By Rusen Kumar
NEW DELHI: TAKE Solutions, BSE & NSE listed Supply Chain Management and Life Sciences company has engaged with EFI (Environmentalist Foundation of India) and adopted several ponds and lakes across Tamil Nadu ensuring Environmental Sustainability. They propose to clean waterbodies, plant trees to restore biodiversity and educate the local community about the importance of maintaining these natural resources. TAKE Solutions delivers domain-intensive services in Life Sciences and Supply Chain Management.
An exclusive interview with Rusen Kumar, Editor, India CSR Network; Deepa Jayakumar, VP Corporate Services, TAKE Solutions Limited says, “As an organisation, TAKE is committed to being a sustainable business enterprise that creates value for our customers, our investors, our employees, our partners, Society and the Environment.” Enjoy the reading:
In your view how can corporates contribute to the environment and society?
Providing preventive health care, rural education and environmental sustainability to less fortunate are priorities at the heart of our organisation. We pride ourselves on being an organisation with strong social ethics. To achieve these we work together as a family along with their family members partaking in the activities to achieve greater heights. This produces an overall positive impact on our employees and their families as well as that of the local community and society at large.
More importantly, we need to build awareness amongst our teams to implement environment friendly and socially conscious practices at home. For example, having a terrace garden to grow organic vegetables, or segregating waste at source. Such measures have a great multiplier effect and will increase our positive impact on society.
Can you elaborate on the water-body restoration initiative? What do you aim to achieve with this initiative?
We commenced our water-body restoration initiative in 2013 to clean and restore water bodies in and around Chennai. The aim is to restore and maintain the water bodies around Chennai in a scientific manner, to conserve the water table and provide a habitat for indigenous flora and fauna.
It began with our team coming together to clean the periphery of water bodies around our office in Perungalathur. Subsequently, we began to participate in other activities like tree plantations and awareness wall paintings. It has been a great experience for the team, as we get out in nature and change the world for the better. TAKE partnered with the Environmentalist Foundation of India (EFI) on this initiative.
What has been the impact and reach of this initiative?
Over the years, we have sponsored the complete restoration of 4 water bodies and have participated in the cleaning and maintenance of over 10 lakes in and around Chennai. We have planted more than 1500 trees and even painted walls with messages about environmental awareness. With 300 team members have participated in these activities, with many coming in regularly, month after month, year after year.
These activities raise the social consciousness of our team, increase our engagement beyond the day-to-day work and have inculcated a sense of community building. Our teams have seen young participants at the age of 4 years to senior citizens over 60 years of age, a truly diverse and socially supportive team. Our volunteers report how great they feel after participating, how this changed their view of the environment, and how some have stopped littering after understanding how that moment of thoughtlessness impacts the whole ecosystem.
Do you see the future of such kind of programme?
Certainly! Environmental stewardship is critical to ensure sustainability. It is through these efforts we connect people back with nature. Our teams have responded positively and we are planning to take this initiative up at our offices in other cities in India.
Responding to PM Modi’s call to participate in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, it is indeed heart-warming to see many public and private companies supporting the mission and contributing towards its success.
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