FEATHERLITE GROUP

Report on

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY INITIATIVES

(2008 – 2009)

Corporate Office:
KKMP Building
16 A Millers Road
Vasanthnagar
Bangalore
 A Report on

Corporate Social Responsibility

About us

FEATHERLITE, founded in 1963 by Shree Ramnarayan Chellaram as a small

chair factory has grown over the years as a leading furniture manufacturing
company in India. The company has most modern manufacturing facilities in
Bangalore and Hosur. Featherlite employs 700 people. Client list of Featherlite
is who’s who in IT and Corporate Sector. The company also has interest in real
estate and owns several properties in Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Mysore
etc.

The CSR Initiatives

Since its inception, the group has been engaged in various Corporate Social
Responsibilities activities, especially, supporting educational institutions for
students Below Poverty Line (BPL). Some of the schools for which
infrastructure has been created/upgraded by Featherlite are as under:
1. Sri. Shishu Bhavan, Sri. Ram Gopal Verma High School,
2. Featherlite Pottery Town Government High School,
3. Sri Chokkalinga Vidyalaya Government High School - Hejjalla.

Details of the initiates in two schools listed at no 2 and 3 are given in following
pages.
A) Featherlite Pottery Town

Featherlite along with Bangalore East Rotary Table 27 (BERT 27) took the
initiatives to construct a new building for pottery school under its project
“Freedom through Education”. The 30 year old dilapidated building having
leaky tiled roof, ventilated rooms, situated in Slum Locality of Pottery Town was
transformed due to the efforts put in by Bangalore East Rotary Table 27 (BERT
27) in collaboration with Featherlite. 12 classrooms were constructed with
provision of toilets and furniture. The classrooms are capable to accommodate
250 children. The school offers both Kannada and English mediums.

Children of the economically backward sections in Nagawara, Tannery Road

and DG Halli slums study in this high school, which is run by the Bruhat
Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.

The school has achieved 70% pass in 2008 SSLC Exam and after the
construction of the building there is an increase of 20% in student population.

Featherlite was the chief donor of the reconstruction and therefore school was
named as Featherlite Pottery Town Government High School.

Phase I was inaugurated by Governor of Karnataka, Rameshwar Thakur on

18th of June 2008. Phase II was inaugurated by Cine-Star Ramesh Arvind on
26th of March 2009.

Print media coverage of the inaugural programme is enclosed as

Annexure – I.
Featherlite Pottery Town Govt. High School
Coles Park, Bangalore

Front View of the School Building

A Classroom – Furniture provided by Featherlite

Function Hall

A Classroom
B. Sri Chokkalinga Vidyalaya, Hejjalla

Sri Chokkalinga Vidyalaya a 100% government aided school is located across

the road from the existing manufacturing of Featherlite Office Systems-
Hejjalla. The secondary school has 500 students, consisting 50% of girls and
50% of boys. There are 14 government teachers posted in the school.
Featherlite has helped the school by providing Black Boards, Fans, Furnitures
and got the entire school white washed. Repairs were also carried out including
fitting new windows to ensure proper ventilates and safety of the students.

The appreciation letter received from principal of the school is enclosed

as Annexure – II.
 Shree Chokkalinga Vidyalaya
Hejjalla, Bidadi, Dist. Ramnagar

Front View of the School Building

A Classroom – Furniture provided by Featherlite

A Classroom – Primary

A Classroom – Primary
 ANNEXURE - I

Online edition of India's National Newspaper

Wednesday, Jun 18, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka

News: ePaper | Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi |
Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous | Engagements |
Advts: Retail Plus | Classifieds | Jobs | Obituary |

Karnataka - Bangalore

School gets a makeover

Nagesh Prabhu
Entrepreneurs contribute to BERT- 27 initiative

It has twelve

well-furnished

classrooms

Industrialists, realtors contribute Rs. 45 lakh

FAcelift: The Featherlite Pottery Town Government High School in Bangalore now has many
facilities, including computers in classrooms

BANGALORE: From leaky tiled roofs to concrete ones; from floor to benches and desks; from dingy
classrooms to well-lit ones; from stuffy environs to well-ventilated rooms with fans; And now, computers in
classrooms. This is the slow and steady transformation of a government high school in a predominantly slum
locality of Pottery Town in the city.
The 30-year-old dilapidated school building has undergone a makeover in less than a year, thanks to the
initiative of 21 young and service-minded entrepreneurs.

Children of the economically backward sections in Nagawara, Tannery Road and DG Halli slums study in this
high school, which is run by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike. It is located on a four-acre plot, and a
large portion of its land has been encroached. Primary and Secondary Education Minister Visveswara Hegde
Kageri has promised to remove the encroachments and put up fencing.

Bangalore East Rotary Table (BERT)-27 took the initiative to construct a new building for the school under
its project “Freedom through education”. “We built 12 classrooms and provided toilets and other facilities to
students and teachers with contributions worth Rs. 45 lakh from industrialists and real estate developers. All
the classrooms have been well furnished,” says Prasad R. Deshpande, chairman, BERT-27, who took the
initiative to reconstruct the building. The Government contributed Rs. 20 lakh towards the endeavour.

Twelve classrooms were constructed to accommodate 243 children and 13 teachers. The school, which
scored 62 per cent pass in the 2007 SSLC examination, offers both Kannada and English mediums. “When
we started construction work, the school was in a dilapidated condition and basic amenities were missing.
We convinced the local people about our project and told them that the school will change the careers of
their children,” Mr. Deshpande said. “We are planning to have four more classrooms by constructing a third
floor,” he said.

BERT is sponsoring midday meals for nearly 250 children at Jakkarayanakere School. It also conducts
regular medical camps in various schools.

“This is our idea of corporate social responsibility,” Mr. Deshpande said. The Pottery Town school now has
modern infrastructure, computer centre, library and toilets. The toilet block was sponsored by Bangalore
East Ladies Circle 31 that has Megna P. Deshpande as the chairperson. “The number of students admitted to
class VIII were 20 per cent more than last year. We can proudly compare the school to other private schools
in the vicinity,” says headmaster Ashwath Narayan.

Featherlite Products Limited was the chief donor for the project, and the school was named “Featherlite
Pottery Town Government High School” according to an agreement signed with the School Development
Committee.
 Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 18, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka
News: ePaper | Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi |
Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous | Engagements |
Advts: Retail Plus | Classifieds | Jobs | Obituary |

Karnataka - Bangalore

‘Private sector should adopt Government schools’

Staff Reporter
— Photo: G.P. Sampath Kumar

Greater participation: Governor Rameshwar Thakur interacting with students at the inauguration
of the Featherlite Pottery Town Government School in Bangalore on Tuesday.

Bangalore: The private sector should play a greater role in developing government schools, especially
primary schools, in terms of infrastructure, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Vishweshwara Hegde
Kageri said here on Tuesday, at the inauguration of the Featherlite Pottery Town Government High School.

Lauding the efforts of the organisation, Round Table India, which, in collaboration with the State
Government has built 12 classrooms at Featherlite High School, he said that the private sector should
continue to “adopt” Government schools in this manner. In view of the high dropout rates among students,
especially in classes five, seven and 10, Mr. Kageri said he has directed his department officials to convince
parents to keep their children in school. Several parts of the State continue to have alarming dropout rates
despite schemes such as midday meals, he added.

Governor Rameshwar Thakur said that given the growing need for primary schools in the city, both the
Government and the voluntary sector have to work together to fulfil the demand. “To enable children to take
advantage of the changes and developments in curriculum and teaching, we need to invest more in
teachers, without whose complete involvement, the idea of quality education will remain a distant dream.
For this we need to revamp our teacher training establishments and ensure that good performance is
adequately rewarded,” he said.

The trend in urban and rural areas is for parents to send their children to private schools, Mr. Thakur added.
“We must regularly introspect to find out what government schools can do to make education affordable and
qualitative.” He added that civil society, the corporate sector and the State, had a role in ensuring quality
education.
 Friday, June 20, 2008

Home | About Us | Contact Us | Archives | Feedback | Career Avenues

Deccan Herald » State » Detailed Story

Status of schools visited recently

This school has become an institution exclusively for the children from the
economically weaker sections, and the facilities are far from satisfactory.

Featherlite Pottery Town Government High School, Pottery Town:

The name Featherlite might give an impression that it is an English medium school, so it will
be the best. But things are not so. This school has become an institution exclusively for the
children from the economically weaker sections, and the facilities are far from satisfactory.
No wonder, SSLC pass teachers are the lords here.

Infrastructure: The Rs 3000 crores allocated by the state government under the Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan fell short to develop the school properly. The School now depends on the
desks and other material supplied by charity organisations. And that include even the new
high school building. Six teachers handle 282 students here.

Government Kannada Upper Primary School, Murphy Town, Ulsoor:

Acute staff crunch is the bane of this school, which otherwise boasts of a number of shields,
won by the students and the teachers, promptly showcased to new-comers.

Infrastructure: Since the school is located in an interior area of Ulsoor, rarely the school
draws attention of philanthropists. So this is one of the poorly managed school.

Teacher-student ratio: The school has a strength of 210 students, all of them coming
from the nearby slums. The school has classes up to 8th Standard whereas the number of
teachers is six. Left with no other option, students of two classes are always let out to play.
The school thankfully has one BSc Pass teacher whereas it has four SSLC pass and 1 PU
pass teachers.

Government Primary School (Namma Oora Shale), Kadiraiyanapallya, Indiranagar:

At first glance, one might fall for the school’s beautiful campus, huge play ground, enough
play materials for kids, nicely maintained building, excellent furnitures for the students and
computer. The biggest advantage of this school is that it has been adopted by the Hotel
Leela Palace, who have developed it in their desired way.

Infrastructure: Furnitures, playing materials, computer and the servant for the school are
all arranged by the Hotel. The food students get here comes from their adoptors.
The school can compete with any private school in terms of campus and infra-structure.
However, the school has only two teachers. With classes from 1 to 5, the number of
students has been reduced from 45 last year to 35 this year.
Event Name : Governor Rameshwar Thakur inaugurated the Featherlite Pottery Town government high school at Pottery
Event Date : 17th June 2008
Event Description : Governor Rameshwar Thakur interacting with children during the inauguration of the Featherlite
Pottery Town government high school at Pottery Town ,organised by east round table 27 and Bangalore east ladies circle 31
Photo Date : 17th June 2008
Photo Caption : Governor Rameshwar Thakur inaugurating the featherlite Pottery Town government high school at
Pottery Town ,organised by east round table 27 and Bangalore east ladies circle 31,also seen in the picture Visveswara
Hedge Kageri,Primary and secondary education Minister,RV Deshpande former Minister and others, in Bangalore on Tuesday
17th June 2008
Photo Credit : pics4news.com
 INAUGRATION OF THE FEATHERLITE POTTERY TOWN
GOVERNMENT HIGH SCHOOL “PHASE II”

The School
Dear Members of Area and National Board, Sq.Legs,Ht's, Tablers and Circlers,

It is indeed a very satisfying day today with the Inaugration of the IInd Phase of The Landmark
Featherlite Pottery Town Govt. High School under the Chairmanship of Tr.Ajay Chandani and
Chairperson Cr. Karishma Chandani ,a school built in patnership with the Government of Karnataka. We
at BERT27 once again were able to carry on the tradition set by our predessors of providing
infrastructure and support by providing another platform in the area of community service and also
fulfilling the goal of our parent organization Round Table India - "Freedom Through Education".

The chief Guest Shri Ramesh Arvind with Chairman Tr.Ajay and Chairperson Cr.Karishma

It is our pleasure to inform you that we have inaugrated the IInd Phase of the school today consisting of
one auditorium, one classroom and a toilet block. The inaugration was carried out at the hands of our
Chief Guest Shri Ramesh Arvind a versatile Actor and member of the film fraternity. Also present to grace
the occasion were our Guests of Honour Area 6 Chairman Tr.Naveen Pishe and Area 6 Chairperson Cr.
Lata Bhaskar who were kind enough to inaugrate the classroom and toilet block respectively and Shri
Jawahar Gopal - Director Featherlite Group our chief Donor. We should also mention some names
associated with the project firstly our Donors , Mr.Vijaykumar our contractor and his team, IPC Tr.Prasad
Deshpande -our project conveynor,Mr.Abhay Jain, Mr.Kamath without whom this project wouldn't have
been a reality.

The Featherlite Pottery Town Goverment High School a Dream project turned reality , will cater to atleast
650 children a Model school with all facilities including Library,Computer centre and a Auditorium . As we
see and were informed by the Principal of the school Shri. Aswathnarayan that the number of students in
the school have gone up by 20% after the infrastructure was provided. Today we have fullfiled the Theme
for the year "One Life Many Dreams" by providing this small gift to the community and will continue doing
so till we can.

We BERT27 thank everyone present and who have contribuited to making this program and the
school successful.

Anant Toshniwal.
Secretary BERT27

SCHOOL INAUGRATION CHIEF GUEST RAMESH ARVIND

INAUGRATES THE AUDITORIUM

AREA CHAIRPERSON CR. LATA AREA CHAIRMAN TR.NAVEEN

BHASKAR INAUGRATES TOILET PISHE INAUGRATES THE
BLOCK CLASSROOM

LIGHTING OF LAMP BY CHIEF WELCOME BY CHAIRMAN TR.AJAY

GUEST SHRI RAMESH ARVIND AND AND CHAIRPERSON CR.KARISHMA
CHIEF DONOR SHRI JAWAHAR
GOPAL
THE STUDENTS THE RAMESH ARVIND FAN CLUB

THE FACULTY

THE TABLING COMMUNITY

ANNEXURE - II