Mahabubnagar: In a heartwarming initiative to promote girl child education in rural Telangana, the Villages in Partnership (VIP) NGO felicitated 18 girl students from government Telugu medium schools across 17 mandals in Mahabubnagar district for topping the SSC Public Examinations.
The award ceremony, held at Gayatri Function Hall in Padmavati Colony, saw the toppers being honored with a ₹5,000 cash prize and a ₹20,000 SBI mutual fund deposit, which can be encashed after five years—timed to support them during their degree education.
Launched in 2016-17, this is the fifth batch of awardees under VIP’s flagship initiative, which aims to fight deep-rooted social barriers and financial hardships that prevent rural girls from pursuing higher education. Nagendra Swamy, Executive Director of VIP, highlighted that many girls in rural areas are still forced to drop out after primary school or SSC due to marriage or lack of awareness. “Our goal is to change this mindset by celebrating academic excellence and inspiring families to invest in their daughters’ futures,” he said.
As part of the initiative, one top-performing girl from each mandal was selected. Among the awardees were Bushra Hussain from Kotta Molgera (Bhootpur), Nandini from Chinna Chintakunta, Akhila from Devarkadra, Vaishnavi from Gandeed, Shruti from Hanwada, Harini from Jadcherla, Shravanti from Koikonda, Maheshwari from Kaukuntla, Srilatha from Mahabubnagar Rural, Vaishnavi from Mahabubnagar Urban, V. Shailaja from Midjil, Karthika from Mamdabad, Indu from Musapet, Chandana from Rajapur, and students from Nawabpet and Balanagar.
The event was graced by Jagadeeshwar, Retired IAS officer and newly appointed President of VIP, who praised the initiative as a transformative step for rural communities. Prominent industrialist Vaman Rao, Chief of Kapil Group, also attended and extended his support to the cause.
Adding inspiration to the evening were success stories from past awardees like K. Anusha, now a Project Coordinator at TGIC; Sunita, who completed her MBBS from Osmania Medical College and is now interning at Osmania General Hospital; and J. Anusha, working as an apprentice at DRDO after completing her B.Tech in EEE. All three came from humble backgrounds and credited the VIP initiative for helping them dream big and achieve their goals.
In a unique green gesture, each student was given three saplings—one for themselves, one for their teacher, and one for their village sarpanch—with a call to nurture the trees as symbols of growth, education, and environmental responsibility.
The event concluded on an inspiring note with the alumni urging the new awardees to believe in themselves, pursue their dreams fearlessly, and continue breaking barriers through the power of education.
