ITC Classmate campaign ends on a high note

Updated on: Monday, December 13, 2010

Commemorating 100 years of multi-business Indian conglomerate ITC, the company launched the ‘ITC Classmate Ideas For India Challenge’ to challenge the imagination of the youth of the nation to bring alive their ideas for a better India of tomorrow.

At a national awards ceremony held today at the FICCI auditorium, New Delhi, 11 finalists presented their innovations and ideas to a 10-member jury that included eminent personalities from business and industry, academia, NGOs and other organizations of repute. Kapil Sibal, Minister for Human Resource and Development (HRD) was also present on the occasion.

Echoing ITC’s credo of ‘Lets Put India First’, the ITC Classmate Ideas for India Challenge was envisaged as an exciting opportunity to challenge the youth to express their ideas and innovations that could help contribute to building the India of tomorrow. The contest reached out to over 30 lakh youth across 60 cities, receiving an as many as 60,000 entries. The city finals were held in ten cities including Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore to select the finalists for the grand finale in Delhi.

The winners of the campaign will be awarded a weeklong international study tour, cash prizes and an opportunity to intern with esteemed program partners including organizations such as CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development, WWF-India, Tony Blair Faith Foundation, Janaagraha, Akshaya Patra Foundation.

Chand Das, Chief Executive of ITC’s Education and Stationery Products Business (ESPB), said, “The Ideas for India Challenge is in keeping with the core values of Classmate, which highlights that real change can be brought about through big ideas which reside in each one of us. The response to this campaign has been overwhelming. We have short listed finalists from across the country, which will now compete for the top honors. We are sure that the ideas that have emerged here, will lead the way for a better future.”

Soha Ali Khan, Brand Ambassador, ITC Classmate who was instrumental in promoting the contest said, “It has given me immense joy to be associated with what has emerged as one of India’s biggest and most exciting school contests, culminating in this grand finale in Delhi. India is demographically one of the world’s youngest countries and its future naturally lies in the hands of its youth. With some guidance and mentoring they can, going forward play a huge role in shaping not just their future, but that of their country as well. The keen interest and large participation generated by this initiative is ample testimony to the fact that they are more than willing to take charge of their future. I am immensely proud to have been part of this initiative of ITC.”

ITC Classmate campaign ends on a high note

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