in place, schools are able to provide a cleaner and healthier environment more conducive to learning.
Education in rural India suffers from several issues where lack of sanitation is a key reason for absenteeism and dropouts amongst students. This is especially noted in young girls who are forced to quit as they enter adolescence due to a lack of clean and functional toilets. Children are also likely to fall sick more often without clean water to drink or to wash hands. Support My School endeavors to eliminate this basic concern by spreading the initiative across the country with the help of campaign partners to execute the same.

About Coca-Cola and Citizenship

The Coca-Cola Company has always placed high value on good citizenship. At the heart of business is a mission statement called the Coca-Cola Promise — “The Coca-Cola Company exists to benefit and refresh everyone that it touches.” This basic proposition means that the company’s business should refresh the markets, protect, preserve and enhance the environment and strengthen the community. Coca-Cola India provides extensive support for community programs across the country, with a focus on education, health and water conservation. For further information on Company’s India operations and its products, please visit www.coca-colaindia.com