OREANDA-NEWS. September 27, 2011. mjunction services (mjunction), India’s largest eCommerce company, has been adjudged as the national winner in the ‘Employee Volunteering Programme of the Year’ category at the prestigious Apeejay India Volunteer Awards 2011 (AIVA) held in New Delhi on September 25, 2011. The award recognised mjunction’s contribution towards the society through its eLiteracy initiative called ejunction — a trust established to spread basic computer education among the financially challenged and the specially-abled individuals of society, which can help them get better employment opportunities.

mjunction has been conferred the Apeejay India Volunteer Award 2011 in the corporate category for outstanding execution of its employee volunteering programme. The other winner in this category was HSBC. short-listed nominees in the corporate category included Standard Chartered, GMR, BD, Bharti Airtel, Fidelity Investments, Accenture, IBM and Tata Consultancy Services. Organised by the Apeejay Surrendra Group, AIVA is a first-of-its-kind initiative to recognise and reward inspiring volunteering engagement and policies for individuals, NGOs and corporates. The awards programme was organised in association with iVolunteer, International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) and Tata Tea Jaago Re! as online partners and was supported by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV). Salman Khurshid, union minister for law and justice and Ministry of Minority Affairs, presided over the programme as chief guest and presented the awards to the winners. The four key award categories were — ‘Volunteer of the Year’, ‘Youth Volunteer of the Year’, ‘Volunteer involving NGO of the Year’ and ‘Employee Volunteering Programme of the Year’.

Viresh Oberoi, managing director, mjunction services and chairman, ejunction, commenting on the occasion, said, “We are delighted to receive this prestigious award and believe this recognition will encourage our employees to participate further in our volunteering programme. Today in this IT-enabled world, basic computer education is one of the key skill requirements for better employment and through ejunction we aim to empower the disadvantaged sections of the society to develop their eSkills. Since its inception, our employees have eagerly volunteered in this endeavour and the new joinees have shared keen interest to participate in the volunteering programme too. This programme has also helped us in promoting the spirit of sharing and giving amongst our employees.”

ejunction was started in May 2007 with the motive of empowering people by encouraging self-sufficiency and the growth of their communities. One of the main objectives of the trust is to promote e-education among the underprivileged, both among the company’s stakeholders and the society as a whole. The initiative had begun with a batch of 20 students. The first batch consisted mainly of mjunction support staff and security personnel. However, after its resounding success, the initiative was extended to the society at large.

mjunction employees based in Kolkata, Jamshedpur, Chennai and Durgapur volunteer as trainers for the four-month primary IT education course. The course covers Microsoft Office including Word, Excel, Powerpoint along with internet applications and essential communication skills. The support staff of mjunction, Tata Steel group companies, various service providers, and general students have been the beneficiaries of this unique eLiteracy programme.