PanIIT Alumni Reach For India (PARFI), the Nation building arm of PanIIT was set-up after PanIIT 2006 to implement and scale self-sustainable models that enhances incomes of the underprivileged. PARFI is a nonprofit, section 25 company, under the aegis of PanIIT Alumni India. The flagship initiative is that of Rural Skill Gurukuls. Rural BPO at Kandi (near IIT Hyderabad) and Rural-Agro-Processing-on-Rental basis for cotton-processing at Yavatmal are being done on a pilot basis.

PARFI pursues a passionate social agenda by reaching the un-reached segments but with a financially selfsustainable model. For example, PARFI’s rural skill gurukuls are open for admission only to Below-Poverty- Line students who are unskilled and typically have NOT passed the upper cut-off of class X. In India, most institutes including those run by the government do not admit school drop-outs, typically wards of daily wage laborers. This drives them into a vicious cycle of unskilled, uneducated work with no opportunity for skill upgrade leading to generational poverty.

The poor want, not unreliable hand-outs, but delivery of income enhancement services at a price they can afford and in cash flow terms they are comfortable with. This service delivery is at the heart of the business model. Considering that the target segment is often steeped in tradition, has a very low purchasing power (cannot afford the railway ticket to travel to the gurukul) and not necessarily driven by economic considerations alone , the initial cost of reach , penetration and achieving scalability are both high and often unpredictable . Hence a 'return OF capital ' model, knowing that timelines for achieving returns can be adversely impacted.