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By
Dr. Pragnya Ram
Group Executive President
Corporate Communications
The
Asian Institute of Management Centre (AIM) for
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has conferred
the much coveted and highly prestigious Asian
Corporate Social Responsibility Award on Hindalco,
for its Integrated Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme.
An honour of the highest kind on this side of
the universe, the Asian CSR Award is Asia's Premier
Awards Programme on corporate social responsibility.
For
all of us in the Group and more so for those of
us who are so involved in the Aditya Birla Centre
for Community Initiatives and Rural Development,
led by Mrs. Rajashree Birla, this has been an overwhelmingly
proud moment. One was thrilled having penned this
project and having witnessed the transformation
it brought about in the villages. It is a recognition
par-excellence and rightly so, Hindalco has worked
wonders for the community. Since the last four decades,
under Mr. A.K. Agarwala, Hindalco's community projects
set new benchmarks and gradually evolved into 'benchmark'
projects for the whole of Asia, backed by the unstinted
support and commitment of Mrs. Rajashree Birla.
It was an honour to receive this award along with
Mr. Ahmer Sultan of Hindalco, at the hands of His
Excellency Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra, the Prime Minister
of Thailand, at a glittering award ceremony in Thailand
held on 19 September, 2003. The other distinguished
members linked with this award, who congratulated
our team included Mr. Ramon del Rosario Jr., Chairman
of the Board of Advisors, Mr. Ramon V. del Rosario,
Sr. AIM Centre for Corporate Responsibility, Senator
Mechai Viravaidya, Founder and Board Chairman of
Population and Community Development Association
and Mr. Roberto de Ocampo, President of the Asian
Institute of Management (AIM). Our Thai contingent
led by Mr. D. Mittal, Mr. Srinivasan, Mr. N.K. Dalan,
Mr. Prakash Hardikar and Mr. Kaveeshwar came in
full force as our celebration team.
The Asian CSR Awards Programme recognises and
honours Asian companies for outstanding, innovative
and world-class projects and programmes implemented
during the year 2002-2003. These projects needed
to demonstrate the company's leadership, sincerity
and ongoing commitment in incorporating ethical
values, compliance with legal requirements, and
respect for individuals, communities and the environment
into the way they run their business.
The
jury was led by the Asian Institute of Management's
Centre for Corporate Responsibility. A distinguished
panel chaired by Mr. Khunying Jada Wattanasiritham
of Asian Business Coalition on AIDS, supported
by Ms. Gina Velasco of Synergos Institute, Mr.
Prida Tiasuwan of Social Venture Network Thailand
and Mr. Alex Carrasco of the United Nations Development
Programme endorsed our work as "path-breaking".
In
the words of this distinguished panel — "Yours
is an outstanding achievement. With 142 projects
from 80 organisations in 11 countries competing
for the CSR Awards, selecting the winning entries
was without doubt a challenge for our judges."
The ury was touched by the transformation that
our teams have been able to bring about in 71
villages, in proximity to Renukoot, Renusagar,
Lohardaga, Samri and Silvassa. In their view we
have been able to alleviate a down-trodden people's
sub-human conditions of existence and restore
an element of dignity in their lives, overcoming
several impediments. That as a result of our work
the difference in these villages was perceptible.
About the award forum
The award is instituted by the Asian Institute
of Management under the aegis of the Ramon Ve
del Rosario, Sr AIM Centre for Corporate Responsibility.
The latter partners with Population and Development
Association and the Ford Foundation.
The
Ramon del Rosario, Sr. Centre for Corporate Social
Responsibility is a research and programme centre
within the Asian Institute of Management (AIM).
Cognizant of its mission in developing professional,
entrepreneurial, and socially responsible leaders
and managers, the AIM-RVR Centre is committed
to social excellence. It is the centre's belief
that only when Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) can be structured as a business model and
regarded as fundamental to strategy and general
management can CSR be sustainable. They were impressed
with the fact that our social vision forms part
of the business vision.
Population
and Community Development Association, founded
in 1974 is one of Thailand's most well-established
and diverse non-government organisations.
The
Ford Foundation provides grants and loans to projects
that strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty
and injustice, promote international cooperation,
and advance human achievement. Up until now the
Ford Foundation has provided grants and loans
in excess of US$ 10 billion.
The
way we steer our projects — taking cognizance
of the larger picture
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 is a
ground reality. Where the sound of silence, muted
expressions and places which reflect squalid conditions,
of hunger, of disease, and of impoverishment can
wrench your gut.
Today,
nearly 26 crores of people live below the poverty
line — in some 6,40,000 villages across India.
Ten years ago, the numbers were even more shocking.
Seized of this issue in several villages, some
state governments have gone out on a limb to change
the scenario. Some have done well while many are
still dragging their feet. On an encouraging note,
the Human Development Report (2001) has remarked
that India is on track to meet the Millennium
Development Goal of halving the income poverty
by 2015. Simply put, this implies that 13 crore
people will subsist on less than a dollar a day.
Under
the stewardship of Mrs. Rajashree Birla, and guidance
from Mr. A.K. Agarwala, our 150 strong team across
36 units, slogs with missionary zeal to raise a
large populace from below the poverty line to decent
subsistence levels.
We
work in 3,700 villages, in close collaboration
with the district authorities and government bodies,
apart from other like-minded bodies and NGOs.
Over a year ago, we decided that developing model
villages in a phased manner should underpin our
strategy. So each of our major companies was advised
to work towards the total transformation of a
select number of villages, which are close to
our plants.
Making
of a model village entails ensuring self-reliance
in all aspects — education, health care,
family welfare, infrastructure, agriculture and
watershed development and working towards sustainable
livelihood patterns. This is
an attempt fundamentally to ensure that village
development reaches a stage wherein communities
take over the complete responsibility and we can
withdraw from these villages and replicate the
project in other villages.
Consequently,
as a Group we have zeroed in on 200 villages across
the country through 37 of our plants, from the
stable of Hindalco, Grasim, Indian Rayon, Indo
Gulf, Tanfac, Essel Mining and Bihar Caustic and
Chemicals, among others.
Zooming
in on Hindalco
Hindalco has zeroed in on 71 villages where our
Integrated Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme
will run for four years.
Establishing
a baseline
To get a fix on the state of the rural people
before we stepped in was critical for
impact measurement at regular intervals. A baseline
study between January to March 2002 revealed that,
families existed on a US$ 222 income per annum,
self employment was practically non-existent.
Inadequate nutrition, no productive work, lack
of control over fertility, lack of access to basic
amenities such as water, sanitation and health
care, were death drivers. Literacy levels were
at its lowest. Over a three month period, we worked
to garner the support of the villagers, and get
them to own the project recoursing to the participatory
rural appraisal process. A simple tool, it is
all-inclusive. To do so we squat with the villagers,
influentials, the panchayatis and their ilk and
get them to prioritise their needs, mapping the
areas of work, the time-lines and their role in
taking it forward. Subsequently, with their involvement
we came up with an integrated approach. It encompassed
sustainable livelihood programmes, training in
skill sets, watershed management, best agricultural
practices, women empowerment processes, setting
up of 20 primary education and 44 non-formal education
centres. We impacted these 71 villages in every
which way. Imagine we could help them:
- bring
23,148 acres of land under irrigation, benefiting
9,875 families.
- raise
land productivity by 20 per cent.
- up
the literacy rate by 26 per cent.
- lower
the maternal and child mortality rate by 3 per
cent and 6 per cent respectively.
- enhance
the income of 4,558 families to US$ 556 from
US$ 222. In effect, exterminating their below
the poverty line (BPL) status.
Integrated
rural poverty alleviation programme — its
geographic reach
The Integrated Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme
has been based on a tripartite partnership between
Hindalco, the Gram Panchayat (village elders)
and the community. A Three-Year Rolling Plan extending
to 2002-2005 has been prepared consensually for
the 71 villages.
In the first year of our project, our goal was
to reach out to 3,108 families, out of a total
of 12,437 families in the villages short-listed
for the first phase in the first year of our project.
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