ITCs CSR Initiatives for Employees: ITC believes that all its employees must live with social

and economic dignity and freedom, regardless of nationality, gender, race, economic status or religion. In the management of its businesses and operations therefore, ITC ensures that it upholds the spirit of human rights as enshrined in existing international standards such as the Universal Declaration and the Fundamental Human Rights Conventions of the ILO.

Policy
ITC upholds international human rights standards, does not condone human rights abuses, and creates and nurtures a working environment where human rights are respected without prejudice.

Implementation
The Corporate Human Resources function of ITC is responsible for the Human Rights Policy design, implementation and updation. The policy is implemented at all locations of ITC through a set of separate policies and procedures covering each of the main constituents of human rights applicable at the workplaces.

Monitoring & Audit

The assessment procedures for different constituents of this policy are defined against each specific policy. Consideration of Human Rights Impacts Across the Supply Chain As a large and multi-product enterprise whose products are benchmarked nationally and internationally, ITC's main supply chains can be grouped as follows: 1. For all its operations, technology, machinery and equipment are sourced from reputed and globally benchmarked suppliers/vendors who are expected to follow internationally accepted norms and standards on human rights. 2. ITC's major businesses are vertically integrated across several Divisions. A substantial part of the supply chain is therefore internal through strategic backward linkages. Common values relating to human rights performance are shared across this supply chain. 3. Being a major agri-based company, the agriculture sector is a major supplier of inputs for its operations. The bulk of agricultural commodities are procured from state controlled trading platforms and the open market. 4. A very small proportion of ITC's business consists of supply chains comprising local vendors and suppliers. The policy framework for such entities is enunciated separately in 'Policy to Ensure Respect for Human Rights across the Supply Chain'. Policy to Ensure Respect for Human Rights Policy across the Supply Chain

ITC provides products and services of superior quality and value by sourcing its technologies, equipment and inputs from reputed international and Indian manufacturers and suppliers. Common values, relating to human rights performance, are shared across the entire supply chain because ITC is committed to the importance of a socially responsible and accountable supply chain.

Policy
ITC nurtures an internal working environment which respects human rights without prejudice. Likewise, it expects its business partners to establish a human rights compliant business environment at the workplace.

Implementation
The responsibility for implementation of this policy rests with the Divisional Chief Executive of the concerned business and the Unit Manager. The policy is communicated internally through policy manuals and intranet portals, and externally by the HR personnel of concerned units to vendors/suppliers.

Monitoring & Audit

ITC has established a policy intent for mapping/monitoring progress and performance of existing and potential vendors/suppliers on human rights performance. Policy to Prevent Discrimination at Workplace ITC acknowledges that every individual brings a different and unique set of perspectives and capabilities to the team. A discrimination-free workplace for employees provides the environment in which diverse talents can bloom and be nurtured. This is achieved by ensuring that a non-discrimination policy and practice is embedded across the Company in line with corporate principles and benchmarked business practices.

Policy
ITC's approach to its human resources is premised on the fundamental belief in fostering meritocracy in the organisation which, pari passu, promotes diversity and offers equality of opportunity to all employees. ITC does not engage in or support direct or indirect discrimination in recruitment, compensation, access to training, promotion, termination or retirement based on caste, religion, disability, gender, age, race, colour, ancestry, marital status or affiliation with a political, religious, or union organization or minority group.

Implementation
The policy is communicated to all employees through induction programmes, policy manuals and intranet portals.

The custodian of this policy is the head of each operational unit and Divisional Chief Executives of the respective business. ITC's complaints resolution procedure is premised on the freedom of employees to approach higher officials beyond his/her immediate superior. For the unionised employees, compliance of the policy is ensured through a robust grievance handling procedure and the presence of a union that brings violations to the notice of the unit HR head.

Monitoring & Auditing

The accountability for the application of the non-discrimination employment policy rests with the Unit Head who reviews anti-discriminatory complaints annually or on a case-by-case basis. The Corporate Human Resources function conducts non-discrimination reviews annually on a sample basis with unit heads and through on-site assessments. Policy on Freedom of Association ITC's culture is characterized by cooperative relationships and high employee involvement that relies on building partnerships and interdependence. Adhering to these principles has helped build, sustain and strengthen harmonious employee relations in the organisation.

Policy
ITC respects the employees' right to organize themselves into interest groups as initiatives of the workers, independent from supervision by the management. In keeping with the spirit of this Policy, employees are not discriminated against for exercising this right.

Implementation
The policy is comunicated to all employees through induction programmes, policy manuals and intranet portals. The custodian of this policy is the HR head of each operational unit who reports directly to Unit Head on such issues. The actualisation of this policy is evident from the joint agreements and minutes that are signed between the union and the management.

Monitoring & Audit

Each ITC Unit has appropriate systems and checks to ensure compliance with the Policy and statutory provisions, including means for filing of grievances, collective bargaining agreements and minutes from worker meetings. Compliance with the Policy is regularly monitored by Divisional and Corporate HR. Policy Prohibiting Child Labour and Preventing Forced Labour from Workplace

The foundation of ITC's "No Child or Forced Labour policy" is based on the Company's commitment to find practical, meaningful and culturally appropriate responses to support the elimination of such labour practices. It thus endorses the need for appropriate initiatives to progressively eliminate these abuses.

Policy
ITC does not employ any person below the age of eighteen years in the workplace. ITC prohibits the use of forced or compulsory labour at all its units. No employee is made to work against his/her will or work as bonded/forced labour, or subject to corporal punishment or coercion of any type related to work.

Implementation
This policy is publicly available throughout the Company and clearly communicated to all employees in a manner in which it can be understood through induction programmes, policy manuals and intranet portals. The responsibility for the implementation of the policy rests with the Units HR Department and the security staff who do not permit underage persons to enter the factory as workers. Employment contracts and other records documenting all relevant details of the employees, including age, are maintained at all units and are open to verification by any authorized personnel or relevant statutory body. Compliance with the policy is evident in the transparent system of recruitment and the policy of exit interviews which are undertaken by a manager not directly connected with the employee. For the unionised employees, compliance is also ensured through a robust grievance handling procedure and the presence of a union that brings violations to the notice of the unit HR head.

Monitoring & Audit

Sample checks of the records are undertaken annually by Corporate Human Resources function. Audit and assessment is undertaken annually by Corporate Internal Audit and the Environment, Occupation Health and Safety function. Policy on Information and Consultation on Changes ITC's core values support an employee engagement process that aligns its employees with a shared vision and purpose of the Company in the belief that every individual brings a different perspective and capability to the team. ITC thus harnesses the creative potential of all its employees by promoting a culture of partnerships to unleash relevant synergies between different groups of employees.

Policy
All major changes in operations involving work processes, manning norms and other productivity linked issues are carried out after discussions with the employees and the recognized unions at each location.

Implementation
Business plans are shared with employees at all units through a series of formal communication meetings, and through the intranet portals. Unionised employees at the concerned units are informed of all major changes well in advance through their representatives. The responsibility for the implementation of the policy rests with the Unit's HR Department in the case of unionized employees and with the concerned Divisional Management Committees for other employees. The employees are given enough time to consider the implications of change and an opportunity to discuss their apprehensions, if any, with the management. The Policy is actualised through consultative meetings with representatives of employees, culminating in joint minutes/agreements.

Monitoring & Auditing

Compliance with the Policy is regularly monitored by the Unit Head. HIV/AIDS: Policy Guidelines

Background
ITC is committed to providing a safe and healthy work environment to all its employees. These policy guidelines on HIV/AIDS are an endorsement of this commitment and, in particular, of the Company's commitment to specific programmes and actions in response to the HIV epidemic. The Company's position is based on scientific and epidemiological evidence that people with HIV/AIDS do not pose a risk of transmission of the virus to co-workers by casual, non-sexual contact in the normal work setting.

Policy Guidelines
1. Compliance The Company's policies on HIV/AIDS with regard to its employees will, at a minimum, comply with all relevant Central and State legislation and the Company will implement all policies and directions of the Government regarding HIV/AIDS whenever issued.

2. Prevention through Awareness The Company will provide to all its employees sensitive, accurate and the latest information about risk reduction strategies in their personal lives, with the objectives of reducing the stigma of HIV/AIDS, encouraging safe behaviour and improving understanding of treatment.

3. Safe and Healthy Workplace The Company is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace to all its employees. It is the Company's objective that employees will have access to health services to prevent and manage HIV/AIDS.

4. Non-discrimination The Company will not discriminate against any employee infected by HIV/AIDS with regard to promotions, training and other privileges and benefits as applicable to all employees.

1. A HIV positive employee will be allowed to continue to work in his/her job unless Medical conditions interfere with the specific job being done, in which case reasonable alternative working arrangements will be made; or The employee is incapacitated to perform his/her duties and is declared medically unfit by a medical doctor, in which case the employee will be assisted to rehabilitate himself/herself outside the Company.

2. The Company will not make pre-employment HIV/AIDS screening mandatory as part of its fitness to work assessment. Screening of this kind refers to direct methods (HIV testing), indirect methods (assessment of risk behaviour), and questions about HIV tests already taken.

3. HIV/AIDS test will not be part of the annual health check-ups unless specifically requested for by an employee.

5. Confidentiality Voluntary testing for HIV/AIDS when requested for by the employee, will be carried

out by private or community health services and not at the workplace. There will no obligation on the part of the employees to inform the Company about their clinical status in relation to HIV/AIDS. Information on clinical diagnosis of an employees' status in terms of his/her HIV/AIDS status if advised to the Company, will be kept strictly confidential.

ITCS Customer Initiatives for CSR

Inspired by the overarching vision of making a contribution to the national goals of sustainable development and inclusive growth, ITC has innovatively crafted unique business models that synergise long-term shareholder value creation with enhancing societal capital. This commitment is reflected when ITC measures accomplishments not only in terms of financial performance but also by the transformation ITC has consciously engendered to augment the social capital of the nation. in ITC's 'Triple Bottom Line' approach of contributing to the economic, environmental and social capital of the country. Envisioning a larger societal purpose has always been a hallmark of ITC. The company sees no conflict between the twin goals of shareholder value enhancement and societal value creation. The challenge lies in fashioning a corporate strategy that enables realisation of these goals in a mutually reinforcing and synergistic manner. As a corporate citizen with enduring relationships in rural India, ITC has a history of collaboration with communities and government institutions to enhance farm productivity and the rural resource base. ITC's commitments in agricultural R&D and knowledge sharing have spanned vital aspects of competitiveness - efficient farm practices, soil and water management. ITC is committed to a national agenda of raising agricultural productivity and making the rural economy more socially inclusive. ITC believes that the urgency and scale of these tasks make market linked solutions and innovations more effective and sustainable than capital intensive approaches. In 2000, harnessing the empowering force of information technology and its scalabilty, ITC launched e-Choupal - a knowledge portal providing farmers with a range of information and services. Designed to enable them to bargain collectively and enhance their transactive power, e-Choupal became the much needed and easily adoptable tool farmers had been waiting for. Today e-Choupal is a vibrant and rapidly growing zone of business and interaction for over 4 million farmers. Today 4 million farmers use e-Choupal to advantage - bargaining as virtual buyers' cooperatives, adopting best practices, matching up to food safety norms. Being linked to futures markets is helping small farmers to better manage risk. e-Choupal has been specially cited in the Government of India's Economic Survey of 2006-07, for its transformational impact on rural lives. ITC's strategic intent is to develop e-Choupal as a significant two-way multidimensional delivery channel, efficiently carrying goods and services out of and into rural India. By progressively linking the digital infrastructure to a physical network of rural business hubs

and agro-extension services, ITC is transforming the way farmers do business, and the way rural markets work. The network of 6,500 e-Choupal centres spread across 40,000 villages has emerged as the gateway of an expanding spectrum of commodities leaving farms - wheat, rice, pulses, soya, maize, spices, coffee, aqua-products. The reverse flow carries FMCG, durables, automotives and banking services back to villages.

E-Choupal : Rural digital-physical infrastructure

In 2000, harnessing the empowering force of information technology and its scalabilty, ITC launched e-Choupal - a knowledge portal providing farmers with a range of information and services. Designed to enable them to bargain collectively and enhance their transactive power, e-Choupal became the much needed and easily adoptable tool farmers had been waiting for. Today e-Choupal is a vibrant and rapidly growing zone of business and interaction for over 4 million farmers. Today 4 million farmers use e-Choupal to advantage - bargaining as virtual buyers' cooperatives, adopting best practices, matching up to food safety norms. Being linked to futures markets is helping small farmers to better manage risk. e-Choupal has been specially cited in the Government of India's Economic Survey of 2006-07, for its transformational impact on rural lives. ITC's strategic intent is to develop e-Choupal as a significant two-way multidimensional delivery channel, efficiently carrying goods and services out of and into rural India. By progressively linking the digital infrastructure to a physical network of rural business hubs and agro-extension services, ITC is transforming the way farmers do business, and the way rural markets work. The network of 6,500 e-Choupal centres spread across 40,000 villages has emerged as the gateway of an expanding spectrum of commodities leaving farms - wheat, rice, pulses, soya, maize, spices, coffee, aqua-products. The reverse flow carries FMCG, durables, automotives and banking services back to villages.

Social & Farm forestry

ITC's social & Farm forestry program emerged in response to its challenge to source effective pulp wood from sustainable sources to enhance its competitiveness. Instaed of taking easier route to importing pulp, ITC innovatively leveraged it's pulpwood requirements to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities to poor and tribal marginal farmers, by assisting them to convert their private wastelands into productive pulpwood plantations. High yielding, disease resistant and site specific clones are developed in ITC's research center. This program has not only created sustainable source of livelihood for a large no. of disadvantaged sections of society but has also bought in a multiplicity of benefits by creating

a large green cover that contributes significantly to groundwater recharge, soil conservation and carbon sequestration.

Integrated Watershed Development

Recognising the vital role that role plays in the rural economy, ITC promotes watershed projects in waterstressed areas providing precious water resources for agriculture and rural communities and livestock. Based on a participatory approach, the programme facilitates building, reviving and maintaining water harvesting structures as well as management of water resources to reverse land degradation, provide critical irrigation and increase agricultural productivity. The phenomenal example of this was the Ranjangaon ara near Pune district in Maharashtra, it was under severe draught during kharip season of 2009 with virtuallyno rains in the project area, farmers and cattle were adversely affected. ITC's watershed programme became the only source of livelihood for more than 350 farmers who participated daily in the work. In another first of its kind agreement in the country, ITC signed MOU with the government of Maharashtra to implement NREGA in 2 blocks of Jalna district on an integrated watershed programme basis covering 50 villages.

Integrated Agricultural Development

The programme promotes a combination of solutions for optimizing water management and enhancing farm productivity. Farmers are motivated to form agri-business centers, enabling them to pool knowledge and resources, have access to quality inputs on time and improve productivity and quality. A total of 20 agri-business centers provided timely agri-iputs to around 1077 members. To help farmers capture additional value from their holdings, ITC promoted crop diversification with good market linkages. Organic spces, medicinal and aromatic plants were promoted under this initiative.

Livestock Development
The programme assists small landless farmers to upgrade livestock quality through crossbreeding by artificial insemination to boost milk productivity by a factor of 6 to 9 times, lading to a threshold increase in household incomes and thereby an improvement in their economic status. Following graph shows average increase in milk productivity due to cross breeding: The programme also provides integrated animal husbandry services that include pre and post natal interventions. Vaccinations and health services are provided to more than 1.7 lakh cattle.

Women's empowerment
ITC's initiative provide sustainable economic opportuinities to poor women in rural areas by assisting them to form self help groups that enable them to build small savings and finance self employment and micro-enterprise. The programme has demonstrated that extra incomes in the hands of women lead to positive changes in human development since it is largely invested in children's education, health and nutrition. The total turnover of women managed micro enterprises was Rs. 61.14 lakhs, the bulk of which was accounted by the sale of raw agarbattis and chikankar garments.

Universal Education
The programme is aimed at increasing chances of employability either through imparting training in skills or better education.The programme provides infrastructure support to government run primary schools and coaching through Supplementary learning centers to stem drop-outs and enable more children to complete school and move on to higher classes. In order to increase enrolment, poor children receive school uniforms and text/exercise books. A network of rural libraries and resource centers enrich the process of learning for these children. An innovative initiative of roaming laptop programme is also provided to government schools in rural areas.