Citibank India Extends Support To IDIA For Empowering Underprivileged Scholars

IDIA a premier not-for-profit organisation partners with Citi India to create legal luminaries and community leaders from within underprivileged sections of society.

About IDIA:

Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access to Legal Education (IDIA) is a pan India movement to train underprivileged students and transform them into leading lawyers and community advocates.

About Citi India:

In line with its commitment to make a positive difference to the communities where it works, Citi India's citizenship program targets its strategic efforts in the priority areas of Financial Capability & Asset Building, Microfinance, Enterprise Development, and Youth, Education & Livelihoods.

Shamnad Basheer, Founder and Managing Trustee, IDIA said, “We are honoured and privileged to collaborate with Citi India in our bid to build a more inclusive India.

Law is a powerful political instrument and our aim is to equip underprivileged communities with this tool by creating exceptional lawyers and leaders from within. This, we believe, will empower them in the true sense and free them from the shackles of passive charity dole outs.

Such access also helps redress the diversity deficit at the top law schools. Hardly 1% of the students at the top law schools come from a rural or vernacular medium school! We are thrilled that Citi chose to partner with us on this important mission.”

Since its inception in 2010, IDIA has sensitized more than 23,000 students in over 250 schools about law as a career option, and has selected and trained more than 300 underprivileged students. Of these students, 87 gained admission into leading law schools in India (these students are known as ‘IDIA scholars’). Out of the 87 IDIA scholars, 15 are visually impaired. IDIA scholars reflect a truly diverse mix, comprising candidates from various backgrounds including children of farmers, stone quarry workers, shopkeepers and clerks.

 In particular, the Citi support will extend to the following:

1. To help fund the college fees and stipendiary expenses of some of the IDIA scholars studying at the various law schools.


2. To help create core groups of student volunteers across 16 states in the country who sensitize youth on career opportunities in the legal stream and prod them towards taking up legal education and becoming leaders in the law.


3. To help support specific training programmes at IDIA such as CHAMPS (to create lawyers who are Creative, Holistic, Altruistic, and Maverick Problem Solvers) and CLAPS (an initiative to nudge our scholars towards leadership roles through Community Lawyering and Problem Solving).

For more information about this project and/or IDIA in general, please visit www.idialaw.com or email info@idialaw.com.

IDIA Press Contacts:

 Prof. (Dr.) Shamnad Basheer
Email: shamnad@idialaw.com