Amaan Ki Asha: Empathy for students and some tech support


Online classes are a challenge for students who can’t afford laptops. So Mohammed Amaan Asim arranged 17 computers for engg students through crowd-funding

Work-from-home and study-from-home might have seemed like solutions during the covid pandemic, but not entirely. Amaan Asim, a political science student of Ashoka University, realised that study-from-home for engineering students presented a challenge: “For their projects, engineering students need laptops that run on higher configurations. These were previously available in the college lab or some students could afford to purchase them. But for students from economically lower strata this was not possible and the closure of colleges became all the more challenging for them,” said Asim.

To raise funds to buy laptops for students from economically backward families, Asim launched a crowdfunding campaign in mid-October. He sent out an online form to students through his existing network and received 75 applications.

“We shortlisted students on the basis of their financial background and academic merit. We then managed to raise Rs 2.20 lakh through crowd funding and the rest through our regular donors Humane Touch. We managed to secure premium Dell laptops at Rs 7.70 lakh, for a concessional rate,” said Asim.

We shortlisted students on the basis of their financial background and academic merit. We then managed to raise s 2.20 lakh through crowd-funding and the rest through our regular donors

– Amaan Asim, a political science student of Ashoka University

Through this initiative, 17 engineering students and 5 non-engineering graduates received laptops to study and work remotely. “Majority of these students come from either below poverty line (BPL) families or families who have had massive reductions in their income due to the lockdown,’’ he said.

Asim has been flooded with more requests from students from economically backward families. He hopes he can help them in future too.

Thanking Humane Touch and Amaan Asim for providing laptops to the needy and deserving engineering students, Syeda Muskaan Fatima

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, who is pursuing engineering at Dayananda Sagar Academy of Technology and Management, said the laptop was of immense help her. “My father is an autorickshaw driver. I got a seat in this college through the Common Entrance Test (CET).

With this laptop, I’m able to attend online classes,” said Syeda Muskaan Fatima. Her future plans include clearing her father’s debts and buying a house. But she also wants to pay it forward. “I want to help needy students too,’’ she said.

MACHINE, LEARNING: Mohammed Amaan Asim and some of the students who have received the laptops, thanks to his crowd-funding initiative

Another beneficiary is Chaithra Gowda, a 3rd year engineering student of Bangalore Institute of Technology. She hails from Mavathur near Kanakapura and her father is a farmer. “I used to depend on a cyber café to do my project work since my parents could not afford to buy a laptop for me. I came to know about Humane Touch and Amaan Asim through my friend. I’m indeed grateful to them. I can do my studies from the comfort of my home,” she said. Chaithra’s first goal is to get a job and clear her education loan. “I also want to clear my father’s debts. Then I would like to join hands with Humane Touch to help other needy students,’’ she said.

Shoaib Ahmed, another recipient of the laptop said, “I joined New Horizon College of Engineering through the government quota. My father works at a warehouse outside Bengaluru.

Earlier, I used to find it difficult to do my project work without a laptop. This gift from Humane Touch and Amin has made my life comfortable,” said Shoaib Ahmed.

Asim’s empathy and interest have helped shape 17 lives and they will surely pay it forward.



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Sagar Biswas

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