Places Pre- and Post- COVID-19 Community Initiatives as a key driver of Brand Enhancement
NEW DELHI: Since its inception in 2018 and even before launching its first product in India, MG Motor started working for the community. As one of the world’s most celebrated car brands, MG established its presence in India with a community driven approach. The goal of their community initiatives is ‘SEWA’ in its literal sense, translates into ‘selfless service’, ‘help’, and ‘care’ alongside others. ‘Community’ is one of the company’s key pillars and the OEM aims to serve all communities through MG SEWA, especially the ones located in their operational regions.
Under the banner of MG SEWA, MG Motor has donated more than 30 MG Hector customised ambulances to hospitals, healthcare and charitable institutions across the country devoted to the needs of the community. The initiatives have supported the educations of more than 60,000 girl students since the program was initiated. MG’s NEEM program so far engaged with 240 women enabling skill training from nearby rural areas at its Halol plant. Other initiatives under MG SEWA include skilling unemployed women to make masks, educating 100 teachers and more than 4 Lakh children on road safety in Gurgaon, and sanitizing 4,000 police cars.
India early mover to make CSR mandatory by law
India is among the few countries in the world to make corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandatory, following an amendment in the Companies Act, 2013 in April 2014. Businesses should invest a portion of their profits in areas such as education, betterment of society, sanitization, and disaster relief as part of any CSR compliance.
Amid the COVID-19 (corona virus) outbreak, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has notified that companies’ expenditure to fight the pandemic will be considered valid under CSR activities. Profits may be utilized on various activities related to COVID-19 such as donation to PM-CARES Fund and promotion of healthcare including preventive healthcare and sanitation, and disaster management.
With community initiatives, MG aims to build a level-playing field for everyone. It believes that India is a land of enormous talent and all that company wants to do, is give it the right push to make this talent achieve its true potential. MG SEWA drives all-encompassing initiatives to empower everyone from underserved communities to economically-deprived sections of our society.
Here are some of the initiatives of MG SEWA and their impact on the society:-
Diversity Initiatives-
MG’s thought was to change this stereotype and create a positive impact thereby imbibing a culture that promotes gender diversity in their workforce. At MG, diversity is not only about gender ratio but also equates to people from different walks of life, backgrounds, ethnicities, regions, religions, companies, and genders coming together to create a collaborative workforce. Their culture is in fact defined by the acronym ‘SPEED’ where S stands for startup culture, P is for passion, E for ease of business and execution and D is for Diversity.
MG started towards this goal of gender diversity since its inception and today they have 35% of women working with them. The OEM has spearheaded several forward-looking campaigns including NEEM Initiative, Genesis, and so forth. The company has also come up with a programme, called ‘Drive Her Back’, to support women who have taken a work sabbatical by helping them ease their entry back into the corporate world. MG’s first initiative NEEM was introduced in 2018. A total of 70 women joined us in the first batch and so far we have engaged with 240 women under the initiative.
Hector Ambulance: MG Hector Ambulance has supported the efforts of regional healthcare bodies by developing Hector Ambulance. It comes loaded with an auto-loading stretcher, oxygen supply system, medicine cabinet with a five-parameter monitor, an inverter with additional sockets, a light bar and a siren, and a fire extinguisher. MG Motor has donated more than 30 MG Hector customised ambulances to hospitals, healthcare and charitable institutions across the country devoted to the needs of the community.
MG IIMPACT learning centers: Taking further our partnership with IIMPACT to ensure a better tomorrow for underprivileged girl children, the ‘Digital Centres – E-Shiksha Ek Nayi Disha’ campaign was launched in June 2020 that aims to establish e-learning centres across the remotest regions in India. The e-Shiksha online digital learning centers were launched with the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak in March to support girl child education. MG has so far assisted the transformation of 15 out of the 50 IIMPACT learning centers to IIMPACT-ech Studios (digital learning centers) by driving tech-enablement. MG and IIMPACT had entered into a partnership back in 2018 to aid the education of underprivileged girls across India. The partnership is aimed at imparting quality classroom education to girls aged between 6 years and 14 years.
Dakshata: Extending our global tech expertise to students and reinforcing our commitment to creating an ecosystem of innovation in the country, we have introduced an Automotive Skill Development programme for Indian youths known as ‘Dakshata’ (synonym for efficiency). The Dakshata programme is one such initiative that will enable young students to develop relevant skills on futuristic technologies and become self-reliant, thereby empowering them for a brighter future and further strengthening the vision of the Skill India campaign.
Prerna: MG Motor India has also launched ‘Prerna’, a sui-dhaaga initiative aimed at underprivileged women under MG SEWA. The program is launched in partnership with Baroda Citizens Council and will train 100 underprivileged women in Vadodara for stitching and tailoring – especially with a traditional touch.
Worth Waiting For – As part of its core commitment to gender diversity and community development, MG Motor India is extending its focus on educating the girl child with HECTOR. The automaker has rolled out its ‘Worth Waiting For’ programme, enabling those who have booked the MG HECTOR to be part of the social cause, while they wait for their scheduled vehicle delivery. Extending its partnership with IIMPACT NGO, the carmaker announced that it will contribute towards the education of one girl child for every two weeks of wait borne by HECTOR customers.
Impact of the initiatives-
MG SEWA is our umbrella platform that is aimed to serve immediate communities. All the social initiatives that MG drives includes, education of underprivileged girls, sanitization of elderly people’s cars, employment generation of economically marginalized women, support to local healthcare institutions, and so forth are led under the banner of MG SEWA. The initiative has supported the educations of more than 60,000 girl students since the program was initiated. Other initiatives under MG SEWA include skilling unemployed women to make masks, educating 100 teachers and more than 4 Lakh children on road safety in Gurgaon, and sanitizing 4,000 police cars. It is indeed a separate vertical in the company with innovative ideas stemming from a core team, set up for this purpose alone.
