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Madura's CSR initiatives: reaching out to local communities
The Aditya Birla Group has always laid great emphasis on the social and economic development of the communities around the plants and units that it operates in around the globe. The group’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives focus on four broad areas of sustainability, disability (empowering the physically challenged), benevolent activities for the workforce and education.
Consequently, the CSR activities of Madura Fashion & Lifestyle are geared towards education, health, infrastructure, environment, sustainable livelihood and social causes. These activities are extended to communities living in and around its Bangalore manufacturing units.
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| Signing of MOU at IGNOU VC's office in Delhi |
Purushottam Rao, who has taken over as the new CSR head of Madura Fashion & Lifestyle, notes that the flagship of its CSR initiative is VidyaVikas, the vehicle for reaching out on the educational front.
The company supports continuing education – both for its own employees and dropouts in the nearby communities surrounding its units on the outskirts of Bangalore. It recently tied up with the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), to offer short-term non-credit courses in garment stitching.
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| Distribution of uniforms to school children |
The IGNOU tie-up will ensure sustainable livelihood for several women who will acquire tailoring skills. “We also want to set up a special IGNOU study centre near our Annekal unit in Bangalore,” says Mr. Rao. “About 95 per cent of our employees at the units are women and many are rural dropouts.” The study centre would help them continue their education and acquire minimum qualifications.
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| Educational Aids distribution at KGBV School |
“We also support schools by supplying educational aids including notebooks, dictionaries and uniforms, and ensuring safe drinking water for students,” he explains. “We recently distributed about 1,100 uniforms and 400 notebooks to students in government schools in villages near our units. We also plan to provide safe drinking water for them. Apart from this we are also into skills building activity for the school children through computer education and tailoring skills wherein our employees volunteer to teach these school children on a regular basis.”
Helping rural dropouts
One of its major programmes is to support education to the rural dropout girl child at the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) at Channapatna, where currently around 140 girls are getting education. Madura has also ensured safe drinking water, note-books, uniforms and book racks for KGBV.
“Last year, five girls who appeared in the standard X exams passed with distinction,” says Mr. Rao. “We have motivated them to continue their education after talking to them and their parents / relatives. Madura sponsored their education and has also entered into an agreement with KGBV and the college where they are studying. The KGBV school will continue to provide them boarding facilities (which is usually not given to those having finished standard X) and the college has provided some additional concessions in their fees. This year 11 girls are appearing for X exams and we are excepting very good results from this batch also,” he adds.
Madura Fashion & Lifestyle also offers scholarships for bright students of its employees at its five units in and around Bangalore. The company will be supporting the future education of 26 students during 2011-12 and more students will get added every year.
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| The Art of living |
As part of its health initiatives, Madura Fashion & Lifestyle conducts eye camps; it has provided spectacles to more than 225 villagers and has enabled cataract operation of several dozens of people free of cost. In January 2012, a mega free eye check-up camp was organised near its Europa Garments unit at the Timmayya Reddy Government High School, Electronic City Road, Bangalore. The initiative was organised in coordination with Padmabhushan Dr. M.C. Modi Charitable Eye Hospital, Bangalore.
It also organises general health camps for school-children and has also tied up with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation to offer courses for its employees.
On the infrastructure front, the company is providing three bus shelters around its units, which would enable hundreds of passengers to stand under the shade while waiting for buses.
The environment initiative has seen the launch of a plant-a-tree programme, where sponsors are sought to encourage the planting of trees. Each sponsor has to pay Rs.365 every year for two years and trees would be planted in their name. The company is now seeking to rope in students from government schools who could then take care of the trees.
| Madura's CSR initiatives are in the areas of: |
| Education |
through VidyaVikas, the flagship CSR initiative |
| Health |
health camps, enabling cataract operations |
| Infrastructure |
bus shelters |
| Environment |
encouraging the planting of trees |
| Sustainable livelihood |
tailoring training centres |
| Social causes |
supporting hospices, old age homes |
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Referring to its initiatives in the sphere of sustainable livelihood, Mr. Rao says the company is supporting two tailoring training centres and imparting necessary skills to women. “This would ensure sustainable livelihood, besides providing them important life skills.”
Imparting tailoring skills
Madura Fashion & Lifestyle has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) under the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana of the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India, to impart tailoring skills for the rural youth. In addition, the company has plans to revive the traditional wooden handicrafts industry at Channapatna.
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| SOS Children Village |
Other initiatives include supporting activities at Karunashraya, a hospice for advanced stage cancer patients, near Bangalore. “We support the institution by donating funds and providing upholstery, clothes, etc, and some social activities for the young and dedicated caretakers who are taking care of the cancer-affected patients during their last days,” adds Rao.
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| SOS Children Village |
The CSR unit of Madura Fashion & Lifestyle also helps the Mother Teresa Old Age Home, providing blankets and other necessities. Other institutions that receive its support include a school for the visually challenged and an SOS Children’s village.
Indeed, the series of CSR activities initiated by Madura Fashion & Lifestyle reflects its commitment to contribute to the social and economic well-being of the communities around its units.
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