2002-03 - Grasim

SOCIAL REPORT
BEYOND BUSINESS – REACHING OUT TO COMMUNITIES : MAKING A DIFFERENCE
We have always looked beyond the traditional spheres of influence and addressed the larger issues facing people around our Plants
and beyond. Our Social Projects are carried out under the aegis of the “Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural
Development”, which is spearheaded by Mrs. Rajashree Birla, your Director. The Centre provides the strategic direction and the
thrust areas for our work, ensuring performance management as well.
Your Company views its social responsibility very seriously, far transcending mere cheque-book philanthropy. Corporate Social
Responsibility is accorded as much importance as business projects. Therefore, your Company’s social vision forms an integral part
of the business vision. Your Company has a One Year Plan and a 3-Year Rolling Plan, which meshes with the business plans.
Our vision is “To actively contribute to the social and economic development of the communities in which we operate and
beyond. In so doing build a better, sustainable way of life for the weaker sections of society and raise the country’s human
development index”.
Our Focus Areas :
Our focus areas are : health care, inclusive of mother and child care; education; self-reliance through the engine of sustainable
livelihood, also encompassing agricultural and water-shed development activities and women empowerment processes, infrastructure
support and espousing social causes.
The Project Identification Mechanism :
Along with the villagers, your Company assesses their unfulfilled basic needs, which are then discussed with the village Panchayats.
Based on a consensus, we prioritise them and thus projects evolve.
We reach out annually to 3 lac people, of whom a majority live below the poverty line. To provide focused service, this year, we
have narrowed in on 254 villages, in proximity to our Plants at Nagda, Jawad, Raipur in Madhya Pradesh, Bhiwani in Haryana,
Kharia Khangar and Shambhupura in Rajashthan, Harihar and Malkhed in Karnataka, Kharach in Gujarat, Raigad (Salav) and
Hotgi in Maharashtra, Bhatinda in Punjab and Reddipalayam in Tamil Nadu.
Health Care
To provide health care to villagers, we organise Medical Camps. In 500 Medical Camps conducted by us, over 46,000 villagers
were given a health check-up. People afflicted with various ailments ranging from polio, to leprosy, to tuberculosis, to cardiovascular
problems, to blood-related issues, to visual and physical impairment, come to the Camps. Patients who cannot be treated at the
Camps are taken to the Company’s hospitals, wherever feasible, and cared for.
In collaboration with the District Health Authorities, our teams helped immunise 17,352 children. At the Cataract Operation
Camps, 5000 patients were examined and 900 senior citizens were operated upon. In artificial limbs fitment camps, conducted at
Harihar, Nagda and Kharia Khangar, 130 physically impaired persons were provided with artificial supports and 119 patients were
operated upon for reconstructive surgery. At our hospitals at Nagda, Ujjain and other plants, more than 200,000 villagers were
treated in the out-patient department. Medical care was also provided for major and minor operations and child-birth. A majority
of the patients who come to our hospitals belong to families below the poverty line, therefore they are treated free of cost.
Over 262 tuberculosis afflicted patients are treated at Khor in Madhya Pradesh by Vikram Cement. In addition, we have mobile
ambulances plying in the interiors of Nagda, Reddiyapalam, Kharia Khangar and Salav. Nearly 30,000 patients take advantage of
these mobile health clinics.
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