Djarum funds 387 university students

Djarum funds 387 university students

KLATEN: As part of its corporate social responsibility programs, cigarette producer PT Djarum awarded on Wednesday 387 scholarships to university students from 65 universities from across the country.

The scholarships were officially presented in a festive ceremony held at Pelataran Wisnu (or Wisnu Opening) of Prambanan Temple in Klaten, Central Java, on Wednesday evening.

Held under the title of Malam Dharma Puruhita, the ceremony was also made merrier with the appearance of a number of national singers including Krisdayanti, Christoper Abimanyu, Once, Ahmad Dhani and Djaduk Ferianto's Kua Etnika orchestra.

Speaking at a press conference held ahead of the ceremony on Tuesday, PT Djarum's Head of Corporate Affairs Suwarno M. Serad said that the company had been providing the scholarships for the past 10 years.

However, Malam Dharma Puruhita has only been held for three years. Wednesday's event was the fourth that the company has held to officially present the scholarships to the selected recipients.

"We consider this as our long-term investment in the development of our human resources," Suwarno said.

As such, he said, the scholarship recipients were also obliged to participate in a number of off-campus activities that PT Djarum provided in a bid to improve their non-academic competence.

"Through the program we want to create job creators, not just job-seekers," said Suwarno, adding that as of 2005, PT Djarum had awarded a total of 4,646 scholarships to university students under the same program. -- JP