|
our
vision | corporate
social responsibility policy | making
a difference | our strategy
| our focus areas | our
team
Our
vision
"To actively contribute to the social
and economic development of the communities in
which we operate. In so doing, build a better,
sustainable way of life for the weaker sections
of society and raise the country's human development
index."
— Mrs. Rajashree Birla, Chairperson,
The Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives
and Rural Development
Making
a difference
Before Corporate Social Responsibility found a place
in corporate lexicon, it was already textured into
our Group's value systems. As early as the 1940s,
our founding father Shri G.D Birla espoused the
trusteeship concept of management. Simply stated,
this entails that the wealth that one generates
and holds is to be held as in a trust for our multiple
stakeholders. With regard to CSR, this means investing
part of our profits beyond business, for the larger
good of society.
While
carrying forward this philosophy, his grandson,
Aditya Birla weaved in the concept of 'sustainable
livelihood', which transcended cheque book philanthropy.
In his view, it was unwise to keep on giving endlessly.
Instead, he felt that channelising resources to
ensure that people have the wherewithal to make
both ends meet would be more productive. He would
say, "Give a hungry man fish for a day, he
will eat it and the next day, he would be hungry
again. Instead if you taught him how to fish,
he would be able to feed himself and his family
for a lifetime."
Taking
these practices forward, our chairman
Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla institutionalised the
concept of triple bottom line accountability represented
by economic success, environmental responsibility
and social commitment. In a holistic way thus,
the interests of all the stakeholders have been
textured into our Group's fabric.
The
footprint of our social work today spans
2,500 villages in India, reaching out to 6 million
people annually. Our community work is a way of
telling the people among whom we operate that
We Care.
Our
strategy
Our projects are carried out under the aegis of
the "Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives
and Rural Development", led by Mrs. Rajashree
Birla. The Centre provides the strategic direction,
and the thrust areas for our work ensuring performance
management as well.
Our focus is on the all-round development of the
communities around our plants located mostly in
distant rural areas and tribal belts. All our Group
companies —- Grasim, Hindalco, Aditya Birla
Nuvo and UltraTech have Rural Development
Cells which are the implementation bodies.
Projects
are planned after a participatory need assessment
of the communities around the plants. Each project
has a one-year and a three-year rolling plan,
with milestones and measurable targets. The objective
is to phase out our presence over a period of
time and hand over the reins of further development
to the people. This also enables us to widen our
reach. Along with internal performance assessment
mechanisms, our projects are audited by reputed
external agencies, who measure it on qualitative
and quantitative parameters, helping us gauge
the effectiveness and providing excellent inputs.
Our
partners in development are government bodies,
district authorities, village panchayats and the
end beneficiaries — the villagers. The Government
has, in their 5-year plans, special funds earmarked
for human development and we recourse to many
of these. At the same time, we network and collaborate
with like-minded bilateral and unilateral agencies
to share ideas, draw from each other's experiences,
and ensure that efforts are not duplicated. At
another level, this provides a platform for advocacy.
Some of the agencies we have collaborated with
are UNFPA, SIFSA, CARE India, Habitat for Humanity
International, Unicef and the World Bank.
Our
focus areas
Our rural development activities span five key
areas and our single-minded goal here is to help
build model villages that can stand on their own
feet. Our focus areas are healthcare, education,
sustainable livelihood, infrastructure and espousing
social causes.
| Education |
|
| Balwadis
(pre-school) |
| Adult
education |
|
Non-formal education |
| Continuing
education |
| Scholarships
for girls, merit and technical education |
|
|
Health
and family welfare
|
|
Mobile
clinics - doctors visit once a week
|
|
Medical
camps - general and issue-based
|
|
Health
training and awareness
|
|
Sanitation
- toilets, training, smokeless chullahs,
biogas
|
|
Safe
drinking water
|
|
Mother
and child health
|
|
Reproductive
health
|
|
Awareness
building
|
|
Sustainable development and livelihood and
agriculture and watershed development |
|
| Self-help
groups |
| SGSY
- dairy, readymade garments, jute project,
basket making, aggarbati making, bee keeping,
durrie making. |
| Check
dam |
| Irrigation |
| Land
development |
| Soil
and water conservation |
| Pasture
development |
| Social
forestry/ plantation activities/ nursery |
| Horticulture |
| Farmer
training |
|
|
Infrastructure
development |
| Roads |
|
Dams |
| Community
centres |
| Houses |
| Culverts |
| Electricity |
| Health
centres |
| Water
channels |
| Schools
|
| Social
causes |
|
|
Widow
/ dowry-less mass marriages
|
|
Women empowerment |
| Awareness
drives on knowledge, attitude and practices |
|
