Swajan Foundation is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt charitable organization and its primary mission is to alleviate poverty through education. Swajan operates in USA as well as in India.
Background / History
Back in early 2002... Nilotpal Gupta, Nilanjan Porel, Sibaji Adak, and a handful of local volunteers collectively were distributing textbooks and school supplies to the needy students in Pursurah area of Hooghly district, West Bengal, India. Tarun Kotal, who grew up in the area and was working as a software engineer in the United States came to know about the initiative from his high school english teacher and Nilotpal’s father (Lt. Mr. Amio Gupta). Subsequently Tarun joined hands with Nilotpal, Nilanjan and Sibaji, and formed a Society (non profit org) called “Pursurah Society for Welfare, Attachment, Judicious Assistance and Nurture” in June 2002 to provide financial help to the bright underprivileged students so that they could complete their studies and stand in life.
In January 2017, Tarun Kotal and Uttara Mukherjee formed Swajan Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization in California, USA. In the same year (2017), the Swajan Foundation was approved as a tax-exempt private operating foundation by the IRS in the United States under the Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3).
In April 2021, to scale up the India operation and better compliance Swajan Foundation created a fully owned subsidiary, Swajan India Charitable Foundation, a non-profit Section-8 company registered with the RoC (i.e.. Registrar of Companies under the Indian Ministry of Corporate Affairs that deals with administration of the Companies Act, 2013)
Swajan started with about 10 students initially in India and slowly grew over the years. In the 2022-2023 school year we are supporting ~100 students in West Bengal, India.
In November 2021, Swajan Foundation started a program to provide support for childcare services for the families in need in Bay Area, California (partnering with Bay Area Crisis Nursery)
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Swajan Foundation - Key People
Tarun Kotal
(Founder & CEO)
Tarun Kotal is the Founder and CEO of Swajan Foundation. Tarun and his spouse are the principal benefactors of Swajan Foundation. Tarun is a software engineer by profession and he works for Google in the USA. Tarun and his family are fully committed to Swajan's charitable cause.
Uttara Mukherjee
(Executive Director)
Uttara Mukherjee is the company Secretary and an executive director of Swajan Foundation. Uttara oversees the research and implementation of appropriate programs that bring the maximum benefits to the community, she is one of the principal benefactors of the Foundation and committed to its cause. By profession Uttara is Vice President, HR Systems & Shared Services at Sephora in the USA.
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Swajan India Charitable Foundation - Key People
(A subsidiary of Swajan Foundation, USA)
Nilotpal Gupta
Nilotpal is a founding member of Swajan, a key volunteer of Swajan India and fully committed to Swajan’s cause. He is currently heading Swajan's India operation. By profession Nilotpal is a C.D.P.O. at the Govt. of West Bengal.
Subrata Bhowmik
Subrata is an IT professional and currently works for Wipro Technologies. He provides his invaluable guidance to Swajan’s students, makes donation to Swajan India and is very committed to its cause. Subrata oversees the accounting for Swajan India.
Chandi Charan Samanta
Chandi is one of the directors of Swajan India Charitable Foundation. Chandi also is a former student of Swajan, he holds an MBA from University of Calcutta and is currently employed with Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd. in Kolkata, India.
Anup Kheto
Anup is a former student of Swajan and an active member of Swajan India. He provides his invaluable guidance to Swajan’s students, makes donation to Swajan India, is very committed to its cause and helped run Swajan's India operation smoothly. He is currently working at Weilburger Coatings (India) Pvt Ltd.