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10
November 2006
Aditya Birla Nuvo is a member of the Global Compact,
an international forum that operates under the
aegis of the United Nations. The forum's vision
is to usher in a "more sustainable and global
economy." There are 10 basic principles outlined
in its charter and the following pages highlight
the thinking and initiatives of the company in
those areas.
Human
Rights
1.
Businesses should support and respect the protection
of internationally proclaimed human rights
Aditya Birla Nuvo ascribes to the human rights policy
of the United Nations and Global Compact. It has
a comprehensive policy and a code of conduct which
is binding on all employees who must sign it on
their induction in to the company. It protects the
interests of the employee and other stakeholders.
"Integrity, trust, fairness and honesty are
the basics that guide our strategies, our behaviour
and the relationships we build with people, both
internally and externally. Each of us will exercise
the highest level of ethical and professional behaviour,"
states the policy.
2. Businesses should make sure that they are not
complicit in human right abuses
Aditya Birla Nuvo endeavours to uphold the human
rights outlined in the Global Compact. Not only
in terms of its employees, as detailed above, but
also for others such as customers and business associates.
Here is what the policy states: "We are committed
to our customers, to fulfilling their present needs
and anticipating their unmet needs. We are dedicated
to continually improving quality, usefulness and
value of our products and services that help our
customers enhance their performance. We provide
value for customers through creativity, innovation,
productive relationships, quick response and simplicity
in all that we engage in."
Going
beyond business, the company is engaged in community
work, concentrating largely in the rural areas
close to its manufacturing plants. The company's
work is based on the felt needs of the communities.
It is in tandem with the Group's social vision
which is "to make a qualitative difference
to the lives of the weaker sections of society
in proximity to our plants and in doing so improve
the Human Development Index of our nation."
For
the year 2005-06, Aditya Birla Nuvo reached out
to over 28 lakh people. We focus on improving
the quality of life among the weaker sections
of the society straddled across areas such as
health care, mother and child care, education,
sustainable livelihood, women self help groups,
social welfare and infrastructure.
A
summary of our projects undertaken in 2005-06:
- Conducted
300 medical camps across the units, reaching
out to 66,000 patients.
- More
than 3000 patients were checked at eye camps,
of which 400 patients were provided with spectacles
and 428 patients were operated upon and fitted
with intra ocular lenses.
- Coordination
with the government health departments and agencies
like CARE and SIFPSA has helped to cover 1,95,000
families under the mother and child health care
programme.
- AIDS
awareness programmes organised across all the
units were attended by over 4000 adults.
- The
Aditya Junior High School in Belhatthi Panchayat,
run by HiTech Carbon, Renukoot, helps provide
quality education to 109 under-privileged students.
- Water
harvesting structures supports thousands of
families, facilitating irrigation processes
and potable drinking water.
Labour
Standards
3.
Businesses should uphold the freedom of association
and the effective recognition of the right to
collective bargaining
Our manufacturing locations have workers in the
unionised cadre. Long term settlements are signed
with the workers at regular frequency wherein
the management and union leaders sit across the
table and negotiate the terms of the settlement.
The process is peaceful and productive across
all locations.
Being
essentially a meritocracy and a peoples' organisation,
our attention in the people area remains unwavering.
We are enhancing the quality and the pace of the
institutionalisation of our systems and processes.
These now embrace the entire life cycle of the
employee's engagement with the organisation. Several
new initiatives have been taken towards the well
being of our employees, particularly in the area
of healthcare, education of their children and
other critical aspects. We have cordial relations
with our shopfloor colleagues, creating a work
place environment that nurtures innovation and
encourages people to constantly learn and grow.
4.
The elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory
labour
People are keen to associate with Aditya Birla Nuvo
out of their own volition. The terms and conditions
are explained in detail openly before the appointment
is formalised.
5. The effective abolition of child labour
Aditya Birla Nuvo does not employ child labourers.
6. Eliminate discrimination in respect of employment
and occupation
Aditya Birla Nuvo is an equal opportunities employer.
Our policy states: "We respect the individual
rights and dignity of all people. We believe in
the inherent potential of employees and are fully
committed to people development processes in our
company in a fair, equitable and transparent manner.
We encourage employees to grow professionally and
personally to their highest capabilities regardless
of nationality, caste, religion, colour or sex."
Environment
7.
Businesses should support a precautionary approach
to environmental challenges
Our environment policy clearly states: "We
are committed to sustainable development and to
the health and safety our employees and the environment
surrounding our plants. To building eco-efficiency
in all of our operations and to guarding natural
resources. We are committed to going beyond stipulated
requirements and ensure energy conservation and
productive recycling of waste."
The
OEKO TEX Certification for Aditya Birla Nuvo's
Rayon brands —- RayOne and KolorOne endorses
that they meet the highest ecological requirements
established for products that come into direct
contact with the skin. The Rayon Division's caustic
soda plant is reckoned as a benchmark plant with
the lowest rate of solid waste per tonne of production.
At Veraval, sodium sulphide is made from hydrogen
sulphide and sodium hypochloride is produced from
waste chlorine. Our plant uses hydrogen gas to
produce caustic flakes. It is one of the cleanest
fuels for the flaker furnace.
At
Jayshree textiles in Rishra, the effluent treatment
plant has been upgraded to factor the expansion
of its wool combing division. The three projects
taken up under the clean development mechanism
under the aegis of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have been
validated and are now awaiting registration with
the UNFCCC.
8.
Undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental
responsibility
We
relentlessly pursue the development of cleaner production
processes that inherently reduce pollution levels
and require fewer resources. All of Aditya Birla
Nuvo's plants have received OHSAS 18001 certification
for Safety Management Systems and are SA 8000 certified
for Social Accountability Standards. Professional
Environmental Auditors, The Central Salt and Marine
Chemical Institute (Bhavnagar), - a Gujarat Pollution
Control Board recognised institute, GITCO - Ahmedabad
and the Bureau of Indian Standards conduct in-depth
environmental audits at our plants. Their audit
reports validate our commitment to environmental
conservation. Additionally, trained environment
systems auditors conduct periodic checks.
Several
accolades have been conferred on the Company for
its contribution to environment conservation.
A selective list is given below.
Aditya
Birla Nuvo's Rayon Division has been the proud
recipient of
- The
Ministry of Power's National Energy Conservation
Award from the Bureau of Energy Efficiency,
which declared it as the best in this sector.
- The
Greentech Foundation Award for commendable safety
standards in the chemicals sector.
- The
Gujarat Safety Council's Safety Award for best
practices in the textile sector.
- The
National Safety Council of India awarded the
Suraksha Puraskar to the company's fertiliser
division.
- Aditya
BirlaNuvo's HiTech division, which manufactures
carbon black, was named "The Greentech
Gold Award Winner for Environmental Excellence."
9.
Encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally
friendly technologies
At Aditya Birla Nuvo's insulator plant, the bare
effluent waste generated is recycled for low tension
insulators and whatever is not used is dispensed
to the cottage industries.
Steam
and electricity are generated through rechannelising
of gases. The power so generated is used for captive
consumption and the additional steam is sold to
Hindalco, another of our Group companies, which
is in proximity to our company's plant in Renukoot.
At the company's fertiliser division, processes
towards better environment management are in place.
The plant has zeolite softeners, deep hydrolyser,
ammonia stripping systems, de-dusting systems,
oily water treatment systems and guard ponds,
supported by effective online monitoring system
to safeguard the environment.
The
company's fertiliser division's project "Energy
Efficiency through installation of modified CO2
Removal System" in the ammonia plant is the
first project worldwide in the fertiliser sector
to be registered with the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
10.
Businesses should work against all forms of corruption,
including extortion and bribery
The company policy clearly states: "I
will not seek or encourage bribes or kickbacks
in any form. I will not deal with a supplier who
offers me a bribe to get a contract awarded."
Adherence to the policy is total and no leniency
is shown to a defaulter.
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The
Aditya Birla Group has re-articulated the
values that spawn across its diverse businesses
and locations and act as an organisational
glue to bind people together. These values
are: Integrity, Commitment, Passion, Speed
and Seamlessness. The values drive the organisational
thinking and processes-whether related to
people, manufacturing, environment or community
responsibility, the bedrock of the principles
outlined by the UN Global Compact.
Here is what our Chairman Mr. Kumar Mangalam
Birla has to say: "Great businesses
are never built on the quick sands of opportunism.
If living by our values means, perhaps growing
at a pace slower than we would otherwise
liked, so be it. For us, leadership lies
at the heart of knowing what we stand for."
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