Ludhiana is often dubbed as the Manchester of India for its prominent textile industry. The city famous for its shawls and stoles satisfies the demands of major domestic as well as international brands. The city’s role in the supply chain of many companies makes it a desirable location for CSR investments.
Top Companies for CSR in Ludhiana
Bharti Enterprises
Bharti Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Bharti Enterprises undertook the ‘Satya Bharti Abhiyan’, its rural sanitation initiative to promote the eradication of open defecation in Ludhiana.
The foundation achieved a major milestone for the initiative under which it constructed approximately 18,000 toilets and handed over to rural/urban Households across Distt. Ludhiana. The initiative made Ludhiana (Rural) the second self-declared ‘Open Defecation Free’ District of Punjab.
Satya Bharti Abhiyan was one of the largest private-sector supported interventions designed to contribute to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission. Over 87,000 individuals, in particular women and children, in 1000 villages across Distt. Ludhiana has benefited from this initiative. In addition to rural household sanitation, separate toilets for girls were also constructed in 14 Government schools in rural Ludhiana to encourage girl child education by ensuring that this basic infrastructure is not a barrier to them attending schools.
Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Co-Chairman, Bharti Foundation, said, “We are proud to have contributed in our small way to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission and improving the quality of life of our fellow citizens. However, the biggest driver of this successful intervention has been the participation of the local communities in helping spread the message of sanitation. Ludhiana and the state of Punjab have today set a shining example for others to follow and I thank the State Government and the local administration for their valuable support and encouragement.”
The Satya Bharti Abhiyan was launched by Bharti Foundation in August 2014 as a response to the call given by Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, urging corporates to join the Government’s efforts in sanitation and health under the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission.’
Omaxe Group
For people belonging to underprivileged sections of society, it is very difficult to fight and defeat the COVID-19 pandemic. Coming to their aid, the Omaxe Group is running a vaccination campaign to help construction workers fight the epidemic. Omaxe Royal Residency recently held a COVID-19 vaccination camp for construction workers over the age of 18 years in Ludhiana. Omaxe Group organized this drive in partnership with the Government of Punjab, Labour Department and Health Department at the Omaxe Club. A team of doctors advised workers on how to protect themselves from the novel coronavirus.
ReNew Power
In order to help tackle air pollution in the national capital caused because of Stubble burning in the neighbouring states, ReNew Power joined hands with CII Foundation in 2018-19, to work with around 1000 farmers in 7 villages, covering 7000 acres of farmland in Raikot block, Ludhiana district in Punjab.
Key components of the project included behaviour change interventions involving village-level community interactions and campaigning for farmer awareness; building, developing and implementing a participatory village-level action plan.
Supporting the adoption of tools and technologies and entrepreneurial ventures for in-situ and ex-situ processing of farm straw was another aspect. A total of 24 machines like happy seeder, rotavator with a seed drill, cutter cum spreader were provided as part of the project. These machines were handed over to the local farmer producer organization (FPO) for operation and maintenance. The FPO will collect a nominal hiring charge (as decided in consultation with farmers, and considering the market rate) that will be used for the repair and maintenance of these machines. The creation of farmers’ knowledge and capacity on sustainable cropping systems involved farm level demonstrations and training. Village Nigrani Committee is a team of volunteers established to monitor the cases of stubble burning, if any, and undertake immediate community level remedial measures to stop it.
During the initial stages of the project, farmers expressed multiple concerns in adopting new technology and farming practices. With support from scientists from the Punjab Agricultural University and Block Agriculture Office, a number of field-level training events were organized to enhance farmers’ knowledge and capacity.
At the end of the rabi season, approximately 89% of the total land became ‘stubble burning free’ as compared to the previous year when only 3.5% of the land was ‘stubble burning free’. At the onset of the project, farmers were of the view that the cost of adopting these new tools would mean additional cost. The cost of operation realized by farmers for the fields where they adopted mulching with happy seeder has been at par with the cost incurred by farmers in the traditional approach of burning the straw in the field (approx. Rs. 3000 per acre).