UDAIPUR: Every girl deserves more than an opportunity to study, she deserves the freedom to imagine a future for herself. Hindustan Zinc, the world’s largest integrated zinc producer and one of the world’s top ten silver producers, are taking steps to ensure every girl has the right to dream without any limits. Through initiatives spanning from school, higher education to sports and skill development, Hindustan Zinc has impacted lives of over 2 million girls and women, building an ecosystem where a girl can learn, aspire and lead.
For girls in rural communities, access to quality education can be the first step towards aspirations that once seemed beyond reach. Through Shiksha Sambal, Hindustan Zinc has strengthened learning outcomes for over 47,000 students across rural government schools, with girls accounting for above 50% of beneficiaries. By integrating Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education with improved learning infrastructure, the initiative is helping rural girls build stronger academic foundations, gain confidence in technical subjects and explore opportunities beyond traditional career pathways. Taking this journey from classrooms to career aspirations, Unchi Udaan has supported nearly 350 high-performing students through intensive coaching, mentorship and academic guidance for competitive engineering entrance examinations.
Saniya Uranw, an Unchi Udaan alumnus from Haldi, Uttarakhand studied at a government school until Class 8 before beginning her four-year journey with the programme. Her hard work took her to IIT Guwahati, where she chose to purse engineering. When her family initially hesitated due to financial constraints, Hindustan Zinc’s intervention helped enable her admission, and today she continues her IIT journey with an annual scholarship Like Saniya, for Sonam the dream did not wear the shape of a conventional career. It arrived as a football jersey, a pair of boots and the belief that she belongs on a field just as much as anyone else. Hailing from Arambagh, West Bengal, Sonam Ghosh joined Zinc Football Academy’s first residential girls’ programme and has made rapid progress over the past year, moving from academy football to representing the country at international platform, her journey has become an inspiration to other girls at the academy and her community.
Hindustan Zinc established the Zinc Football Academy in Zawar, (Zinc – City) creating a dedicated girls residential ecosystem where young athletes from underserved communities can pursue football alongside education, nutrition, healthcare and holistic development.
The company’s community-led interventions such as Sakhi’s Uthori Jaagriti Kalamanch, works to spark conversations around issues that can restrict a girl’s choices, including child marriage, gender equality and women’s rights. Together, these rural women work towards creating an environment where girls are not simply protected but are encouraged to exercise their voice and make informed choices about their future.
Indra Devi from Moolji ka Kheda, Rajasthan was once a victim of child marriage. Today, she is the Secretary of Sakhi Udaan Samiti and with Sakhi’s Uthori Jaagriti Kalamanch advocate against child marriage to raise her voice in her community. Her journey from experiencing the injustice herself to speaking up against it reflects the power of awareness and action.
For every girl her journey does not end when she completes school, it is the beginning towards a more self-reliant future. With Zinc Kaushal, Hindustan Zinc is helping girls take the next step towards economic independence by providing them with industry-relevant skills. Currently, the initiative has trained over 12,000 youth with 46% being women creating pathways for employment, entrepreneurship, and global opportunities.
Across these company interventions that impact over 2.6 Million lives across 4,100 villages, the focus that remains consistent is to ensure that talent is never limited by geography, income or social expectations. Today there is a girl who raises her hand in class, a girl with ambition to be at the top engineering college, a girl who steps onto the football field with every right to compete, because when a girl gets the chance to shape her future, she does not only change one story, but she also rewrites the story of her community and a generation, whose future is waiting to be written.
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