This year, Proud Fathers For Daughters celebrated the bond between father and daughter by staying strong in its commitment to education for the girl child and giving people an opportunity to be clicked by some of India’s most celebrated photographers.

Mumbai – November 18, 2022: Project Nanhi Kali returned with the seventh season of Proud Fathers For Daughters after 2 challenging years of the COVID - 19 pandemic. This year the annual charity event was hosted over the weekend of 12^th and 13^th November 2022, at The World Trade Centre, Cuffe Parade in Mumbai.

Proud Fathers for Daughters was conceptualized with the desire to contribute to a larger national cause of bringing about a change in the mindset and attitude towards the girl child in India. Over the last six seasons, the fundraiser event has helped educate over 2500 underprivileged young girls in India. Proud Fathers for Daughters 2022 ended on a successful note. The seventh edition of Proud Fathers For Daughters has raised funds to help educate 358 Nanhi Kalis.

This year, the event included a line-up of leading celebrity photographers - Atul Kasbekar, Colston Julian, Prasad Naik, Rafique Sayed, Jaideep Oberoi, Tarun Vishwa and Tejal Patni - who volunteered their time to the cause. While participants were able to block a slot for a value of INR 10,000/-, which will support the education of a girl for an entire year, they could also donate over and above the registration fee to support more girls.

Sheetal Mehta, Senior Vice President – CSR, Mahindra Group, commented, “The new tagline of Project Nanhi Kali, ‘Where girls learn they matter’, aptly describes that the project is much more than just providing after school academic support. In an Indian patriarchal society, we would like to change the current mindset of parents towards their daughters. The Proud Fathers For Daughters event celebrates the bond between the father and daughter and showcases to the world that fathers are equally proud of their daughters as of their sons.”

Education and empowerment of the girl child are the pillars that can lead and drive positive change in society. With an aim to have a transformative effect and diminish the discrimination towards girl children in the patriarchal society, Proud Fathers For Daughters celebrates the bond between father and daughter and gives people an opportunity to be clicked by some of India’s most celebrated photographers.

Several renowned names came forward and lent their support to the cause this year, including Joint Commissioner of Police Vishwas Nangre Patil, celebrities from the Indian film industry Suneil Shetty, Vidya Balan, Abhishek Bachchan, Esha Gupta, Mrunal Thakur, Pooja Hegde, and Boney Kapoor and sportsmen Suresh Raina and Mahesh Bhupathi.

Sharing insights on the return of the event, Atul Kasbekar said, “Proud Fathers for Daughters is very close to my heart, and it is very overwhelming to come back with the seventh season after a two-year gap. We hope to educate and empower the Nanhi Kalis through Proud Fathers For Daughters. Over the years, we have been able to grow the initiative by many folds and I am very grateful to my photographer friends and industry associates for this.”

Some of the leading celebrity father-daughter duos who have lent their support to this initiative in preceding editions have been Shatrughan Sinha and daughter Sonakshi Sinha, Anil Kapoor and daughter Sonam Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and daughter Ridhima Kapoor, Javed Akhtar and daughter Zoya Akhtar, Sachin Tendulkar and daughter Sara Tendulkar, Leander Paes and daughter Aiyana Paes, Arjun Rampal and daughters Myra and Mahikaa as well as Alyque Padamsee and daughters Raell and Shazahn Padamsee.

About Project Nanhi Kali

Project Nanhi Kali was started in 1996 with the objective of providing quality education to underprivileged girls in India. Jointly managed by K.C. Mahindra Education Trust and Naandi Foundation, the project has transformed the lives of over 500,000 girls across 14 states.

With the aim of helping girls complete schooling, the Project provides them with comprehensive support including daily afterschool academic support through centres which operate within government school premises. An annual school supplies kit comprising of a school bag, stationery, pullover, raincoat, and feminine hygiene material is given to every girl, enabling her to attend school with dignity. Project Nanhi Kali has partnered with a leading EdTech organization to provide girls with access to a personalized, adaptive learning software pre-loaded on digital tablets. Further, a professionally designed sports curriculum has been integrated into the intervention to promote holistic development.

The project’s on-ground operations are managed by an all-woman team of over 7,000 Community Associates, who are recruited from local communities and trained to become learning facilitators and mentors to the girls. They also engage with community stakeholders to create conducive, girl-friendly ecosystems. For more information visit: https://www.nanhikali.org/

About Mahindra

Founded in 1945, the Mahindra Group is one of the largest and most admired multinational federation of companies with 260,000 employees in over 100 countries. It enjoys a leadership positionin farm equipment, utility vehicles, information technology and financial services in India and is the world’s largest tractor company by volume. It has a strong presence in renewable energy, agriculture, logistics, hospitality and real estate.

The Mahindra Group has a clear focus on leading ESG globally, enabling rural prosperity and enhancing urban living, with a goal to drive positive change in the lives of communities and stakeholders to enable them to Rise.

Learn more about Mahindra on www.mahindra.com / Twitter and Facebook: @MahindraRise/ For updates subscribe to https://www.mahindra.com/news-room

Media contact information

Pramuch Goel
VP & Head - Group Communications
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
Email – [email protected]