Bala Mandir training centre gets extension building

SUPPORT TO POOR STUDENTS: T. V. Kini, former general manager, Larsen and Toubro, inaugurating an extension building of the Bala Mandir-P.H. Mortensen Industrial Training Centre in Chennai on Wednesday. C .R. Ramakrishnan, former JMD, ECC (right); Lars Odd Pettersen, chairman, Braade Stiftung, Denmark (second from right); and Maya Gaitonde, honorary general secretary, Bala Mandir Kamaraj Trust (left), are in the picture.


CHENNAI: The Bala Mandir-P.H. Mortensen Industrial Training Centre now has an extension building, which will enable poor students of the Mandir to get basic training in carpentry.

The centre was been built with the help of L&T ECC.

The extension building was inaugurated on Wednesday by T.V. Kini, former general manager, Larsen and Toubro.

A. Ramakrishna, former president and deputy managing director, Larsen and Toubro, said P.H. Mortensen, one of the legendary visionaries behind L&T, was a carpenter by profession and showed a keen interest in the activities of Bala Mandir since 1962. Over the years, the Braade Stiftung Trust, set up by him, was a major support for Bala Mandir’s service initiatives.

The students of the industrial training centre came from poor families in semi-urban and rural areas and were being provided training free of cost, besides sponsorship of educational expenses, Maya Gaitonde, honorary general secretary, Bala Mandir Kamaraj Trust, said.

This year, the eighth batch of carpentry students and the sixth batch of electrical trainees would take their examinations. Bala Mandir’s selfless service to the poor students need to be appreciated and encouraged and L&T was happy to support the cause through various donations, K.V. Rangaswami, former president and deputy managing director, L&T, said,

V. Sethuram, president of Bala Mandir Kamaraj Trust, and Lars Odd Pettersen, chairman of Braade Stiftung, Denmark, were present.