Over 1,450 young women get Lila Poonawalla Foundation scholarships

The event was graced by chief guest Shefali Bajaj, chairperson, CSR Steering Committee, Bajaj Finserv Ltd and Guest of Honour Tejaswini Sable, LILA Girl 2014 and nursing officer at AIIMS, Nagpur.

Sharmila Govande, Senior General Manager–Operations, along with members of the Board of Trustees, selection committee, senior LPF managers, donors and well-wishers, were also present.

A total of 1,450 scholarships were awarded in 2025, supporting students pursuing undergraduate and postgraduate nursing programmes and enabling them to build professional careers in healthcare.

Reflecting on the foundation’s milestone year, Lila Poonawalla, chairperson, LPF, said, “As we celebrate 30 years of LPF, we are proud to have empowered nearly 19,000 LILA Daughters. Beyond scholarships, we focus on skill development, career counselling and industry exposure to prepare our girls as confident professionals and leaders.”

Addressing the scholars, Tejaswini Sable said, “LPF pays attention to every girl and takes care of each one personally. I urge all nurses to practise with empathy and sympathy, as compassion is as important as clinical skill.”

Sharing her journey, Pranali Bhoyar, LILA Girl 2014 and Lecturer of Anatomy for final year MBBS, said, “LPF was the rebirth of my self-confidence. The foundation believed in me when I was lost, and that belief changed my life.”

Anushka Waghmare, a Class 7 student who secured third place at the International Robotics Championship in Estonia, Europe, said, “With support from LPF and BMC, I was able to participate in the competition. LPF has provided everything—from my fees to my bag and books.”

The event concluded by reaffirming LPF’s commitment to empowering young women through Engineering, Nursing, Pure Sciences, Health Sciences and other skill development programmes.