|
SOCIAL REPORT
Even as we in India have made a mark on the globe as a reservoir of intellectual capital, as a nation we are grappling with quality of life challenges. More so in the hinterland where poverty continues to stalk nearly 26 crores of our rural populace. From independence to date we have come a long way and we have to go long way as well. Regrettably our human development index is at an abysmally low - 127.For over several decades, your company has been engaged in community work, concentrating largely in the rural areas close to your company’s plants. Your company’s social projects are carried out under the umbrella of the “Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural development”, under the leadership of Mrs Rajashree Birla, your Director. The Centre is the apex body. It provides the strategic direction for the Group’s community work, ensuring performance management and measurement of the impact of its initiatives as well.In working with the communities, we gauge what are their real needs. What we discovered is that people’s first need is to have potable water, second - agriculture and ways of sustainable livelihood, third - health care facilities, fourth - education and fifth - infrastructural facilities. So these are our areas of focus. Within it we have prioritized education and water projects.For the year 2004-05, we have made significant progress as indicated.Health care
Conducted 250 medical camps at which over 60,000 villagers were medically examined and those who were afflicted treated for their ailments.
3,100 villagers were checked for their eye sight of which 200 senior citizens were provided with intra ocular lens.
80 patients diagnosed with tuberculosis were treated and cured.
In collaboration with the Indian Red Cross Society, blood donation camps were organized at the various plants.
AIDS awareness camps built greater awareness amongst 6,000 students.
Homeopathy centres at Rishra and Barasat served over 3,630 members of the underserved communities.
An Allopathic Health Care Centre at Barasat catered to 1,962 patients while the health care centre at Gummidipoondi benefited 15,300 persons.
Mother and Child Care
Immunized 95,567 children against polio and 1,046 children for Hepatitis B.
1,884 couples have taken to planned families.
Education
Merit Scholarships earned by 105 students.
The Ankur Vidyalaya at Rishra provides adult education apart from basic learning to children. Over 240 beneficiaries have enrolled at the school.
Support to Kamakhya Balak Ashram which shelters 42 orphan children and runs a school for 650 students.
Infrastructural aid to schools continues.
The Aditya Junior High School close to Gummidipoondi educates over 150 children.
Sustainable livelihood
In veternary camps more than 4,430 animals were immunized.
Water harvesting structures such as hand pumps installation, village tanks, ponds and special enclosures for quenching the thirst of the cattle help nearly 4,000 people.
To raise ground water levels 14 farm wells have been set up as rain water collection centres.
A goat rearing scheme for income generation has been initiated. It currently extends to 20 beneficiaries.
Women Self-Help Groups
Tailoring Training Centres specially catering to widows, single mothers, physically challenged, scheduled castes and other women from the weaker sections of the society, have enabled over 200 women eke alivelihood for themselves.
Many of them have also been provided sewing machines at subsidized rates.
15 self help groups have enabled the empowerment of 271 women through training and income generation.
Social Welfare
At Veraval at a mass marriage programme 34 schedule caste couples were united.
Solar cookers have been distributed for to 25 families.
Infrastructure
A rural road of 9 kms has been built and connected to the main road to facilitate the journey of villagers, by your Company’s Hi-Tech Carbon Plant.
Low cost toilets have been constructed.
Safe drinking water provisions have been made for over 2 villages.
Your Company treats its social projects with the same seriousness as its business projects. Your company has a one year plan and a three year rolling plan, with milestones, timelimes and measurement mechanisms. At the plant level the head of the plant is responsible for the CSR activities. He and his team constantly apprise the Centre and the Business Director of the progress made.In a sense CSR at your Company is very much on the radar of the top management. Our Board and all of our employees are fully committed to the Corporate Social Responsibility programme. In our own small way, we areendeavouring to build a better, sustainable way of life for the weaker sections of the society, making a difference actually. In doing so, our endavour is also to raise our country’s human development index.
|