During his 2011 Gandhi Fellowship in Jhunjhunu district, Rajasthan, funded by Piramal; Saurabh Mehrotra saw poor farmers mortgage land for small loans of 20,000–25,000 rupees, just to fund their children’s polytechnic or ITI courses. “Even for polytechnic and ITI courses, they lacked funds and had to mortgage a full bigha of land,” Saurabh recalls.
School principals knew little about scholarships, and distant offices demanded complex papers. These gaps inspired Youth Dreamers Foundation (YDF), registered in 2015 and active from 2016. Today, YDF has aided over 35,000 students, mostly tribal, first-generation learners from low-income homes with more than 30 crore rupees in scholarships, plus career guidance, skills training, and digital centers.
Saurabh’s Story Fuels the Mission
Saurabh Mehrotra, CEO and founder of Youth Dreamers Foundation, born in Biswan block in Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh, Mehrotra’s early years unraveled when his father joined the Uttar Pradesh State Handloom Corporation Ltd. By 1995, the department verged on bankruptcy, forcing his father into a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) and triggering salary blackouts lasting six months to two and a half years. “For the last 2 and a half years, they didn’t get salaries,” Mehrotra recounts while talking to The Logical Indian. The family teetered on the edge, rationing food while he and his sister, a year younger, endured chaotic education: shuttling between private and government schools three to four times in 9th through 12th grades. “When I was in 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, that time I was struggling in private school, then government school… so almost 3-4 times,” he reflects.
Graduation beckoned a move to Lucknow, where Mehrotra balanced daytime pre-operator jobs and part-time marketing with studies, unaware of scholarships beyond SC/ST/OBC. A pivotal RTI activist friend changed that, revealing EWS (Economically Weaker Section) schemes via a Government Resolution (GR). Persistence won full post-matric funding for graduation and his MBA in Rural Development from Lucknow University; zero cost, despite registrars and clerks insisting, “There is no scholarship for general candidates, only for SC/STs.” Placed at Piramal, In Rajasthan Gandhi fellowship exposed rural plights, leading to four-five years in teacher training before YDF’s birth. “If availing a scholarship transformed my life, imagine how many students remain unaware of these opportunities.” he says while talking to The Logical Indian.
Scholarships at the Core
YDF’s heartbeat is scholarships, meticulously categorized into school, diploma, degree, and professional streams, with maximums of 60,000-80,000 rupees calibrated to course needs. The 2016 HCL Foundation collaboration marked liftoff: designing “My Scholar” for third-party workers’ children- security guards, hospitality staff, starting at 70-80 students and expanding to 300. “HCL foundation supports these student scholarships almost 70-80 students go in the first year and then increase to 100, 200, 250 students, 300,” Mehrotra details while talking to The Logical Indian. “The scholarship is divided into 4 categories- meritorious, need based, talent and competition based Schemes, maximum scholarship will be 60, 70, 80,000, 1 lakh rupees.”
Youth Dreamers Foundation (YDF) has developed its own holistic scholarship management portal and mobile app, enabling CSR partners, philanthropic organizations, and individual donors to seamlessly launch and manage scholarships. The platform offers real-time tracking, transparent reporting, and a user-friendly experience across web and mobile platforms. Another program, Scholar Connect amplifies existing government and market schemes with awareness drives, document aid, and application navigation; crucial in areas where even principals are clueless.
Customized CSR/philanthropy programs cater to donors, while institutional partnerships fill gaps: “We offer them, we will work for you… design and execute the scholarship for you on the ground, in a transparent and real-time mode.” The online portal maps the student journey: mobilization, applications, Verification, and disbursements, communications. YDF has achieved a cumulative impact of supporting 35,000 scholars with over 30 crore rupees in scholarships, including 15,000 students in Bihar receiving 15 crore rupees, alongside operations in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and beyond. Also YDF is nurturing a 5,000-member alumni scholars network where beneficiaries become benefactors, supporting future scholars through mentorship, resources, and shared commitment to collective progress.
Tribal Support and Career Guidance
In 2017, a milestone MOU with Maharashtra’s Tribal Development Department, under the guidance of Principal Secretary Mrs Manisha Verma, embedded scholarship cells in over 50 ashram schools across Nashik, Raigad, Palghar, and Mumbai fringes.
These hubs execute scholarships alongside career guidance in Marathi, tackling unawareness of future skills, private jobs, social-emotional learning, and aspiration-building. “We formed the scholarship cell in ashram schools, to execute the scholarship programs as well as career counseling; these tribal girls and boys aren’t aware about their career, and future skills,” Mehrotra emphasizes while talking to The Logical Indian.
Skills Building and Digital Hubs
YDF recognizes that scholarships alone achieve only 20-30% placement rates without additional support. To address this, the foundation became implementation partner for STEM for Her programme supported by Genpact. YDF created a comprehensive employability curriculum blending career exploration, interpersonal development, and job-ready skills, initially for 350 first-generation girls from premier NIIT and IIT/AIEEE campuses in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Warangal, and Lucknow. “Once students start their education, we encounter new challenges, they often remain unplaced,” Mehrotra explains while talking to The Logical Indian. Delivered through experienced psychologists, mindful sessions to manage stress, discomfort and anxiety. The 60-70 hour program covers communication, networking, self-motivation, and anti-ragging strategies, boosting Internships, exposures and placement success to 50-70%.
Tier 2-3 Digital Learning Resource Centers in Alwar’s Paharur Bado, Nashik’s Kavankhet, Chandigarh’s Tera Bassi create free havens: libraries, exam prep, MS Office (Dashboard, power BI, excel formulas, VLOOKUP), social media, low-code websites, small business entrepreneurship ideas, Girls are often more involved in household chores or don’t get space to study, we provide that kind of safe space for them. In small villages like these, such spaces are rare, and when available, they charge 600-800 rupees monthly fees families can’t afford regularly, paying only during exams. So, we offer a completely free space with water, air conditioning, study areas, libraries stocked with competitive exam books, and even interpersonal skills materials in local languages,” Mehrotra notes while talking to The Logical Indian.
Lives Transformed: Real Stories
Nikita Keshav Walke grew up in Khedle, a small farming village in Dindori, Nashik, where families rely on agriculture and higher education remains rare. With her family of four earning less than ₹1 lakh annually, her father tilling fields, her mother managing the home, and her elder sister working, basic needs stretched thin, making college seem impossible. Yet, backed by her parents’ unwavering support, Nikita dreamed of engineering. In 2020, she discovered YDF’s PRIF Scholarship, which provided annual aid for five years, easing financial pressures and offering mentorship that built her confidence.
She completed her Diploma and Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering at Loknete Gopinathji Munde Institute of Engineering, Nashik, graduating in 2025 to become a Technical Trainee at Disha Computer Institute. Her modest salary now stabilizes her family, while she inspires relatives and villagers. “My journey is just the beginning,” Nikita says. “I want to guide other rural girls to believe in themselves and chase their dreams, just as YDF believed in me.”
Sarang Gopal More, from Awankhed village in Dindori, Nashik, sought to become the first in his family to escape limited opportunities, despite most youth opting for industrial jobs nearby. His family of five survived on ₹50,000–75,000 yearly, his father a farm laborer and shopkeeper, his mother tailoring, and his younger sister starting school, making an engineering degree unattainable. Encouraged by his parents’ faith, Sarang secured YDF’s PRIF Scholarship in 2021.
Over four years, it covered fees at MET’s Institute of Engineering, Nashik, while mentorship reinforced his potential. Graduating in 2025, he landed a Junior Software Engineer role at CentraLogic India Pvt. Ltd. in Pune, earning ₹4 lakhs annually. His first paycheck supported his family and funded his sister’s engineering college enrollment, shifting mindsets among neighbors and proving that determination and support can redefine futures.
Tackling Systemic Barriers: YDF’s Fight for Equitable Access
India’s higher education Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) currently stands at just 28.4%, well below the National Education Policy’s ambitious 2030 target of 50% under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Viksit Bharat vision. Youth Dreamers Foundation (YDF) confronts this gap head-on, working to make quality higher education accessible and affordable for deserving youth from marginalized backgrounds.
The organization faces familiar nonprofit challenges, donors demanding massive scale over meaningful depth, scarce funding for essential R&D, HR, and technology investments, and the heavy compliance burdens of CSR funding that often overshadow actual impact. YDF’s own 2023 survey of 102 scholarship recipients across Bihar, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Rajasthan paints a stark picture: 78% struggle with complex applications requiring multiple documents, reimbursement delays force families to pay fees upfront, STEM programs receive disproportionate attention while 60% of recipients pursue arts and commerce, and SC/ST/OBC students alongside female scholars face persistent caste and gender discrimination.
Systemic issues compound the problem; only 25% of students independently knew about available schemes, institutional staff showed bias, and scholarship disbursements averaged delays of 6–12 months. Real stories bring these numbers to life: YDF once received a desperate email from a girl facing domestic abuse, unable to leave home despite securing IIT Patna admission. Without ever seeing her face, they covered her ₹1 lakh fees, enabling her escape and second-semester progress.
In the next 3 years YDF targeting ₹50 crore through new FCRA certification, YDF navigates fierce talent competition from corporate foundations while battling nonprofit salary stigmas, 60-70% of funds go directly to students. Even as it evolves from scholarship facilitation to comprehensive mentoring & skilling programs, YDF stays committed to low-GER regions like Bihar & Jharkhand (just 18-19%), proving quality impact matters more than sheer numbers.
Future Beyond Scholarships: Financial Empowerment
Looking ahead 5–10 years, YDF is tackling its biggest challenge, reducing reliance on unpredictable scholarships, by pioneering financial planning alternatives. Scholarships depend on donors and face risks, like India’s 2025 closure of pre-matric schemes originally launched by Nehru in 1960, with post-matric programs potentially next amid rising unemployability and economic shifts. Instead, YDF promotes financial discipline and awareness of saving, a Co-Investing model like SIPs in mutual funds, leveraging compound interest, Corporate volunteering, and Matching to bridge the gap between parents’ 6–8% income growth and 10–15% annual hikes in higher education costs.
Partnering with asset management companies, they’re designing subsidized products: families contribute some EMIs, YDF covers others, fostering self-reliance for 75% of lower-middle-class households. This addresses low gross enrollment ratios, 28% nationally, just 18% in Bihar, where only 6–7% benefit from scholarships and 70% of education loans become NPAs. Unlike loans or risky credit schemes, these tools build financial discipline, ensuring kids from tier-2/3 cities secure higher education without debt traps, much like everyday EMIs for iPhones despite cheaper options.
Despite hurdles like scale demands and funding limits, Youth Dreamers Foundation builds brighter futures. Saurabh Mehrotra captures it: “If availing a scholarship transformed my life, imagine how many students remain unaware.” One empowered life inspires countless more, turning dreams into reality.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
Youth Dreamers Foundation emerges as a vital force, bridging India’s 28.4% higher education GER toward NEP’s 50% goal through scholarships, skilling, and advocacy for deserving youth from the margins.
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