Our Programs

Health4All

Enhancing accessibility to quality healthcare

Cognizant Foundation India promotes societal inclusion by bringing quality healthcare within reach of the underserved across India. The Foundation has taken up three focus areas under this program theme to ensure that its activities reach those in need, quickly and effectively.

Sight4All

Enabling lives through timely eyecare

According to a report by The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, globally 1.1 billion people live with vision loss. The same report estimated that in 2020, India was home to around 270 million people who were suffering from vision loss, of which 9.2 million were blind. The unfortunate part is that around 90% of this could have been prevented had they received proper, timely care.

Blindness and vision impairment are major health problems in India that cause profound human and socio-economic impact. Cognizant Foundation has chosen to focus on preventing avoidable blindness under its flagship healthcare program with the objective of making quality eye care services accessible and affordable to underserved communities. The program aims to nip degenerative vision conditions in the bud and help children and adults lead better lives.

Initiatives

Care4All

Advancing care for mother and child

Most maternal and child deaths occur despite known and affordable treatments being available. The need of the hour is to improve access to quality basic health services for women and children, which can save millions of lives. Improving maternal and child health is also a key National Health Goal under the National Health Mission (NHM).

Cognizant Foundation India supports initiatives that provide quality and timely healthcare to underserved women and children. These initiatives focus on reducing infant mortality, infant disability, and maternal mortality.

Initiatives

Support4All

Improving care for the underserved

Building on its focus to promote inclusion, Cognizant Foundation India supports initiatives aimed at supporting persons with disabilities and children with special needs ranging from addressing barriers to mental health to early intervention and rehabilitation services.

Initiatives

Community Mental Health

Future4All

Creating a better tomorrow through education and skilling

Enabling access to quality education and skilling for underserved communities and facilitating inclusion have been one of the cornerstones of Cognizant Foundation’s activities. The Foundation has taken up three focus areas under this program theme to help beneficiaries acquire knowledge and skills that are relevant in the modern world.

STEAM4All

Enabling 21st-century learning

According to UNICEF, India has the largest adolescent population in the world at 253 million. The country stands to benefit immensely if these children are given a proper education from a young age. Unfortunately, many educational institutes in the country find it difficult to keep pace with technological innovations, affecting their ability to impart quality digital, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) education, and inclusive education.

Enhancing the quality of schools, especially Government-run institutions which cater to underserved communities, is critical for creating students who have the vision to create a better tomorrow. Cognizant Foundation is leveraging its expertise in technology to make STEAM experiences more accessible while building capacity within and for the school system. The Foundation is also leveraging the use of modern technologies to build teacher capacity and catalyze the creation of an inclusive school system.

Initiatives

Excellence4All

Nurturing aspirations through higher learning

Given the increasing cost of higher education, a scholarship has a huge impact on promoting inclusion in higher education. Recognizing this, Cognizant Foundation India initiated a merit-cum-means scholarship program for engineering graduates, in 2008, with a view to increasing access to quality higher education.

Over the years, this program has grown to focus on two key areas: supporting inclusive access to higher education for graduate and undergraduate study across STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) disciplines, social sciences, and teacher education (special needs) and supporting trajectories of inclusion in higher education through scholarships for visually impaired students.

This flagship program in education is closely aligned with two key recommendations made by the National Education Policy 2020 to support access to higher education through scholarships and providing for meaningful ways of inclusion for people with disabilities through appropriate learning materials and reimagining vocational and technical education.

Initiatives

Tech4All

Inclusive growth, powered by technology

Employability skilling, including digital skilling, is a key area of intervention for the Foundation. The job market in India demands specialized skill sets, which is reflected in the increased demand for students to take up vocational education and skills training courses. Our initiatives in this area have a special focus on empowering and enabling persons with disabilities (PwD), and underserved women through skilling for employment and vocational education. The Foundation collaborates with credible organizations in identifying, training, and supporting job placements in various sectors such as IT/ITeS, BPO, Finance/Banking, Healthcare, Hospitality, Retail, thereby helping the candidates to become more independent and self-reliant.

Initiatives