Utkal Alumina International Limited (UAIL) has put in place a holistic CSR strategy. Its main endeavour is to make a difference to the lives of the under privileged. Through its development initiatives, it has helped in improving the socio-economic conditions of people in these areas.
The development initiatives by UAIL are focussed on providing better health, education, livelihood and other facilities to the villagers.
UAIL’s Project Sambhab, launched in Sept 2019, aims at creating an alternative source of livelihood through orchard development.
A total of 19 farmers of Ratachuan, Hatikhaman, Jogiparitunda and Narignjodi are receiving assistance for banana, guava, papaya and drumstick plantations, along with fertiliser and pesticides. This apart, the farmers also get on-farm agro-advisory services to maintain the fruit orchards. Close to 8.37 acres have been covered under this programme.
Project Sugandha through cultivation of lemon grass is another such project by UAIL to raise the income level of farmers. From a modest beginning in 2018-19 with 12 farmers, 20 acres and just 1 village, it has come a long way. Currently, it has been scaled up to 70 farmers, 8 villages and 80 acres.
Adding to these, UAIL went a step further by installing a lemon grass oil extraction unit for forward linkage. The unit at Jogiparitunda of Kashipur block was set up by a local entrepreneur with the support of Utkal Alumina under Project Sugandha.
It saw a formal opening on June 23, 2020, and N Nagesh, the Unit Head and President, UAIL, and Tapan Kumar Mahalik, IIC, Andirakanch Police Station, did the honours. Utkal officials T M Prakash, Mukesh Jha, Siba Sankar Mahapatra, Sukanta Mahapatra and other CSR team members were present.
Speaking on the occasion, Nagesh urged the locals to ramp up lemon grass cultivation and promote more such units to provide the extraction facility to the farmers concerned. This particular initiative of the company got a thumbs-up from local farmers, including Harischandra Dishari and Mastaram Pujari of Nuagaon and Maharaj Naik of Andirakanch.
On the same day, a solar drinking water project was also opened. This project is being seen to reduce the hardships of rural women in fetching drinking water.
“We have been consistently and relentlessly working to make the people of our peripheral villages self-sufficient by providing them different sources of livelihood through undertaking of different sustainable development projects which have got enough encomiums and support from the community and we will keep on accelerating these initiatives in the times to come” adds Nagesh.
