A Plea to American Hindus from KHNA

Los Angeles, Feb 17: KHNA’s much-appreciated scholarship program to
help poor students in
college and professional studies, is entering its second year. KHNA
supported 49 Kerala students last year, and we sincerely hope to
increase the number many-fold this year and in coming years. The
applications were invited in November, and the scholarship selections
follow strict guidelines to ensure through multiple channels that the
students are indeed poor, and in dire need of financial
support (details can be found at the KHNA scholarships website).
This is an urgent appeal to malayali hindus all over the continent for generous sponsorship for students..

What many of you may not have considered is that the expenses for studying past high school have
become exorbitant in India with the proliferation of private institutions. What may have been a Rs 500 tuition
two decades back, is now Rs 40,000. The Hindu community is particularly at the receiving end, due to lack of
supporting mechanisms through religious and other community-based charitable institutions. As many Malayali hindus
are aware, most of the temple donations in Kerala are under non-Hindu control due to the political realities.
Other communities own significantly more institutions, and the recent proliferation has brought
about even more imbalances between the communities in the ability of poor but bright students to pursue their
educational dreams. If the Hindu community does not come forward to support the poor students, nobody else will. KHNA
requests each family in North America to consider supporting at least ONE student with a $250 tax-deductibe annual sponsorship
under the KHNA initiative.

The list in this link (http://www.namaha.org/newsupdate/021708-schol-appeal-n-applicants.htm)  shows over 350 applications received for this year’s scholarship program. We have withheld the names
but the places, as well as other details such as family income, parent’s job, and highschool passing percentage are shown.
As you can see, a large number of these applicants have daily-wage workers (even beedi-rollers) as parents. If you would
prefer to support a student in your district or place in Kerala, we certainly encourage you to do so.

Please contact
the KHNA scholarship committee chair, Presannan Pillai, IL (Chair – 630-935-2990, [email protected]),
or any of the following committee members –
Ashokan Vengassery, PA (610-713-0216, [email protected]),
Gopalakrishnan Nair, TX (281-261-2834, [email protected]),
Govindan K Janardhanan, NY (914-472-0444, [email protected])
Dr. Ramadas Pillai, CA (909-855-7681, [email protected])
Dr. Ravi Nair, FL (813-920-8471, [email protected])
Santha Sreedharan, CA (562-921-1601, [email protected])
Dr. Sathi Nair, MI (248-374-0183, [email protected])
TN Nair, TX (972-668-1212, [email protected])

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