These steel companies may be huge in size and scale, but small efforts in creating sustainable livelihoods for communities are also getting a push under their philanthropic initiatives, whether it is making pickles, candles, handicrafts or community farming, reports Parul Chhaparia
Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) is in talks with Reliance Fresh to sell sanitary napkins being made by a self-help group (SHG) promoted by it in Angul, Orissa. The company had taken the technology from Shri AMM Murugappa Chettiar Research Centre in Tamil Nadu and created infrastructure to manufacture sterilised sanitary napkins. The product is branded as Ssodoshi and JSPL has already applied for its registration.
Similarly, the company is promoting a variety of herbal beauty and spa products at various hotels, including the Trident. Though the marketing initiatives are still at a preliminary stage, company officials said by next month there should be some more tie-ups with various groups of hotels in cities like Puri, Kolkata and Bhubaneswar.
?As far as sanitary napkins are concerned, it is India?s cheapest. The idea was to enable women to overcome health hazards arising out of using unsterilised sanitary napkins. We are not competing with established brands, but trying to capture markets where this product is yet to reach,? says Prashant Hota, assistant vice-president, corporate social responsibility, JSPL.
The company has formed 300 SHGs that focus on poultry, goat rearing, pickle making and vermicompost. While it buys most of the vermicompost produced by these SHGs itself and uses it in its community nursery by farming units at Kalinganagar, it directs SHGs on how to sell other products in the markets.
The company has set up a Tata Steel Rural Development Society and Gram Shree Melas to find ways and means to take these products on the shelves of local markets. The dokra items and handicrafts made by artisans are bought by the company itself and used for corporate gifting purposes.
?As part of its CSR initiatives, Tata Steel trains SHGs in trades of marketable products. Local artisans are extended help to make dokra items and local handicrafts. Tata Steel supports in marketing of these products by purchasing them as corporate gifts and also through Gram Shree Melas,? says Prabhat Sharma, head, corporate affairs, Tata Steel.
Besides marketing, the steel maker also focuses on employment generation, especially at its greenfield project sites. The company arranges for technical education, employment following training/skills upgrade for villagers, who then can be employed in non-farm based small and micro enterprises.
Essar Steel
The company, which is on expansion mode, has been trying new innovation on CSR as well. It has tied up with the Institute for Steel Development and Growth (INSDAG), Kolkata, to develop bullock carts using environmental-friendly steel for the people in Hazira, Gujarat. The idea took off when the company noted that most people in that area used bullock carts for commuting and due to which there was a significant amount of deforestation as these people procured a lot of wood to build bullock carts.
Now, the new bullock carts carry more load and are light on the bullocks. Essar Steel has set up over 450 distribution points across the country for easy availability of steel, which can be used for making these carts, which are given free to the villagers.
SAIL
Public sector companies have also been active in training their SHGs into activities such as tailoring, pickle making and carpet weaving. The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) runs various projects, especially for women empowerment. Women under its Swayamsiddha projects are trained for tailoring, making pickles, papad and incense sticks. Once these products are made, the company helps these products to be sold in the market and has set up a chain of shop called ‘Swayamsiddha’ for marketing all these items. The shops are run by women members of the SHGs.
