INDIACSR News Network
United Phosphorus Limited (UPL) CSR vision is to enable all stakeholders to become active partners in self-reliant society. UPL is doing this by Implementing need based CSR projects and building capacity of stakeholder so as to make them self-reliant.
Concern for community has always been an integral part of all UPLs endeavour by looking beyond the bottom line. UPL has been donning the mantle of the socially responsible corporate even before the term had become a predominant norm. The history of UPL’s Corporate Social Responsibility stretches as far back as 1969 with the inception of its manufacturing operations at Vapi, Gujarat. From supporting and running Schools, College of management, College of Chemical technology, Rotary Hospital and Nursing college… From the treatment of effluents to solid waste management for environmental care…From conducting Farmers’ Training Programmes to establishing and running Farmers’ Field Schools… Each of UPLs effort is in line with needs of the society.
UPL’s current CSR activities can be divided into three thematic focus area and these are (1) Education (2) Health and (3) Agriculture Development.
At the core of all UPLs CSR activities is the concept of
Need & Sustainability
Involvement of stakeholders
Partnerships & Integration.
Transfer of knowledge.
Enabling & Empowering
Education
Education is a basic human right pivotal to personal and societal development so it is an integral part of UPL’s CSR agenda. UPL has maintained a strong focus on improving educational facilities in our areas of operation by establishing and running schools and colleges, such as
Smt. Sandraben Shroff Gnyan Dham School , VAPI
Established in 1972 by UPL under the aegis of the Gnyan Dham Vapi Charitable Trust (GDVCT) with the basic idea of providing quality education to the children of the entrepreneurs and the technocrats who flocked to Vapi to set up industries, the school came into being with the active support and involvement of Mr. and Mrs. Shroff who are the Chairman and Vice-Chairperson of the UPL Group of Companies. Originally the school was a co-educational institution, affiliated to the SSC Board of Gujarat. In 1990, the school changed its affiliation to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), New Delhi. With over 1600 students, from Nursery to the Standard 12 level (the three streams of Science, Humanities and Commerce), and over 115 highly trained and efficient staff, the school is acknowledged as one of the top-notch schools in south Gujarat today renowned for its outstanding academic performance along with co-curricular activities. The school welcomes the active participation of the parents of the students in its overall improvement.
School encourages pupils to develop a love for reading and books. Gnyan Dham library is an attractive room where pupils can borrow fiction and non-fiction books. School has one of the most advanced and well-equipped computer labs. The school has the following state-of-the-art labs for students: Physics Lab, Chemistry Lab, Biology Lab, Psychology Lab, Language Lab, Social Science Lab and 2 Maths Labs. A new Science Lab has also been setup for the benefit of Middle and Junior School students.
In year 2011, about 97.36% students secured 1st division and 68% were above 75% doing the school proud. Three students cleared IIT-JEE.
Gnyan Dham Eklavya Model Residential School, Ahwa Dist Dang
The process of education does not seem to benefit the disadvantaged tribal groups because in many cases the educational needs and problems of the tribal communities were not properly identified. Gujarat has a total of 43 Talukas in 12 Scheduled Tribe dominant districts comprising a population of 7.5 million tribal people. The Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) were initiated for providing quality education to meritorious tribal children, entirely free of cost. Eklavya Model Residential School, Ahwa was established in the year 2000 by Gujarat State Tribal Development Residential Educational Institutions Society (GSTDREIG), Gandhinagar. EMRS Ahwa was managed by GSTDREIG till 2009. Rovadan trust, Dang took over EMRS Ahwa in year 2009 under Public Private Partnership project. Gnyan Dham Vapi Charitable Trust took over EMRS Ahwa on 17th July 2011. The process of change began with engagement and involvement of Mrs. Shroff and Mrs. Tomar. Lot of changes has taken place in last 2 years with focused intervention in quality of life and quality of education at EMRS Ahwa. Some initiatives are
QUALITY OF LIFE – Creating comfortable and hygienic infrastructure
Construction of Toilet blocks and hostel sanitation
Repairing and Plastering of Girls and Boys Hostel
Conversion of the large hall into three studio apartments
Fixing mosquito nets in the hostels and guest rooms
Renovation of Canteen
Construction of Residential Quarters for teachers.
Ensuring good and nutritious food
QUALITY OF LIFE – Extra Curricular activities
Karate classes.
Archery classes.
Yoga Classes.
Athletic events.
Special workshops for spoken English and personality development.
Students visit to funfare at Gnyan Dham, Vapi.
Special training in Warli painting,
Best out of waste’ craft.
UPL Vapi factory visit
Participation in state level Chess championship.
Participation in Interschool debate competition
QUALITY OF EDUCATION – Education Infrastructure
School building renovation.
Smart classes.
Very good Library facility.
Very good computer lab with net facility.
BISEC programme.
I Can installed in 6th, 7th and 8th Class.
Intel E learning scheme. 57 palmtops were given to school.
QUALITY OF EDUCATION – Teacher’s motivation and capacity building
Good salary package for teaching staff.
Performance incentives.
Sending teachers from Gnyan Dham Vapi to supplement the teaching by the local teachers
Teachers are trained by Mrs. Uma Tomar, Principal Gnyandham School with focus on confidence building, team work, basic skills, aptitude and attitude development
With above initiates and active involvement of Mrs. Shroff the students have started liking to study. Earlier students were in shell (in general dang children are quite) but now company has created open environment resulting excellent academic result in last 2 years.
Shroff S Rotary Institute of Chemical Technology (SRICT), Vataria, Ankleshwar.
With the size of the global chemical industry estimated around US$ 3 trillion, the Indian Chemical Industry forms the backbone of its industrial and agricultural development and provides the building blocks for the downstream industries.
Although Gujarat has one of the best industrial infrastructures for chemical industry in India with the presence of giant industrial estates, particularly for chemicals at Ankleshwar, Panoli, Vapi, Vatwa, Jhagadia, Vilayat and Dahej, yet there’s a lacuna of chemical technological institutes at par with global standards in the state.
Hence, Shroff S.R. Rotary Institute of Chemical Technology (SRICT) has been established by UPL in an effort to provide world-class research and teaching facilities. Affiliated to the Gujarat Technological University and approved by the AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education), SRICT is a stellar model showcasing how the Institute-Industry partnership can do wonders for the future of the nation. Funded by United Phosphorous Ltd, this Institute is equipped with state-of-the art laboratory facilities and aims to provide an environment that stimulates and encourages academic excellence and acts as a catalyst to Gujarat’s supremacy as an industrial leader.
SRICT is located in the southern part of Gujarat, near the Gulf of Khambhat in the Arabian Sea and is 16 km away from Ankleshwar in the tribal belt with an intake capacity of 300 seats.
GIDC Rajju Shroff ROFEL Institute of Management Studies, VAPI
From a sleepy village of the 1970s to the hub of the largest concentration of medium and small scale industries in Asia, the reputation of Vapi has been on the rise over the last decade, yet it lacked an excellent management institute for which its students had to migrate to the other cities, far and wide.
The GIDC RAJJU SHROFF ROFEL Institute of Management Studies (GRIMS) was established by UPL in 1999 to meet the growing need for managerial manpower in this region and is a fruitful partnership between the Rotary Foundation for Education and Learning (ROFEL), Vapi and the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC).
Starting off with the AICTE approval to run the two-year full time MBA programme affiliated to the South Gujarat University, the Institute has an intake capacity of 120 seats, thus fulfilling the aspirations of business management students from area.
Smt. Pushpavati Devidas Shroff Sanskardeep Vidyalaya, Ankleshwar.
Affiliated to the Gujarat State Board of Secondary Education, Smt. Pushpavati Devidas Shroff Sanskardeep Vidyalaya is a Gujarati Medium co-educational school which prepares its students for the SSC Examination. Built in the memory of Smt. Pushpavati D Shroff (the mother of Rajju D. Shroff, Chairman of the UPL Group), it has classes from the Kindergarten to the 10th standard. When Ankleshwar was in its nascent stage of development, various industries from different states came together and built their units there as the place was conducive towards industrial growth and provided a world of opportunities.
Established by UPL in 1991 for the children of employees working with various companies in and around Ankleshwar, especially, those who could not afford a quality education at a very nominal cost, the school is an ideal choice. Today it’s known as one the best schools under the GIDC belt in Ankleshwar with capable teachers and good infrastructure. Many students from the school have done remarkably well in their respective fields, thus making it a really a great place to study.
Shree Gattu Vidyalaya, Ankleshwar.
Established in 1979 with support from UPL as a Kindergarten school with 40 students, Shree Gattu Vidyalaya has come of age today with more than 2300 students, almost equally divided into the English and the Gujarati medium of instructions. Affiliated to the GSEB and managed by the Ankleshwar Industrial Development Society (AIDS), of which Smt. Sandra R. Shroff is the Chairperson; it is one of the oldest schools of Ankleshwar providing educational facilities, right from the Kindergarten to the Higher Secondary stage in the Science Stream.
Coming to the academic and the co-curricular activities, At present school has around 2500 students with 80 teachers for Gujarati & English medium school. School has made very good progress in academics with 100% pass percentage) with majority of students scoring 1st class and students regularly in state merit list. Gattu school has very good reputation in area because of performance of the students from both the Gujarati and the English medium is impressive and they continue to do their institutions proud by producing toppers in the board exams.
The Mobile Education Van Project, Ankleshwar.
UPL supported Mobile Van Project as people in villages have difficulty in educating their children in the absence of proper schools. The children often have to travel miles to reach the schools which lack basic infrastructure. The idea behind the Mobile Education Van Project (supported by UPL) is to implement the technique of need-based learning with applications in one’s (the learner’s) immediate environment to be imbibed as a life-skill.
Around Ankleshwar, the Mobile Van covers 25 rural schools with an objective to provide joyful education to the students and widen the scope of the rural school teachers to better techniques of teaching with the use of audio-visuals, music, sports, children films, science labs, library, educational aids, charts, etc., including motivating the same set of teachers to incorporate such educational activities in their school curriculum.
Health
UPL believes that adequate healthcare facilities must reach out to the people especially to the less privileged people of India. UPL has adopted an integrated outreach strategy that stresses on providing better healthcare facilities through public health programmes, even going to the extent of running a nursing college.
The Rotary Hospital, VAPI
With the need in for better healthcare services, particularly in the context of affordability, UPL discharged its responsibility by funding and running the Rotary Hospital at Vapi. In 1975, the Rotary Club of Vapi embarked on a mission to provide modern healthcare to the people of Vapi. From this humble beginning, the clinic has grown to a 24-bed Niramaya Rotary Hospital in 1982, which is a 35-year old to a 250 bed Multispecialty Hospital located in the Housing Sector of GIDC, Vapi, South Gujarat.
Today, it has one of the finest Intensive Neonatal Unit & Cardiac Care Unit in South Gujarat with a capacity of 14 beds. The NICU with other speciality wards, six fully equipped operation theatres (OTs) with state-of-the-art Laparoscopy & Endoscopy Surgery equipment, Arthroscopy & Joint Replacement Surgery instruments, Hysteroscopy equipment, Spinal and Neuro-Surgery equipment, the latest ophthalmology instruments like Phaco, apart from facilities like Dialysis and Cardiac Cathlab for Angiography & Angioplasty.
Sandra Shroff ROFEL College of Nursing, VAPI
Affiliated to the South Gujarat University, the Institute was established by UPL in the year 2003-2004 offering 4-year B. Sc Nursing course recognized by the Indian Nursing council, New Delhi and Gujarat Nursing Council, Ahmedabad. Till date, five batches (average batch size around 40 students) have completed the B. Sc Nursing course.
Comprising a well-equipped laboratory, a well-stocked library and an internet connection for the students, the Institute began the M. Sc course in Nursing since 2011. The students get practical training at the Rotary Hospital at Vapi and several speciality and super speciality hospitals at Silvassa, Baroda and Surat. All the students passing out of the Nursing courses get well-paid jobs at hospitals all over the country and some even go abroad for greener pastures.
Agriculture Development
Agriculture development is an important thematic focus for UPL. UPL has adopted a framework for UPL’s Agriculture development intervention so as to systematically develop, communicate and disseminate successful approaches and concepts of sustainable agriculture.
Farmers Training School @ Vikram Farm, Naholi
Farming is best learned by hands-on training. The growing demand for quality crop calls for capacity building. The Farmers’ Training School established by UPL at Vikram Farm, Naholi (Vapi) in South Gujarat has residential facility for agriculture students and farmers to gain practical skills and first-hand farming experience. The training programmes are:
For Farmers to expose them to modern scientific methods of farming.
For Agriculture graduates to ensure that they have skills needed to address farmers’ needs.
Highlights of the Farmers’ Training Programme at Naholi:
Agricultural demonstration at Vikram Farm started in 1993.
Sugarcane cultivation demonstration started in 1997.
Ongoing demonstrations of growing Sugarcane, Paddy, Vegetables through modern farming equipment.
Trained around 10,000 farmers till date.
Trained 15 agriculture graduates and 22 agriculture diploma holders till date.
Completed 7 batches (Per batch 30 candidates) of Agri-Clinic training.
System of Rice Intensification Project with AKRSP
Farmers in the tribal pockets of Dangs largely depend upon paddy for their consumption needs. With low land holdings in this region, food security is a major concern for small and marginal farmers as rice productivity is much below the state average.
‘SRI’ is popularly known as System of Rice Intensification. It is a methodology/ process of crop cultivation in which all the agronomic principles related to crop production of the crop are put into practices. UPL is implementing pilot project in partnership of AKRSP (I) in 5 villages to establish SRI model in Paddy and enhance paddy productivity and food security of 350 tribal farmers through SRI in Dang district of Gujarat.
Efforts to push productivity frontiers need to start with the main staple crop. The current productivity level of paddy is 0.6-1.0 MT per ha against the state average of 1.86 MT per ha. This region is among the lowest in the state. Thus there exists a vast scope to enhance productivity of Paddy crop to prolong the period of food security and enhance wellbeing in poorer households. For the small and marginal farmers with average landholding up to 1.0 ha, deployment of even 50% of the available land for SRI means incremental yield of 250 to 300 Kg. of paddy at the household level. This would create 3-4 months of additional food security for the family. There will also be an increase in paddy straw availability for the cattle.
HPL believes scaling up such an approach is one of the most cost-effective ways of enhancing food availability and increased income for small and marginal farmers.
Dang Paddy Development Project
The Dang is one of the most backward districts of the country considering indicators like agriculture, irrigation, education, health, living standard etc. The region is extremely poor and it has only about 13.68 % of total arable land under irrigation, which is very low as compared with the state (36 % of total arable land).
Emerging from the traditional system of slash and burn agriculture, subsistence farming is the primary source of livelihood for the tribal population of the Dangs. The tribal population of Dangs is largely depended upon paddy for their consumption needs and is constrained by both the availability of quality seed and farmer’s capacity building. Company is implementing Dang Paddy Development Project by
Demonstrating high yield paddy seeds with 150 farmers to raise awareness for importance of using good quality seed.
Building farmers capacity through village level training and exposure visits
Using twin approach of demonstration and capacity building project will lead to food security and economic development.
Farmers’ Field School (FFS)
At United Phosphorus Limited (UPL), the FFS was developed to help farmers tailor their Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices to diverse and dynamic ecological conditions.
In regular sessions from planting till harvest, groups of neighboring farmers observe and discuss the dynamics of the ecosystem of several crops. Simple experimentation helps farmers further improve their understanding of functional relationships, such as pests are the natural enemy of crops and crops need protection. In this cyclical learning process, farmers develop the expertise that enables them to make their own crop management decisions. Special group activities encourage learning from peers, and strengthen their communicative skills and group building.
Highlights of our FFS:
Transfer of technology, the FFS is all about Lab to Land
At the FFS, the focus is on Resource Conservation, Crop Diversification and the judicious use of scarce resource.
The First FFS was established at village Ghoraogacha of Nadia district, West Bangal in the year 1999.
Till date 24 FFS have been established with 1603 farmers as beneficiaries.
All the FFS operate in collaboration with the local agricultural university and the State department of agriculture.
(With the inputs from Department of CSR of UPL)
