India CSR News Network
DEHRADUN: Monsanto India, a globally leading sustainable agriculture company along with Habitat for Humanity India has rebuilt the flood affected Government Inter College, Bagashudhar in Tehri, Uttarakhand.
The school was inaugurated by Uttarakhand’s Tourism & Youth Welfare Minister and MLA from Tehri, Dinesh Dhanai in the presence of the District Education Officer – Tehri, DC Gaurh and other officials including Dinesh Uniyal, Village Pradhan of Bagashudhar and Shri Bijendra Prashad Uniyal, Principal, Government Inter College, Bagashudhar who lent their support in turning this project into a reality. This initiative is in line with Monsanto’s efforts towards disaster rehabilitation and more importantly promoting education in rural India.
In June 2013, floods in Uttarakhand wreaked havoc in the region claiming many lives and livelihoods. Among the affected areas, the school building of Government Inter College, Bagasudhar was one such structure that was in a severely damaged condition. This resulted in shutting down of routine activities in the school, impacting the learning process of its students. Monsanto along with Habitat for Humanity India undertook the school infrastructural development initiative by reconstructing sufficient classrooms and toilets that looks to create a healthy learning environment for the school students. The newly reconstructed school can accommodate up to 500 students as against 313 accommodated in the earlier building.
Habitat for Humanity India provided 192 emergency shelter kits to the families affected by the floods, built 125 of temporary shelter, repaired 60 houses and built 206 permanent homes in order to rebuild the lives of the people.
Speaking on the initiative, Dhiraj Pant, Director, Corporate Engagement & Technology Development, Monsanto India said, “We believe any society can succeed only if it can provide quality education to its future generations with the best infrastructure. Education is the only way of empowering people to live better lives and we are hopeful that our efforts in this respect will reap rich rewards for India in the years to come. We will continue to undertake such initiatives that will support the cause of nation building.”
Rajan Samuel, Managing Director, Habitat for Humanity India said, “In the aftermath of the Uttarakhand floods, Habitat for Humanity India began its development work in August 2013 and this has impacted the lives of 2,798 people. Through this initiative, our objective is to ensure that children’s basic right to education does not get affected. At Habitat for Humanity, we don’t just build homes but we build hope, pride and a secure future for the families we work with. We would like to thank Monsanto for coming together and offering us the support for the betterment of humanity. We urge everyone to join us to in our mission of creating a world where everyone has a decent place to live”
Monsanto’s CSR commitment spans two flagship programs, with a vision to helping improve lives by partnering with communities to deliver lasting solutions.
DISHA covers our efforts in the Health, Nutrition and Education areas focused on women and children in rural communities. Monsanto’s other CSR focus areas include creating a sustainable agricultural ecosystem for small and marginal farmers under its Project SHARE program. Through this program, thefocus is on increasing agricultural yields sustainably, through input- output capacity building of the farmers, imparting best package of practices and facilitating market linkages for improving household incomes for small and marginal farmers across Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.
