Both programmes qualify for CSR expenditure under Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013, read with Schedule VII: item (ii) — promoting education, including employment-enhancing vocational skills, especially among women; and item (iii) — promoting gender equality and empowering women. Both advance UN Sustainable Development Goals 4, 5 and 8; the Saksham Yuva curriculum is additionally aligned to the National Education Policy 2020.
i
ONGOING PROJECT TREATMENT GUIDANCE [SECTION 135(6)]
Because a Saksham Mahila batch runs twelve months and will ordinarily straddle two financial years, a contributing company may at its discretion classify the project as an ongoing project under Section 135(6) — with unspent amounts transferred to its Unspent CSR Account and applied over the permitted period — or alternatively time its contribution so that utilisation completes within the financial year. EMVF aligns batch scheduling and reporting to the treatment chosen.