CSR Initiatives and Challenges of the Aditya Birla Group

About the Aditya Birla Group

The Aditya Birla Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate named after Aditya Vikram Birla, headquartered in the Aditya Birla Centre in Worli, Mumbai, India. It operates in 33 countries with more than 136,000 employees worldwide. Group Companies include Hindalco, Madura Fashion and Lifestyles, Idea Cellular Ltd. ,Grasim Textiles among many others.

CSR AT THE ADITYA BIRLA GROUP

The Group spends in excess of Rs.130 crore annually, inclusive of the running of 18 hospitals and 42 schools on CSR activities. The footprint of its community work covers 3,000 villages across the country reaching out to more than 70 lakh people annually. Over 60 per cent of these live below the poverty line and belong to scheduled castes and tribes. The group has teamed up with organizations like WHO, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, SEWA, Smile Foundation, Maya Foundation, Childline India Foundation, local NGOs, District Development Offices, Central and State governments among many others.

 CSR activities at the group are undertaken by the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development headed by Mrs. Rajashree Birla. It is the apex body responsible for the identification , development and implementation of CSR projects. The Centres vision is: To actively contribute to the social and economic
development of the communities in which we operate. In doing so, build a better, sustainable way of life for the weaker sections of society and raise the country's human development index.

Education
Formal schools: The Group runs 41 formal schools in proximity to its plants, where over 45 thousand students enjoy the learning and growing process Balwadis for elementary education Primary schools named Aditya Bal Vidya Mandirs. Provision of help to schools run by the district authorities or Panchayats. Girl child education :Partnered with the Central Government's Scheme of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Adult education programmes : To ignite the spark of learning among adult women, we have designed a six months training programme, which teaches them the basics, reading, writing and managing household budgets

 To encourage meritorious students who are needy, special scholarships have been instituted. For instance, in Durgamanwadi (Kolhapur) and Belgaum, 250 scholarships are accorded to girl students. Financial assistance has been extended to foster the education of 96 girls under the Savitribai Dattak Pallak Yojna.Besides ,the Aditya Birla Group Scholarship is awarded to meritorious students every year. Career counseling classes for students. Sponsoring of ITI courses, organizing preparatory classes before their exams and providing them with computer training. Pragnya Shivirs and Jeevan Utkash Shivirs, are residential camps for character building and intensive coaching for promising students inspired by Gandhian ideals.

Health care and family welfare

Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital : State-of-the-art hospital near Pune. , at least 10 percent of beds are apportioned for the under privileged and weaker sections of the community. Primary Health Care Camps: To provide healthcare to the populace, it organizes medical camps for primary health check-ups. These camps, which are conducted at least once a week in every location, attend to patients afflicted with various ailments ranging from polio , leprosy, tuberculosis, cardiovascular problems, blood-related issues to visual and physical impairment. Patients who cannot be treated at the camps because of serious ailments are taken to the Company's hospitals and looked after until their case is taken care of. Reproductive and child health care, supplementary nutrition / midday meal projects Blood donation drives.

 Safe drinking water, sanitation household toilets, community hospitals HIV / AIDS, cancer, TB awareness and prevention camps: project undertakes various activities such as organizing workshops, street plays, rallies, and distributing literature to create awareness and sensitize the community. E.g. . The Hindalco unit at Taloja has entered into a joint project titled Work Place Intervention for HIV/AIDS prevention and control with the Avert Society.
Care for the Physically Challeneged: Many of the patients are taken to the Group's hospitals for operations that call for greater care and more time. Where surgery is not possible, patients are given supportive aids such as the Jaipur Foot, calipers, crutches, artificial limbs, tricycles, hearing aids, etc. To bring back smiles on the faces of those affected by cleft lip and cleft palate, it organizes cleft lip surgery camps.

Social causes
Widow re-marriage Women empowerment through education and training. Dowry-less marriage by creating social awareness on the ills of the system De-addiction campaigns and programmes for alcoholism and drug addiction. Spreading Education

Infrastructure Support
Homes for the homeless : Working closely with Habitat for Humanity , 100 houses them were built for the homeless in Renukoot, Uttar Pradesh. Relief and Rehabilitation work in areas affected by natural calamities : The Housing Complex constructed in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity in the tsunami-hit village of Thazhankuda ,T.N. was described by Mr. Bill Clinton as a model colony which sets a global benchmark.

Rural Sanitation Promotion :In collaboration with the Government and construct dry toilets in villages.

Sustainable livelihood
It is an attempt to go beyond the conventional definitions and approaches to poverty eradication. Encourage the formation of Self-help groups (microfinance for women and farmers) Watershed management Microenterprise development Skill development / vocational training through Aditya Birla Technology Park for integrated training programme and VT centres at most of its plants in collaboration with ITIs.

Challenges
Lack of community participation in CSR activities Issues of transparency Non-availability of well organised nongovernmental organisations Non-availability of clear CSR guidelines Lack of consensus on implementing CSR issues

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