DEVELOPING INDIA WITH A COLLECTIVE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

When corporate come forward to drive programs for community welfare, it is essential to get support from all sectors…

Albert Einstein said - “The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive”.
These values of giving have their roots going deep to mythological times where Karna, one of the central characters in the Hindu epic Mahabharata was a man with a phenomenal sense of integrity and generosity. Even Lord Indra who tricked him by disguising as a Brahmin for his Kavach and Kundal that made him invincible was amazed at Karna's capacity to give away anything asked for. Even though he had alliance with Kauravas during the war, he is always remembered as 'Daanveer Karna'. Also, 'Maharshi Dadhichi', one of the greatest saints of all times donated his bones for the welfare of the community, a force that still drives Indian philanthropy.
We all have grown hearing such stories on power of giving and understanding the necessity of community development and humanistic approach in every way of life. Irrespective of profession, high or low profile, there are people who have made best of their capabilities provided to them for development of society.
When it comes to community service or popularly known as 'Social Responsibility', it has always been seen as responsibility of government and main source for social-economic development of society, particularly in rural India. When Panchayati Raj was introduced, it brought in rural independence in India. With the advent of technologies and setting-up of big industries in remote rural areas, it led to generation of employment thus giving economic boost to villages where Agriculture has always been the main source of economy. It led to less migration and availability of growth opportunities in villages. Gradually with time, population spurted in both villages & cities and with this their necessities also increased making it crucial for the Government to allow Corporates to pitch in for the Greater Good.
This is when Social Responsibility transformed to 'Corporate Social Responsibility'. There are some respected and successful organizations that primarily work towards bringing socio-economic independence in rural communities with the focus on child care, education, health, nutrition, employment, women empowerment, infrastructure development, to name a few. In 2015-16, 5097 companies have invested Rs. 9822 crores in India for social good. This spend is testimony of increased involvement of private sector in social development by contributing in generation of employment and eradication of poverty in country. With Government, corporates and supporting NGOs coming together for nation building, it becomes imperative for communities and individual to take the ownership and work towards 'Collective Social Responsibility' to achieve a well-defined objective. It is important to make the community responsible thus requires more community participation.
To work on long term, sustainable solutions based on the need of the communities, there is a need to underline high impact CSR programs like child care, education, healthcare, women empowerment, skill development, sanitation and agriculture & livestock. For immediate attention, 'child care', 'women empowerment' and 'Skill development' should become part of Nation Development Projects.
There are 7.5 crore underprivileged children in rural areas who need environment to grow and nurture into responsible human resource. We have to build future of India by strengthening their foundation by providing them proper nutrition, health and education.
Women, constituting 48% of total population of country has time and again proven, when we empower them, they empower their family that empowers village/city and ultimately empowering whole nation. Rural women have immense potential to develop their skills and make that a regular source of livelihood. All they need is encouragement and skill development program to move them towards micro-enterprise.
India has target of creating 500 million skilled workers by 2022. It is essential to tap this resource who is primarily those, who could not study due to lack of facilities in their village or lack of interest. There is a need to increase their capacities through professional vocational training programs thus making them resourceful manpower.
With corporate's engagement and communities' support, Government can execute these programs by assigning each corporate with one focus area to address and same will be weaved into their Business Plan. This approach will give undivided attention of Corporate that will align all their resources on the execution of one project, ultimately impacting the society at a National Level. The other approach is that Government allows corporates to highlight 5 flagship programs in the state they are operating and start engaging their resources on the implementation of these programs for the benefit of the community. It is to understand that when corporate come forward to drive the programs for community welfare, it is essential to get support from all sectors including Government. Corporate also need a cushion in smooth running of their Businesses as they are ultimately contributing in boosting the economy and job creation. They should be given equal opportunities to flourish by introducing transparent policies, simple regulatory framework with an offering of 10% tax rebate in running businesses. This money gained is only to be further utilized and reinvested for the Greater Good.
For a developing nation like India, it is important to recognize & strengthen the grass-root level and taking forward the whole nation together in making it the powerhouse of socio-economic development.

By Pavan Kaushik
Head - Corporate Communication
Hindustan Zinc

SHIKSHA SAMBAL – BRIDGING GAPS IN RURAL SCHOOL EDUCATION

·         Hindustan Zinc’s Shiksha Sambal Program since 2008 has been providing classes in Maths, Science & English in Government Schools

•  So far, over 50000 rural & tribal students have been benefitted

When Geeta was born in a farmer’s house in Bhilwara in Rajasthan, unlike many of the rural families, the parents decided to provide her the best of education. Geeta also had an elder brother, Dheeraj, who was studying in nearby government school in 2^nd standard. As the children were growing, the small girl also started showing interest in education. She would keep playing with his brother’s books and admire the pictures. When she became eligible for pre-school, she started going to nearby Anganwadi centre.

The parents were very happy since both the children were getting education.

The problem started when Dheeraj reached class 10^th and wanted to pursue Science. The school had no teacher to teach the subject. Not Just Science, even for Maths and English, teachers were not available. Dheeraj was disheartened. He had two options, either to change his subjects or search for some school outside the city. He was not ready to give up studies. As Dheeraj’s father was not financially sound, he could not afford sending Dheeraj to another city for schooling. Security and safety was another concern for the family.

Like Dheeraj, there were many students who wanted to study Science, Maths and English but they could not find a solution. Not just the boys, many girls of the village wanted to pursue studies further and choose these subjects.

Geeta, who was still young had the same fear. She was a brilliant student and wanted to pursue Engineering or Medical Science. But after knowing all this, her dreams were getting shattered. She started losing interest in education.

The matter went to elders of the village and they met the Principal of the school. But the Principal showed his inability and could only express regret.

Then the solution came from a Business House that was located near their village. One of their representatives met the school Principal. After hearing everything meeting with the students, the Management of this Business House introduced them to a project for these students. This project would provide trained teachers to the students who would teach them English, Science and Maths subjects throughout the year and year after year which will get the recognition as part of school syllabus. The dreams of all these children were reinstated.

The Project was “Shiksha Sambal” and the Business House was Hindustan Zinc.

“For a tree to be strong and upright, its roots have to be firm”. Similarly, schools are a cornerstone in any student’s lives to cultivate healthy thought process and groom intellectual abilities.

Schools in rural areas have their own challenges in terms of providing education to students. The government has provided schools in rural areas but the point is how well these schools are equipped to provide quality education. Students appearing for Senior Secondary education suffer the most. The teachers are not available for certain subjects and thus either they have to leave those subjects and choose the subjects available in the school or even change the stream of education to get qualified and experienced teachers. It is evenly difficult to convince villagers to send their children to schools, particularly the girls.  

Government is very keen to provide the best possible facilities in village schools. But they do need the support of people, here, teachers, to run these schools successfully. This is when Corporates and Government should come together for the holistic development of communities by aiding the facilities and financial securities.

Through Shiksha Sambal, Hindustan Zinc provides a platform that empowers rural students to pursue their dream of obtaining higher education and joining prestigious institutions to play an important role in development/ progress of the country in future.

After the identification of the need of schools in terms of number of qualified teachers, CSR team deputed qualified teachers from external sources in respective schools for the students appearing for Board Examination. These teachers are educated youths in nearby villages who were unemployed and struggling to get jobs, in spite of possessing a degree.

In 2016, Hindustan Zinc partnered with Vidya Bhawan Society, Udaipur, for effective implementation of this program.

Shiksha Sambal believes that conceptual clarity is the foundation of all learning and is essential for doing well in examinations. Such clarity will come through a well-rounded studying approach that includes comprehension, careful observation, classification, conducting experiments, peer group activities and an unending process of enquiry. Languages of children have an important role in building conceptual clarity, learning other languages and cognitive growth. Performance in Mathematics will improve with the understanding of basic mathematical concepts. And the only way to really understand Science and score in it is by conducting experiments on their own. In each case, the programme pitches one point above the cognitive levels of children.

Regular orientation and subject-specific workshops are also being organized under Shiksha Sambal wherein it also focuses on conceptual mapping of each chapter of the given subjects and makes plans for systematic interventions with teachers and students. Preparing worksheets that could be used with children is an ongoing process; these materials help in understanding the concepts and in attempting examination questions successfully.

Another important component of Shiksha Sambal has been the Summer Learning Camps (SLCs). This year, 7 Summer Camps were organized in 5 districts of Rajasthan for more than 750 rural students who are appearing for 10^th standard Board Examination this year. The first residential summer camp was organized last year in Udaipur that saw participation by around 70 rural students. Sighting the success of last year’s camp, this year, more than 200 students actively participated where about 50% of them were girls from villages around all 7 business locations including Pantnagar. Around 12-15 students from last year’s camp also participated this year as ‘Captains’ to aid in managing the current batch.

The company has also provided help in building infrastructure like science laboratories, well stocked library, playground, computer laboratory and also classrooms. There are many activities, such as solving worksheets, doing science experiments and using library books to deepen the conceptual understanding of the students.

In the recently released Board Exam results for 10^th standard, there have been remarkable improvements in several of the Shiksha Sambal schools. Kanpur school (Zawar) which last year had a pass percentage of only 11%, now has a pass percentage of 91% in 2016-17. Similar improvements can be seen in other schools. Putholi (35% to 73%), Padla (32% to 54%), Medta (44% to 64%), Zawar (16% to 36%), Pandoli (37% to 60%), Kashmor (57% to 100%) and Soniyana (45% to 79%).

Shiksha Sambal is reaching out to more than 57 schools in 5 districts of Rajasthan - Chittorgarh, Bhilwara, Rajsamand and Udaipur. By now, more than 6000 students have been benefited wherein 150 teachers, 80 Field Instructors (FIs), 50 HZL employee-volunteers and resource persons from Vidya Bhawan Society are engaged in strengthening the quality of education.

VEDANTA HINDUSTAN ZINC OPENS 2 NAND GHARS IN AJMER, RAJASTHAN

Delivering long-term benefits to communities by strengthening the foundation of children below the age of seven years - their nutrition, health and education… 

The report says, there are 7.5 crore underprivileged children living in remote rural areas, below the age of seven years, who are in need of proper nutrition, health care and education. Our primary focus, therefore, is to start at the grass root level with the holistic development of children and women, who form the future of our nation.

This is where, Vedanta came up with the concept of “Nand Ghar" designed in partnership with the ministry of women and child development. It is an extension to the existing Anganwadi initiative for providing a better environment to the children of India by addressing issues relating to pre-primary education, health care, nutrition and economic empowerment for women in rural India.

Mr. Anil Agarwal – Chairman, Vedanta Group believes “In order to secure the future of India, we have to safeguard the present. To strengthen the foundation of children, it is important to address issues relating to pre-primary education, health care, nutrition for children and economic empowerment for women in rural India”.

Taking his vision forward, Vedanta has joined hands with the Government to revamp 4000 anganwadi centres across India under the Project ‘Nand Ghar’. Today, more than 100 “Nand Ghars” across three states has resulted in marked improvement in attendance, learning abilities and school readiness, by deploying e-learning modules in education and soft skills in collaboration with world-class partners and they are now equipped with TVs, solar panels and toilets. 

On 31^st July, 2017, 2 “Nand Ghars” - Khanpura & Parbatpura have also been inaugurated in Ajmer District by the Chief Guest - Ms. Anita Bhadel – Hon’ble Minister of Women and Child Development, Government of Rajasthan and with this 10 Nand Ghars have been constructed in Ajmer district with 25 more Nand Ghars are in pipeline.

During the inaugural ceremony, Ms. Bhadel said “Government and Vedanta Hindustan Zinc have done their bit by providing well equipped facilities for primary education, nutrition services along with related healthcare services for both mother and child including skill training for women, it’s now the communities have to come forward and support it by actively participating in it.” She also mentioned that if a mother anchors the responsibility of her child’s education, the benefit will percolate to her next 7 generations.

To make the project more cohesive, “Nand Ghar” act as a focal area for immunisation, gender sensitisation and maternal care. It also aims to enhance the learning environment through an e-learning module and skill enhancement program for women where they will undergo entrepreneurship training, including skill enhancement, to start their own micro enterprise with credit linkages, thereby increasing their contribution towards the Indian economy.

The Nand Ghars are in line with Prime Minister of India’s vision of social development and will prove to be a stepping stone for building the future human capital as productive, passionate and persistent towards the growth.

Also present on the occasion were Mrs. Neelima Khetan – Head CSR, HZL, Mr. Sampat Sankhla – Dy. Mayor, Ajmer,  Mrs. Anupama Tailor – Dy. Director, Women & Child Development, Mr. Nitesh Yadav - ICDS, Mr. Raes Ahemad - Counsellor along with Anganwadi workers and Hindustan Zinc’s CSR representatives.

750 STUDENTS JOIN HINDUSTAN ZINC’S SHIKSHA SAMBAL SUMMER CAMP

Hindustan Zinc’s Shiksha Sambal Program by now has provided classes in Maths, Science & English to over 7000 rural & tribal students

Schools in deep rural areas have their own challenges in terms of providing education to students. First and the foremost, it is difficult to convince villagers to send their children to schools, particularly the girls. Secondly, it is evenly difficult to get qualified and experienced teachers.

Hindustan Zinc, through its Shiksha Sambal program focuses on quality education and provides remedial classes to rural students appearing for Rajasthan Board Examination, i.e. students of 10th to 12th classes in the 5 districts - Udaipur, Rajsamand, Chittorgarh, Bhilwara and Ajmer. This project in association with Vidya Bhawan Society aims to provide special subject classes like Math, Science, Political Science, English and Accounts. The program is reaching out to 7000 students in 55 Government Schools.

Taking a step further to ensure the overall development of these students, Hindustan Zinc in association with Vidya Bhawan Society is organizing 7 Summer Camps in 5 districts of Rajasthan for about 800 rural students who are appearing for 10th Board Exams this year. This one month camp began on 15th May, 2017 at Udaipur and 6 business locations of Hindustan Zinc – Zawar, Debari, Chittorgarh, Dariba, Agucha and Kayad.

The launch program was organized on 22nd May, 2017 at Vidya Bhawan Auditorium, Udaipur.

The first residential summer camp was organized last year in Udaipur that saw the participation of around 70 rural students. Sighting the success of last year’s camp, this year, more than 200 students are actively participating where about 50% of them are girls from villages around all 7 business locations including Pantnagar. About 12-15 students from the last year camp are also participating in this year’s camp as ‘Captain’ to aid in managing the current batch.

These camps organizes sessions on yoga, painting, carpentry, music, dance, finance & accounts and art & crafts facilitating holistic development of students apart from their regular academic curriculum.

Ms. Neelima Khetan – Head CSR, HZL, Mr. Bhagwat Babel – Vice President, Vidya Bhawan, HZL CSR representatives and Vidhya Bhawan officials along with more than 200 rural students were present to grace the occasion.

HINDUSTAN ZINC TO INVEST IN SETTING UP 115 MW SOLAR ENERGY PLANTS IN RAJASTHAN

Commissioning of 15 MW by March and 100 MW by September, 2017.

The Head Office of Hindustan Zinc at Udaipur currently runs on solar energy

Taking forward Hon'ble Prime Minister ‐ Shri Narendra Modi's vision to expand renewable energy in India, Hindustan Zinc, a Vedanta group company in zinc, lead and silver business and India's only integrated producer of zinc‐lead is entering into solar energy business. The company already produces 474 MW of thermal power and 274 MW of wind‐energy.

The Indian government has a strong focus on non‐conventional energy sources and is looking to ultimately produce 100 GW power from solar energy. Hindustan Zinc has been working progressively towards setting up 115 MW of solar energy projects with an investment of Rs. 630 crores.

Mr. Sunil Duggal ‐ CEO, HZL informed that in the first phase, the Company will set‐up of 15 MW solar energy projects which would require an investment of Rs. 80 crores and is likely to be commissioned by March, 2017. The second phase would be of 100 MW requiring an investment of Rs. 550 crore which is likely to be commissioned by September, 2017. The average cost of setting‐up 1 MW of solar energy plant is about Rs. 5.50 crore.

"The energy produced will be utilized for captive use only. Out of 15 MW, 10 MW solar power projects will be installed at Zinc Smelter Debari and remaining 5 MW will be installed at Rajpura Dariba Mine of Hindustan Zinc" Mr. Sunil Duggal added.

The 5 MW solar power project at Rajpura Dariba Mine would be the 1st such project in the District of Rajsamand in Rajasthan. The 10 MW project also would be the largest solar energy project in the District of Udaipur.

The company also produces 274 MW of Wind Power in its green energy farms located in Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

Hindustan Zinc has already installed solar roof top projects with a capacity of 100 KW each at Head Office‐Udaipur and at Chanderiya Lead Zinc Smelter in January, 2016. The company is also looking to develop solar energy projects in other parts of Rajasthan.

RAJASTHAN GOVERNOR HONOURS HINDUSTAN ZINC’S CORPORATE COMMUNICATION WITH SHAN-E-RAJASTHAN AWARD

Zee News Rajasthan organized “Shan-e-Rajasthan” award function in Jaipur on 17^th May 2016 to honour the individuals who have brought laurels to the State of Rajasthan. The Chief Guest of the function was Hon’ble Governor of Rajasthan Shri Kalyan Singh Ji and the Guest of Honour was Smt. Suman Sharma, Chairperson of the Rajasthan State Commission for Women.

Hindustan Zinc’s Corporate Communication was  awarded “Shan-e-Rajasthan” for the outstanding contribution towards the cause of social and economic up-liftment of rural and tribal women in Rajasthan and providing nutrition-health-education to deprived children by way of bringing awareness through Project “Khushi” and “Sakhi”. Both the campaigns have millions of followers globally and are recognized one of the most impactful campaigns. The “Khushi” film has already reached over 1.5 crore people, viewed by 40 lakh people, with thousands of comments and shares.

Some of the other prominent “Shan-e-Rajasthan” awardees included Mr. Ashok Panagaria (NITI Ayog), Smt. Gulabo Devi(Artist), Pdt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (music) , Mr. Aditya Shastri (Vansasthali Vidyapeeth) and Mr. Jyoti Ghosh (SBBJ).

In a small interaction on the dais, Hon’ble Governor was quite pleased with the efforts and advised to continue such efforts for the betterment of the society.

In the past couple of years HZL-Corporate Communication has been recognized by Times of India-Jaipur, Public Relations Society(Jaipur Chapter), Press Club-Udaipur and Rotary International (Mewar) for promoting social cause through traditional and new media.

HINDUSTAN ZINC - MAIL TODAY - MY SAFETY IS MY RESPONSIBILITY

MAIL TODAY | 10th MARCH, 2015

The high frequency of road accidents in India is only a testimony of ignorance and disrespect towards safety. The fact cannot be ignored that more people die in road accidents in India than anywhere else in the world. Hindustan Zinc along with ‘Rajasthan Parivahan Nirikshak Sangh’ developed a Mobile Model for road safety education in Rajasthan.

A child of 13 years was sitting with his father on a scooter, when suddenly a car over-took from a wrong direction, forcing the father to apply instant brakes. The scooter stopped. Car went ahead without bothering. The father looked back, his son was safe and he was safe too. Both were wearing helmets, it was well tied-up and both were alert.

It is said, “a life saved, saves the lives of an entire family”. So true, when we care so much for lives of our family, how can we ignore the very basis life our own-self. When we know, we are the basis of the lives of our family.

‘Safety’ is not just a six letter-word, it actually defines the well-being of the entire society and finally a country. It is important to adopt safety as a habit rather than feel it is being imposed. We generally feel victims when safety is forced upon us, ignoring the facts that it is being implemented to only make our lives safer and our families peaceful.

Most of the time, the people are aware of the consequences of ignoring safety gadgets. Most of the time, the rules & regulations are ignored, for the sake of a casual behaviour towards safety.

It is ironical to penalize a person not wearing helmet by Police, knowing the fact that wearing helmet will protect the very same person from head-injury during an un-welcomed accident, which has all the potential to become fatal.

The high frequency of road accidents in India is only a testimony of ignorance and disrespect towards safety. The fact cannot be ignored that more people die in road accidents in India than anywhere else in the world.

“Where ignorance is the reason, education can become bliss”.

The need to educate masses about the necessity of safety and making them realize the fact that it is not just a matter of their life, it the life of their family that depends on them.

Accepting the grave need towards formulation of right strategy, and realizing its importance, common masses, opinion makers, government, corporates, NGOs, and other agencies have united in Rajasthan to develop a new method towards spreading message.

As a large corporate, Hindustan Zinc, world’s leading Zinc-Lead and Silver producer, a Vedanta Group company, has joined hands with Rajasthan Parivahan Nirikshak Sangh (RPNS) – a body affiliated to All India Federation of Motor Vehicles Department Technical Executive Officers Association, Bangalore, to spread the message through technology driven Road Safety Mobile Van.

This fully equipped Road Safety Mobile Van is equipped with the facility like LCD Projector with a projection screen of 42” (LCD TV), a high-decibel sound system with amplifier to reach large audience, laptop, digital camera etc. This Road Safety Mobile Van also has a digital inverter for power backup and is proving to be useful in villages where there are power-cuts. The method of teaching involves audio-video training sessions of 90 minutes, guidelines and educating traffic rules, behavioral training on road safety, first aid etc. The program is more of interactive nature and involves the audience through question and answer sessions. Road-safety guidelines are also distributed to audience. Special drives are also being launched in association with local police towards implementation of road safety rules.

This Road Safety Mobile Van would travel deep rural villages, schools and other areas and educate people about the road safety.

This unique Road Safety Mobile Van project has been sponsored by Hindustan Zinc under the “Rajasthan Road Safety Awareness Mission Program”.

Veerendra Singh Rathore, State President, Rajasthan Parivahan Nirikshak Sangh who is also the Project Head of Rajasthan Road Safety Education and Awareness Mission informed that “Road Safety Mobile Van” provided by Hindustan Zinc is proving to very useful. We are able to reach remote villages, schools and rural people. As the Van has video screen, we are able to show short films on road safety which is helping in making the people understand the gravity of situation.”

So far the project has reached about 100,000 people through conducting about 600 educational programs, which have resulted in decreasing the road accidents and injuries. There has been an increasing participation of employees of various small-big corporates. In district Rajsamand a success story has been drawn by witnessing 40% reduction in road accidents.

Hindustan Zinc spokesperson Pavan Kaushik informed that “Hindustan Zinc is concerned about the road safety and as a large corporate we feel we should help in spreading the message and decided to support Rajasthan Road Safety Awareness Mission Program. As part of our safety drills at all our business units, we regularly organize safety workshops which also has includes road safety, where in large number of employees participate.”

Inspired by the success of the program and its response, the Transport Department, Government of Rajasthan, is now planning to launch similar Road Safety Mobile Vans in all seven division of Rajasthan.

The success of this Rajasthan Government Model on Safety is now being replicated by other State Governments. The Transport Department of Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka are working towards developing ten such Road Safety Mobile Vans in their States to promote road safety education and awareness in public.

The Message is clear, safety cannot be ignored.

Ultimately, “My Safety is My Responsibility”, as my safety will also make my family safe, socially and economically.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING ONLY OPTION TO EMPLOY DROP-OUT RURAL YOUTHS

Vedanta’s Company Hindustan Zinc picks up 500 rural youths for Vocational Training, will get employed…

Organizing training programs in rural India has never been easy. The unemployed youth find it easy to spend time in effortless things and are not inclined to undertake vocational training for employment. Further, for girls, it is not easy to convince family, as they find difficult to send the daughters for daily attendance or if residential program, for letting her stay away from the family. But tiring efforts from the company, Hindustan Zinc and quality of training program has shown remarkable results in not only engaging with these unemployed youths but also giving them direction and focus in life.

10^th Pass Raju Kumawat is son of a poor farmer from Chokdi village of Rajsamand District. Being the eldest son, he had the responsibility of feeding the family of 6 people. Raju dropped out from the school and started earning for the livelihood. But due to lack of education or any training, he could not earn substantially. He came to know about professional training program being conducted by Hindustan Zinc at Debari in District Udaipur. He approached the company and was enrolled for training program in mining and drilling.

Under the 3 months training program, Raju not only gained technical proficiency but also saw change in his personality. He is more confident person today and could converse efficiently. 

Instantly, through campus placements post training program, Raju was employed with a salary of about Rs. 4,000/- pm.   With time Raju progressed and is now earning Rs 12000/- pm.

Anees from Zawar Mines, one of the two sons of small cashier at co-operative shop, is another successful example of the said training program. He was never interested in studies and soon dropped-out from the school. Engaged in doing nothing, Anees daily routine stood hanging around with his friends and sitting at a tea stall without any hope.

Anees situation was a matter of concern for his father who then decided to register his name for the training program when Hindustan Zinc team approached him.

Initially, at the centre, he was the most mischievous student but soon started taking interest due to interactive training methodology. He showed keen interest in learning computers.  Anees was also benefited by the soft skills and personality development sessions. In short duration of 3 months, he not only learnt MS Office but also the design softwares like Photoshop, CorelDraw and Tally. Anees is today working as a Marketing Executive in Udaipur and earning Rs. 10,000 pm.

HINDUSTAN ZINC "MARYADAA" - MAIL TODAY - HINDUSTAN ZINC'S STP TREATING 30% OF UDAIPUR'S SEWAGE

Another step towards “SWACHH BHARAT” 

Udaipur's First Sewage Treatment Plant...

Hindustan Zinc, a company of Vedanta Group in Zinc-Lead-Silver business has come forward and built Udaipur’s fist sewage treatment plant (STP) that treats 30% of the sewage generated by the city of lakes, a world’s class tourism destination. Udaipur generates about 70 million litres of sewage per day and Hindustan Zinc Sewage Treatment Plant is treating 20 million litres per day.   This STP has been built with a cost of Rs. 170 crore and has been constructed and commissioned on ‘Design Build Own Operate and Transfer’ basis in association with Government of Rajasthan.

Government of Rajasthan has been looking for this project for quite some time and there always has been a dire need for a large corporate to align and associate with the Government to address growing sewage problem in Udaipur. Hindustan Zinc being one of the largest corporate in Rajasthan and leader in undertaking environment friendly projects signed an agreement to undertake this project.

Udaipur, the city of lakes, elevated hills and magnificent cultural heritage with exotic palaces, celestial temples, colourful festivals and express highways is no doubt one of the most sought after national and global tourism destinations. Lakhs of tourists visit Udaipur every year.

With the time, in the last few years, the local population of Udaipur has also grown. The advent of shopping malls and multiplexes have been instrumental in building a new and modern Udaipur. As the city has grown, the maintenance of current infrastructure has also become a challenge, particularly in relation to cleanliness of majestic lakes. The challenge is to sustain the freshness of these lakes. For long, the lakes have been absorbing the disposal of human waste which has become critical as the contamination is now clearly visible on the surface of the water.

On an average, Udaipur city generates about 70 million litres of sewage per day and cleaning this sewage was itself a challenge. Currently, most of the sewage is travelling to various lakes leading to contamination of water, polluting lakes and thereby affecting overall beauty of these lakes. The only solution that was evident was constructing a large scale Sewage Treatment Plant that could take the load of treating this massive sewage. This treatment of sewage would not only keep the lakes clean, a strong move towards clean environment, but would also help in retaining the majestic looks of these lakes that attract lakhs of tourists every year.

Not just treating sewage, the Hindustan Zinc Sewage Treatment Plant, in the process, would also be generating a large quantity of manure that will be sold by Udaipur Municipal Corporation to the local bodies. This initiative itself is estimated to generate revenue of Rs. 1 crore every year. To ensure there is no piling-up of stocks of manure, the Udaipur Municipal Corporation will be disposing off the manure on fortnightly basis.

Hindustan Zinc, adhering to its commitment towards clean green environment and maintaining highest standards of waste management, commissioned this Sewage Treatment Plant in 2014. Hindustan Zinc will gradually divert domestic sewage pipeline into large pipe-lines, leading to the Sewage Treatment Plant, to reduce the flow of sewage in the lakes. 

Hindustan Zinc is one of the pioneers in adopting clean green technology in running its plants. Saving water has always been a focus area for Hindustan Zinc. While maintaining the global benchmark and working continuously towards water conservation, the company has been successfully reducing its water footprints by reducing the water consumption every year. All the business locations of Hindustan Zinc are working on zero discharge principle, while putting on efforts and research for gainful utilization of waste generated by them.

Hindustan Zinc Sewage Treatment Plant project is a major step not only towards treatment of sewage in Udaipur but also a significant initiative towards building a sustainable environment and conservation of water.

HINDUSTAN ZINC’S STP TREATING 30% UDAIPUR’S SEWAGE

Hindustan Zinc, a company of Vedanta Group in Zinc-Lead-Silver business has come forward and built Udaipur’s fist sewage treatment plant (STP) that treats 30% of the sewage generated by the city of lakes, a world’s class tourism destination. Udaipur generates about 70 million litres of sewage per day and Hindustan Zinc Sewage Treatment Plant is treating 20 million litres per day.   This STP has been built with a cost of Rs. 170 crore and has been constructed and commissioned on ‘Design Build Own Operate and Transfer’ basis in association with Government of Rajasthan.

On an average, Udaipur city generates about 70 million litres of sewage per day and cleaning this sewage has been a challenge. Currently, most of the sewage is travelling to various lakes leading to contamination of water, polluting lakes and thereby affecting overall beauty of these lakes. The only solution that was evident was constructing a large scale Sewage Treatment Plant that could take the load of treating this massive sewage. This treatment of sewage would not only keep the lakes clean, a strong move towards clean environment, but would also help in retaining the majestic looks of these lakes that attract lakhs of tourists every year.

Not just treating sewage, the Hindustan Zinc Sewage Treatment Plant, in the process, would also be generating a large quantity of manure that will be sold by Udaipur Municipal Corporation to the local bodies. This initiative itself is estimated to generate revenue of Rs. 1 crore every year. To ensure there is no piling-up of stocks of manure, the Udaipur Municipal Corporation will be disposing off the manure on fortnightly basis.

Hindustan Zinc, adhering to its commitment towards clean green environment and maintaining highest standards of waste management, commissioned this Sewage Treatment Plant in 2014. Hindustan Zinc ha also started the work relating to diverting domestic sewage pipeline into large pipe-lines which would lead to the Sewage Treatment Plant, to reduce further flow of sewage in the lakes. 

The company is one of the pioneers in adopting clean green technology in running its plants. Saving water has always been a focus area for Hindustan Zinc. While maintaining the global benchmark and working continuously towards water conservation, the company has been successfully reducing its water footprints by reducing the water consumption every year. All the business locations of Hindustan Zinc are working on zero discharge principle, while putting on efforts and research for gainful utilization of waste generated by them.

Hindustan Zinc Sewage Treatment Plant project is a major step not only towards treatment of sewage in Udaipur but also a significant initiative towards building a sustainable environment and conservation of water.

HINDUSTAN ZINC CONSTRUCTING 30,000 TOILETS IN RURAL RAJASTHAN

80 Villages in Rajasthan to become 'Open Defecation Free’

Hindustan Zinc, a Sesa Sterlite company in Zinc-Lead-Silver business has signed MoU with the State Government of Rajasthan to build 30,000 rural toilets for BPL families under 'Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan' scheme. The construction of these toilets will be completed in 3 years. This initiative will make 80 rural and tribal villages in Rajasthan 'Open Defecation Free’. 

The company has started the construction of these toilets in Bhilwara, Chittorgarh and Udaipur districts of Rajasthan and so far the construction of 8,000 toilets has been completed. 

The company is constructing 2 ‘Leach Pits’ below each toilet to facilitate disposal of waste. Only one ‘Leach Pit’ will be used at a time. Each ‘Leach Pit’ is estimated to be full in about 5 years. As the first ‘Leach Pit’ is full, the second ‘Leach Pit’ will be opened. Within 5 years, the waste in the first ‘Leach Pit’ will be converted into manure to be utilized by the farmer for agriculture purpose.

These newly constructed toilets will also minimize the risk of contamination of drinking water sources thus reducing the health related problems in rural India. Under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, cost of construction of each toilet is Rs. 8,500/- where Rs. 4600 per toilet is being paid by government, Rs. 3000 by Hindustan Zinc and Rs. 900 by the beneficiary.

Lack of Toilet facilities in rural areas for females has always been a matter of concern, especially during the late hours. Toilet in each house-hold provides comfort, convenience with a sense of security and dignity to each member of the house, particularly the female members. The project is also expected to improve good hygiene practices and create awareness towards health & sanitation.

“This project of constructing toilets has been undertaken by Hindustan Zinc with an objective to provide clean and hygienic house-hold toilets to the BPL families that will discourage and eventually eliminate open defecation practices in the villages. Hindustan Zinc would be spending about Rs. 8.6 crore towards construction of these 30,000 toilets” informed Pavan Kaushik, Head of Corporate Communication.

According to UNICEF report, today only 48% of rural Indian population has access to good toilet and sanitation facilities. When more than 50% of Indian population defecates in open it leads to improper disposal of the waste, sanitation issues and cause of many harmful diseases. With Rajasthan in particular, 60% of population defecates in open.

NEW HOPE FOR THE DROP-OUT RURAL YOUTHS IN RAJASTHAN

Hindustan Zinc providing Vocational Training to 500 rural youths…

10^th Pass Raju Kumawat is son of a poor farmer from Chokdi village of Rajsamand District. Being the eldest son, he had the responsibility of feeding the family of 6 people. Raju dropped out from the school and started earning for the livelihood. But due to lack of education or any training, he could not earn substantially. He came to know about professional training program being conducted by Hindustan Zinc at Debari in District Udaipur. He approached the company and was enrolled for training program in mining and drilling. Under the 3 months training program, Raju not only gained technical proficiency but also saw change in his personality. He is more confident person today and could converse efficiently.  

Instantly, through campus placements post training program, Raju was employed with a salary of about Rs. 4,000/- pm.   With time Raju progressed and is now earning Rs 12000/- pm.

There are 500 youths of rural Rajasthan from Udaipur, Bhilwara, Ajmer and Chittorgarh who are getting vocational/job oriented training from Hindustan Zinc run Vocational Training Program, in partnership with the NGO Sankalp for school drop-outs and unemployed rural youth. Most of these youths could not finish their formal education due to various reasons. The duration of each course is of 90 days.

The company will be spending Rs. 80 lakhs in one year to train these youths.   

While keeping in mind the background of the students who are mostly from rural areas, the training material in various fields like mining, welding, drilling, electrician, cutting, helpers, tailoring, embroidery, hospitality, to name a few, has been designed in such a way that it can be easily grasped by these students.

Equal emphasis has been given on class room lectures and practical exposures to the students for enabling them to develop a better understanding of the module. Since the entire course is residential, it grooms the beneficiaries in various aspects like - team effort, discipline and overall personality development, which would further help in securing sustainable livelihood in future.

For the benefit of these youths, Hindustan Zinc has also made a provision for free boarding and lodging facilities for the trainees. The cost to be incurred by company per trainee is estimated to be Rs. 15,700/-.

The training is market driven and various fields of training have been decided on the basis of market demand of skilled people and are expected to give ample opportunities to these candidates. The program also has provision to add new training activities as per changing market scenario.

Anees from Zawar Mines, one of the two sons of small cashier at co-operative shop, is another successful example of the said training program. He was never interested in studies and soon dropped-out from the school. Engaged in doing nothing, Anees daily routine stood hanging around with his friends and sitting at a tea stall without any hope.

Anees situation was a matter of concern for his father who then decided to register his name for the training program when Hindustan Zinc team approached him.

Initially, at the centre, he was the most mischievous student but soon started taking interest due to interactive training methodology. He showed keen interest in learning computers.  Anees was also benefited by the soft skills and personality development sessions. In short duration of 3 months, he not only learnt MS Office but also the design softwares like Photoshop, CorelDraw and Tally. Anees is today working as a Marketing Executive in Udaipur and earning Rs. 10,000 pm.

Similarly, Rahul from a farmer’s family in Chittorgarh is an 8^th pass student. Relying merely on Agriculture was not fulfilling the day to day demands of his family. But when he came to know about the vocational training program being conducted by Hindustan Zinc, he was quick to register himself for the training program. After getting knowledge about training modules, he chose welding sector. After 3 months of training, Rahul is now employed and is earning Rs 15,000 pm.

With the boys, even the girls are getting benefited from the program. One such girl is Kusum Rathore, a 10^th pass student from Udaipur. She is from a middle class family and her father working in Indian Railways is the only earning member in the family. When she came to know about the training program, she too decided to enroll for the program. But Kusum found it difficult to convince her parents and other family members. A team from Hindustan Zinc than approached her parents and convinced them for the training program. Kusum had keen interest in computers and thus she chose computers as her training area.

 Kusum is also employed and earning a salary of about Rs.5000/- pm. She has become a big support to the family and is also able to continue her studies.

Organizing training programs in rural India has never been easy. The unemployed youth find it easy to spend time in effortless things and are not inclined to undertake vocational training for employment. Further, for girls, it is not easy to convince family, as they find difficult to send the daughters for daily attendance or if residential program, for letting her stay away from the family.  But tiring efforts from the company, Hindustan Zinc and quality of training program has shown remarkable results in not only engaging with these unemployed youths but also giving them direction and focus in life.

EDUCATING THE NEEDY...

Vedanta Post Graduate Girls College at Ringus in Sikar, Rajasthan reaches 3000 rural and tribal girls 

India has the 2nd largest educational system in the world but less number of enrollments of girls from school to colleges, primarily in rural areas, is a matter of concern. 

Early marriage, distant schools, household chores, lack of transport, lack of safety, absence of female teachers and most importantly poverty are some of the several reasons not permitting Girl's education. The fact that 'educating a girl or a woman leads to educating the whole family' is still not known to the people.

Hindustan Zinc, a Vedanta Group company operating in Rajasthan in zinc-lead-silver business, has always been focused towards community service and to build a strong self-sustaining community in the rural and tribal areas. Vedanta Post Graduate Girls College at Ringus in Sikar, Rajasthan is one such project that is providing quality education to rural and tribal girls since its inception in the year 1995 in a fully integrated sustainable environment.

Vedanta Post Graduate Girls College has developed the environment for personal growth, knowledge, exposure, personality and career development of about 3000 girl students. While charging either a nominal fee or free education for BPL students selected by Hindustan Zinc, the college has become a craze for girl students. But, convincing the parents for sending to college has never been easy. The interest of girls in pursuing higher education and to be recognized in life has been a motivating factor for all.

Sugna Salvi lives in village Peepawas, Rajsamand with her parents and 2 younger brothers. Her father, Bhagwanlal Salvi is a small painter who somehow manages to earn about Rs 4000 per month. Sugna good in her studies, completed her 12th in PCB with 1st division in year 2011, wanted to join college to pursue higher studies. But insufficiently low income of her father and poor economic status left her in a thinking mode.

Then, Vedanta’s Hindustan Zinc team came to know about Sugna. The team tried convincing her family but her parents were not willing to send their daughter outside the village. But then Hindustan Zinc team informed them about the Vedanta College and assured them of the protective environment. The team also convinced them about the need of higher education for better future and career development of their daughter. The parents finally agreed. 

At present, Sugna has completed her 2nd year of graduation in B.Sc with 1st division and now is in final year. Like Sugna, there are many girls who are pursuing their higher education.

Lalita Khati from Khatikhera village of Hurda Tehsil at Bhilwara District is daughter of small farmer who is the only earning member of the family of seven members. She was aware that with a very limited source of income, it was difficult for her father to meet both ends with a lot of responsibilities ahead. But she was also aware that Vedanta’s Hindustan Zinc has sponsored girls from her village earlier. 64% marks scorer, she was approached by HZL team and Lalita is now pursuing her education in Arts stream. She even won third prize for her presentation in Public administration subject and now Lalita is willing to complete her Master’s degree further.

With Reshma Meena from Gram Panchyat Singhatwara, Zawar, things were little different. Even she planned to drop-out from her studies seeing low family income and not finding any financial help from relative and friends. Then, in year 2011-12 she was selected for the higher studies in B.A. Course at Vedanta Post Graduate Girls College, Ringus. But unfortunately, her mother refused to send her at a distant place away from the village. Then HZL CSR team did regular dialogues with her mother. Finally she got convinced on one condition i.e., she would herself visit to the college for assurance. She then visited the college, liked it and got agreed; now Reshma is in final year - B.A.

For the prosperity and development of our country, girls' education is must. It is also one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty and build a strong society.