CRY championed the importance of child education through the beautiful game, football, on Saturday (Nov 26) at the Mohun Bagan Athletic Club Football Ground. The tournament was organised by CRY – Child Rights and You, in association with Genius Consultants Ltd. This match celebrated love for football took a new turn and became a platform for ensuring children across CRY-supported projects get access to the right to education and the schools they deserve. Here’s a report in Different Truths.
Kolkata geared up for a football tournament with a difference, as ‘Soccer for Child Rights’ kicked off at the Mohun Bagan Athletic Club Football Ground, on Saturday (Nov 26). The tournament was organised by CRY – Child Rights and You, in association with Genius Consultants Ltd.
The City of Joy has always witnessed unmatched passion for the game of football. This match celebrated love for football took a new turn and became a platform for ensuring children across CRY-supported projects get access to the right to education and the schools they deserve. The beautiful game of football is known to have changed lives for the better, and this time around, it was a wonderful opportunity for the city to show its concern for the rights of children in a unique manner.
Nokia, Airtel, Ola, Swiggy, Tega Industries Pvt. Ltd, Larsen and Toubro, Arohan, HDFC Bank and SREI participated in the day-long tournament, with their office teams to vie for the winner’s trophy, and also stood united for the cause of education for children.
Emerging as winners of the day, Md. Ali Ansari, Captain of the team from HDFC Bank said, “We feel extremely proud to be part of this wonderful initiative and being the winners of the very first edition of the CRY Soccer for Child Rights, Kolkata.” The team from Swiggy was the runners up. “Though we lost, this feels amazing. And we’re so proud to be part of this noble cause,” said Abhishek Ghosh, Captain, Swiggy. However, the real winner of the day was child rights.
The initiative was also duly supported by Prize Sponsor Ola, Beverage Partner Aqua Diamond, Online Ticketing Partner Explara, Hospitality Partner Chowman, Venue Partner Mohun Bagan Athletic Club and Radio Partner 94.3 Radio One.
Present at the event, to encourage the players and to show solidarity to the cause were football icons Chuni Goswami, Shyam Thapa, Goutam Sarkar, Actors Saayoni Ghosh and Debdut Ghosh. “It feels great to witness that so many corporate teams have come together to play for the cause of child rights. This involvement and passion will most definitely ensure lasting change for children,” said Goswami. Shyam Thapa and Gautam Sarkar welcomed the initiative by CRY and hoped that the next edition is bigger and better.
“For CRY every individual counts and every contribution matters. We have never set boundaries to the ways in which people can contribute towards the cause of child rights. In this context, ‘Soccer for Child Rights’ is a significant step forward. Not only does it give the corporate employees to take time off from their busy schedule for the game they love, but also gives them a platform to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged children while doing what they love!” said Atindra Nath Das, Regional Director, CRY (East).
“The very idea behind ‘Soccer for Child Rights’ is to bring focus to the fact that people from every walk of life must come together to uphold the rights of our children, in their own capacity, at every possible level. Investing in children today means that a country such as India has a chance to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty, inadequacy, malnutrition, abuse and violence. And investing in quality education is one of the very first steps,” Atindra Nath Das added.
In support of the first of its kind initiative in the city, R.P Yadav, Honourable CMD, Genius Consultants Ltd. said, “Children are the future of the nation. Thus every child is special in his/her own way. We in Genius, believe equal opportunity for one and all, and so does CRY. Genius Consultants Ltd. is proud to be associated with ‘Soccer for Child Rights – Kick off a bright future for children.’ I am sure this genuine initiative will bring heavenly smiles on the lips of several thousand needy children across our nation.” Genius Consultants Ltd is one of the largest staffing firms in India.
Welcoming the event, Debasish Dutta, Secretary (Finance), Mohun Bagan Athletic Club said, “This is indeed a great pleasure for us to be associating with CRY – Child Rights and You in their endeavour to raise awareness towards child education through football. Being the oldest athletic club in the Eastern India with a glorious tradition of more than 125 years, Mohun Bagan always believes that sports can be a most befitting way to bring people together from all walks of life, and can help us in a big way in raising awareness on social causes. We do believe that if we all join hands, we can make it a better place for our children, and to do that we are ever-ready to make a difference.”
About CRY (www.cry.org): CRY – Child Rights and You (formerly known as Child Relief and You) is an Indian NGO that believes in every child’s right to a childhood – to live, to learn, grow and play. For over 30 years, CRY and its partners have worked with parents and communities to ensure Lasting Change in the lives of more than 20 lakh underprivileged children.
DTNS
Photos by CRY
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