Social Responsibility
Our Strategy and approach
- All our interventions have a 5 year sustainable long term perspective in line with the business objectives of the respective units. Our role is of a Proactive Enabler and partner, which entails proactively mapping the needs of the community and acting upon it in collaboration with the community, government and local NGO’s towards empowerment of the community in line with the business objectives.
- Identifying and nurturing stakeholder relationship is a dynamic, inclusive, planned and continuous process. We understand healthy stakeholder relationships are a prerequisite for good risk management. A structured process of engagement is adopted using a three- pronged approach- keeping the stakeholders informed, engaging with them and forging partnerships to address their needs and concerns. Engagement strategies are decided in line with the needs of the project and the stakeholders. Within each stakeholder group, key stakeholders are identified based on strategic imperatives derived from the strategic objectives. Well defined strategy and a clear set of objectives, timetable, resources and allocation of responsibilities serve the purpose.
- We work towards a ‘Holistic Development Plan’ for every village we work in. Our life span in each village is for a period of 5 years. We aim to phase out from the village leaving the baton of development with the empowered village development committees.
- Documentation is a major tool for success. The base line and need assessment study form the base for all our planning. These data helps us in socially mapping the impact of our interventions and our progress over a period of time.
- Our work is based on a project philosophy mode. Each focus area has been developed into a project proposal. The proposal is well documented and serves as a blue print for work in that specific area/ issue and is replicable across geographies. The proposal outlines Specific – objectives, Measurable- deliverables, Achievable – activities and the process of implementation, Replicable and Sustainable – projects and Timely interventions which are defined within a clear time frame.
- Public Private and People Partnership - 4P. We work at 2 levels Local – Community, Employees - We identify and plan for projects in the 10 km radius of our plant or for 10 villages. Employee volunteerism/ participation are encouraged for all projects. Regional –NGO, local Government – We partner and work with bilateral and multi lateral organizations to further our cause wherever relevant and meaningful. We identify one Macro project which benefits the State or Region we are working in. This project can be within the purview of our focus areas or outside of it. A feasibility study of such a project is done before embarking on it. The project does have long term benefits to the community.
- We partner and garner all Central and State government schemes for our interventions as and where possible. This helps avoid duplication of activities, time, energy and resources enabling sustainable impact.
- We measure and audit our work internally and externally.
- We meet annually to review, plan, learn and applaud each other.
We play a role in the community that has many dimensions. With a presence that includes extensive thermal power facilities, aluminum, zinc and copper smelting operations, the Group plays a significant development role in terms of employment, local skill development, purchase of local goods and services, taxes and royalty paid. The company also contributes in other ways such as local infrastructure development, maintenance of roads and medical facility. In most of the communities, the Group supports this perseveres with a strong fervor of Corporate Social Responsibility. Regardless of where the Group Company operates the goal is to be an integrated community partner.
Our approach towards community development initiatives are:
- Individual-centric
- Group centric
- People/ community centric
- Demonstrative/replicable/scalable prospects
- Application of a benchmark approach
The communities around the plants and operations are key stakeholders and constitute an integral element in the process of socio economic development. Our work with the communities is defined through a framework and is customized based on the nature of the business cycle. Our partnership with the communities starts from the Rehabilitation and Resettlement stage wherever applicable in greenfield projects to begin with to a more encompassing approach, in brown field projects. Our approach is both intensive and extensive depending on whether the village falls in the core or in the buffer zone. While working with diverse stakeholders, the CSR teams identify the needs of the community, prioritise them and prepare various models to address the issues. Prior to the roll out of programs, extensive brainstorming is done at unit level and built in mid course corrections are undertaken wherever necessary in the execution stage. Partnerships are key drivers in our work with communities. Most of the projects have collaboration with elected bodies, government, NGO’s and the communities.