An engineering graduate from IIT Mumbai and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, Sundaram returned home after a long corporate stint abroad to take up thejob he loves best--teaching. And he does his job with single-minded devotion, making him an able paladin to Manju Bharat Ram's mission in life: providing quality education with a stress on the overall personality development ofa child.

Says Bharat Ram, who is chairperson of the SRF Charitable Trust, ``It is our belief that a school should be a place where a total human being evolves and develops and that each child be instilled with values as much as with knowledge, skills anddiscipline. Our philosophy is that education should be loving and encouraging, enabling and personally fulfilling.''

SRF Vidyalaya was started in June 1991 by the SRF Charitable Trust, Chennai, to provide meaningful and high quality education for the children in the Manali Industrial Estate area and its hinterland. The idea of the school arose out of the community development work of the company and was based on a survey conducted to ascertain the ``basic needs'' of the Manali community.The SRF Vidyalaya started in a very small way in 1991 in just two rooms in the community centre of SRF Limited's factory in Manali with just the pre-primary sections and two teachers. Today, 22 teachers are teaching 395 students in classes that run up to the 12th standard, a long way from the initial student strength of 32. Situated on a 10-acre plot adjacent to the factory compound, the school--designed by a student of Lawrie Baker--has three clusters and is built around open courtyards. With future plans to develop it intoa 1,000-strong school, the school is highly esteemed by parents who come from the poor and lower middle classes. Says Harsh Sinha, general manager, corporate communications, SRF Ltd: ``Our schools have a very different approach to education, which is linked more to the overall development of the child than merely imparting education to join the rat race.''

The school in Chennai adopts an innovative approach to teaching English to these children, who belong to the families of industrial workers. ``Given the social context in Manali, we adopted a methodology similar to the one used to teach an urban child with learning disabilities. This approach has met with tremendous success and students from the Vidyalaya, despite social disadvantages, can confidently take on the modern world today.''

The litany of SRF's commitment to education also extends to the company's chemical division in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, which has adopted three schools in Khajuriniwas, Ban Ban and Jhiwana villages in the vicinity of theBhiwadi factory.

Says Sinha: ``Our idea here is not to merely manage the schools. Instead, we work as facilitators in infrastructural support, management consultancy and liaising with the government departments for the schools.''

SRF has not limited its social commitmentto education alone. Literacy also comes high on their agenda. An adult literacy programmefor the illiterate women of Manali and neighbouring villages was started in 1997. Thefirst batch of classes kicked off with 20 students, who are now well into their post-literacy programme.

SRF also undertook to provide drinking water to Melur, Vallur and Athipet in theMinjur sub-division in Tamil Nadu. A borewell with a 10hp motor was sunk and a pump-room built at Seemavaram village, and a 2.1 km pipeline was laid from the borewell site to the three target villages.

Commenting on the private sector and government synergy on social development, Bharat Ram says: ``I personally feel that if local industry sets up a partnership with the government andestablishes an effective management system that balances control and support, management and training, maintaining norms and initiating changes and development, then a lot can be achieved.''