Annual Report 2008-2009 - Bharat Petroleum

agitation lasted for 1 ½ days. Extensive communication
on business and other related issues were undertaken
covering all stakeholders i.e. Management, employees
and their associates / Unions during the year.
FULFILLMENT OF SOCIAL OBLIGATIONS
As a responsible corporate citizen, BPCL accords
significant importance to Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR). The pan India presence means that the ‘People
Interface’ includes urban, semi-urban and rural areas
besides some of the remote tribal belts. Hence, CSR
activities are undertaken with the objective of making a
meaningful impact in the lives of people, which would
lead to sustainable development. The thrust areas for CSR
were health, education, water conservation, environment
conservation and community development.
Emphasis was laid on equipping small groups of women,
youth and farmers with training, skills, subsequent to
which they were encouraged to form Self Help Groups
(SHGs), to sustain some form of income generating
activities. One such effort has been the collaboration with
Self Employed Women Association (SEWA) in Lucknow,
where around 100 women from in and around village
Babukheda near Lucknow are being trained in ‘Chikankari
work’, subsequent to which they will be given work on
per piece basis directly by SEWA. Together with the
partners like SEWA, the SHGs are also being supported
for micro credit through banks.
Water conservation through Project ‘Boond’ continued,
by adding 4 more villages in Maharashtra and for the
first time 2 villages in Bharatpur, Rajasthan for rainwater
harvesting. For the water conservation work which was
already undertaken, BPCL won the ‘Asian CSR Award
2008’ for Project Boond –III. The Awards were instituted
by the prestigious Asian Institute of Management, Manila
with co-sponsorship from Intel Corporation.
CSR received a lot of support through employee
volunteers, who apart from constructing check dams for
water conservation, also took up teaching school children
of zilla parishad schools on the importance of water and
hence, conservation.
From the year 2008-09 onwards, the CSR budget of the
Corporation is being increased from 0.5% to 2% of the
net profit of the previous financial year of the Company,
reflecting the extent of BPCL’s commitment to the growth
and development of society.
PROMOTION OF SPORTS
BPCL sportspersons continued to excel in the national as
well as international sports arena in various disciplines.
Saina Nehwal created history by becoming the first
Indian woman to win a Super Series event in Badminton
when she won the Indonesian Open event. Currently
ranked no 6, Saina is one of the top women badminton
players in the world. Chess player Abhijit Gupta won
the prestigious World Junior Chess Championship
becoming only the third Indian to do so. Another Chess
player, Arun Prasad earned his Grand Master norm in
2008-09. BPCL employees continue to be selected to
the national contingents in various disciplines. In Billiards
and Snooker, Devendra Joshi won the Silver Medal (time
format) and Bronze Medal (point format) in the IBSF
World Billiards Championships. BPCL was awarded the
President’s PSPB Trophy for II Runners-up during the
year by virtue of points obtained in various Petroleum
Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) tournaments.
RESERVATION AND OTHER WELFARE MEASURES
FOR SCHEDULED CASTES/SCHEDULED TRIBES/
OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES AND PERSONS WITH
DISABILITIES
BPCL has been following in letter and spirit, the Presidential
directives and other guidelines issued from time to time
by Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Ministry of
Social Justice & Empowerment and the Department of
Public Enterprises relating to reservations / concessions
for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/ Other Backward
Classes. An adequate monitoring mechanism has been
put in place for sustained and effective compliance
across the Corporation. Rosters are maintained as per
the directives and are regularly inspected by the Liaison
Officer of the Corporation as well as the Liaison Officer of
the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, to ensure proper
compliance of the directives.
Students belonging to Scheduled Castes / Scheduled
Tribes and those who are economically backward are
provided with scholarships from the secondary school
level till graduation. Similar assistance is also provided
for pursuing courses at ITI.
BPCL also complies with directives under “The Persons
with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights
and Full Participation), Act 1995” relating to reservations
and concessions for persons with disabilities. The
Company also makes special efforts for implementation
of the National Policy on persons with disability and has
accordingly introduced several facilities for their benefit.
Details relating to representation/appointment of
Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes / Other Backward
Classes and Persons With Disabilities are enclosed as
Annexure D.
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE POLICY
The Official Language Implementation Committees
function at the Corporate and Regional offices, Refineries
Annual Report 2008-2009 13