The Subhalaxmi Cooperative is linked to Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, a national campaign for financial inclusion which benefits 3226 members through a Self Help Group model in Odisha.
India CSR News Network
NEW DELHI: Vedanta Limited, India’s leading diversified natural resources company conferred its first Chairman’s CSR Award to the Subhalaxmi Cooperative, one of the largest women cooperatives in Odisha. The Subhalaxmi Cooperative project is anchored by Vedanta’s Jharsuguda CSR team and they were presented with the award last week, by Anil Agarwal, Chairman, Vedanta, for the innovation, scalability and sustainability of the project, the impact and involvement of the community, employee engagement and governance and audit.
“The Chairman’s Award is our most prestigious internal award and winning the first Chairman’s CSR award is a recognition of the contribution of the CSR teams in Odisha. The Subhalaxmi Cooperative has improved the economic dynamics of the villages by empowering women with entrepreneurship opportunities and direct market linkage without a middleman,” said Mr. Nishant Kumar, Head CSR, Vedanta’s Aluminium and Power operations at Jharsuguda, adding that these awards help create synergies and share best practices across the businesses.
The Subhalaxmi Cooperative is under the “Vedanta Integrated Jana Jeevika Yojana”, a livelihood project implemented by Vedanta Limited in Jharsuguda, Odisha. The project began in 2008 with 10 members in 8 villages and today there are 3226 women members across 63 Villages of the Jharsuguda district. Executed through a Self Help Group model, the cooperative is linked to the Indian Government’s Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, as well as linked to a formal credit system and a democratic governing system is established. The project is scalable and replicable, and is built on a profit-driven model for its members.
Vedanta’s CSR activities are centered on Education, Child Care, Health and Hygiene, Women Empowerment and Skill Development and benefitted 1.75 million people in FY16. The CSR efforts of the group are aligned to the vision of Mr. Anil Agarwal, who has pledged 75% of his personal wealth to social development.
Vedanta’s Chairman’s Awards encourage and reward outstanding business performance, sustainability performance of business units across the Vedanta Group, across the criteria of Sustainability performance, Asset optimization, Operational performance, Performance management practices, and Quality improvement initiatives.
The Chairman’s Business Quarterly Awards were initiated for all its Sub Business Units (SBU) in the Financial Year 2012-13. This quarter, Chairman Business Awards was won by Rajpura Dariba Mines of Hindustan Zinc and runner up was the Copper Smelter and Related Facilities of Sterlite Copper. Chairman Sustainability Award was given to the Jharsuguda business unit and the runner up was Sterlite Copper.
