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CIFA-Thums Up Rural Games leap across the Region

• Andhra Pradesh leads the way; Rural Games to reach Karnataka and Maharashtra
• Confederation of Indian Farmers Associations and Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited renew commitment to rural communities
• Second edition of CIFA-Thums Up Rural Games to cover 32 centers in three states
• Revamped and expanded scale of operations to enhance the experience for participants, spectators and villagers
• Free medical and health camps to be an integral feature of the events
• Public-Private-Partnerships to extend a range of information services for benefit of villagers

Hyderabad, 25th April, 2007: Consortium of Indian Farmers Associations (CIFA) and Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages renewed their commitment towards the rural communities and announced the launch of the second edition of CIFA-Thums Up Rural Games to be conducted in three States, viz. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra, this year. The second edition of the Games will cover 32 centres in these states with plans to extend the reach to more locations and new states in the coming years.

Inspired by the experience of last year, and encouraged by the enthusiastic response from rural communities in Andhra Pradesh, the partners have further revamped and expanded the scale of operations to enhance the experience for participants, spectators and villagers. This includes conducting free medical and health camps as an integral part of the Games and provision of a range of information services for the benefit of villagers that will be offered on the strength of unique public-private partnerships being forged with different agencies and organizations such as the Indian Red Cross, Government’s Department of Agriculture, Department of Health & Family Welfare, and Velugu etc.

The 2007 edition of CIFA-Thums Up Rural Games will be inaugurated at Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad on April 28. The Games will then roll out across 20 other centres almost back-to-back over the next one month in the first leg. The schedule for conducting the Games in Karnataka and Maharashtra is also being finalized and will be announced soon.

Mr. P. Chengal Reddy, Secretary General of CIFA said, “This is an innovative exercise to explore new benchmarks for public-private partnerships that go beyond the conventional business relationships. We are delighted to join hands with Hindustan Coca-Cola in this initiative which has now become part of the company’s corporate citizenship programme and is the only example of its kind anywhere in the country”.

Mr.Deepak Kaul, Region Vice President of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited said, “The fist edition of the CIFA-Thums Up Rural Games proved to be a learning ground for us wherein we came closer to the communities and learnt many new things in the process. We believe that the objectives of Rural Games would be fulfilled only if this initiative is sustained over a long term and are therefore privileged to renew our association with CIFA. Our significantly expanded association is a reaffirmation of the company’s commitment towards rural communities.”

For further information please contact:
Bapujee/Neha/Rahul, Hanmer & Partners: 040-66324621/64506905

 RURAL GAMES 2006