BusinessWire India
New Delhi [India], June 3: Emerging as a replicable model for sustainable education funding in India, Buddy4Study has announced that its GEV Memorial Kind Circle has mobilised over Rs 1 crore in donations and disbursed scholarships to 73 law students -- funded in part by the very scholars it once supported. The giving community, hosted on Buddy4Study's Kind Circle platform, is now seeing former beneficiaries return as active donors and mentors, challenging the conventional one-and-done approach to scholarship funding.
The GEV Memorial Kind Circle, a giving community hosted on the Kind Circle platform by Buddy4Study, has to date mobilised Rs 1,01,15,000 in donations and disbursed scholarships to 73 law students, with an average scholarship value of up to Rs 2,00,000 per scholar.
In the most recent demonstration of this model, a second-year law student at Kazi Nazrul University, West Bengal, whose widowed mother earns Rs 96,000 annually, received Rs 40,000 to continue his education. The largest single contribution, Rs 35,500, came from Devansh Saraswat, a GEV Memorial Scholarship alumnus from 2017-18, who now serves as a Legal Counsel at a leading private sector bank. He has also personally offered to mentor the student through his legal career.
The model -- scholarship recipients becoming scholarship donors -- is emerging as a replicable framework for sustainable education funding in India.
The GEV Memorial Kind Circle was established in memory of Dr. Goolam Essaji Vahanvati to support meritorious law students from financially constrained backgrounds. Over the years, it has helped students pursue legal education through scholarships and mentorship support.
What now makes the circle especially significant is the role of its former scholars. Several alumni of the scholarship are no longer only beneficiaries of the initiative. They are becoming contributors to it.
Recent contributions from former scholars include:
Devansh Saraswat: Rs 35,500
Advocate Devansh Malhotra: Rs 10,000
Shambhavi Sinha: Rs 5,000
Anet Johnson: Rs 1,000
Together, these contributions point to a larger possibility for India's education funding ecosystem: a model where scholarships do not end with one student's success, but continue through that student's decision to support someone else.
In April 2026, the GEV Memorial Kind Circle alumni network came forward to help with an urgent appeal for Siddhartha Deb, a second-year BA LL.B student at Kazi Nazrul University, West Bengal.
Siddhartha had lost his father at a young age, and his family was being supported solely by his mother, whose annual income is approximately Rs 96,000. Despite difficult circumstances, he had secured over 80% in school and continued to perform well in his law programme. However, he was struggling to meet his annual educational expenses of approximately Rs 40,000.
The Buddy4Study team had completed the required due diligence, including document verification and telephonic/video interaction, before sharing the appeal with the GEV scholar community.
The response was swift.
The full target of Rs 40,000 was mobilised to support Siddhartha's education. The largest contribution came from Devansh Saraswat, a former GEV Memorial Scholarship recipient, who contributed Rs 35,500. Other scholars, including Anet Johnson and Aleena, also extended support.
The amount has since been mobilised to help Siddhartha continue his education with dignity and hope.
Devansh Saraswat received the GEV Memorial Scholarship in 2017-18 while pursuing his five-year BBA LL.B programme at Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar. The scholarship support of Rs 2,00,000 helped him continue his legal education at a time when his family was managing financial strain.
His own journey had not been easy. When Devansh was in Class 9, his father, then a Branch Manager with a public sector bank, lost his job for a period of around 18 months. To reduce the financial burden on his family, Devansh moved from a private school to Banaras Hindu University's Central Hindu Boys School, saving his parents nearly Rs 55,000 a year in school fees.
Years later, when he heard about Siddhartha's need, Devansh chose to respond not only as a donor but also as someone who understood what timely support could mean for a student.
He personally contributed Rs 35,500. He also offered to personally mentor Siddhartha through his law journey.
Reflecting on his decision to give back, Devansh Saraswat, Legal Counsel at a leading private sector bank, said: "Most of us have, at some point, received support that changed the course of our lives, whether financial, mentorship, or simply someone believing in us when it mattered. This is not about how much any one of us contributes; it is about showing up. Even a small contribution, when many of us come together, can make a real difference. More importantly, it sends a message that as scholars, we don't just move ahead individually. We carry others along with us. Anyone can spend on themselves, but the real meaning lies in choosing to spend for someone else."
The GEV Memorial Kind Circle shows how education funding can move beyond one-time support. When former beneficiaries become donors, mentors and advocates, the scholarship becomes more than financial aid. It becomes a community.
For students from financially constrained families, timely support can protect years of hard work from being interrupted. For former scholars, giving back becomes a way of acknowledging the support they once received and extending it to someone else.
This is the core of the pay-it-forward model: support received by one student becomes support given to another.
Through Kind Circle, Buddy4Study enables individuals, families, alumni groups and organisations to create such giving communities with transparency, student verification and direct disbursal support. The GEV Memorial Kind Circle stands as one such example of how a focused scholarship community can create continuing impact when its own scholars return to strengthen it.
Advocate Devansh Malhotra, Advocate practising at the Supreme Court of India, said: "As a first-generation lawyer, I have experienced how powerful timely support can be. The GEV Memorial Scholarship reached me at a point when my family was going through one of its hardest phases, and even paying my college fees had become uncertain. Today, as I work at the Supreme Court of India, I carry that support with deep gratitude. When I had the opportunity to contribute towards another scholar's education, I saw it as continuing the same circle of support that once helped me move forward. I believe those of us who have received support must pay it forward in whatever capacity we can, because sometimes, standing by a student at the right moment can change the direction of their life, just as it changed mine."
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