Mumbai City Schools Turn Waste Into Wealth

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August 29, 2015

Mumbai based Vivekanand Education Society (VES), which runs 26 institutions, has come up with novel ways to stand out in solid waste management. In a pioneering initiative, Zero Waste Campus Project was launched at VES recently, in association with the State Education Department and Stree Mukti Sanghatana, as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. The stakeholders including the Education Department will now try to spread the drive further to other schools around. Besides putting in place this system for waste management, the project is also aimed at creating awareness among the students and staff on having a proper and responsible waste management mechanism (separating wet and dry waste). Four compost pits have been built in the campus to treat the green and kitchen waste on the sprawling campus. The campus houses 26 institutions with over 18,000 students.

NGO Stree Mukti Sanghatana is facilitating the implementation of the project. As part of this decentralized solid waste management, it has already held training programmes for housekeeping, garden and other staff on how to segregate waste and ensure zero waste. Rashmi Joshi, member of Stree Mukti Sanghatana said that the key component of the initiative is a plan to educate students about composting and recycling. “One person’s waste is another person’s wealth,” she added.

Inaugurating the compost pits, VES Secretary Amar Asrani said: “We live in a world where little should go to waste. It is hoped that this first step would be the beginning of a series of activities in the campuses by the Zero Waste Volunteers that would ultimately make sustainability a way of life”. The programme was attended by a good number of enthused NSS volunteers from the VES institutions. Mumbai University has approved a grant for NSS students and NSS volunteers involved in the project and they will be awarded hours under Area Base Project (up to 10 hrs), depending on the level of involvement and desirable result, as it is an in-campus project. Posters in the campus carry strong messages on waste segregation and its value, on stopping littering within the campus, the do’s and don’ts of Waste Management, etc.

“The training programme enlightened us on the best practices for reducing the waste brought on campus, effective strategies to reuse and recycle materials”, said Rebecca D’souza, a student. Education Inspector of South Zone BD Puri was also present along with VES office-bearers on the occasion.

The Vivekanand Education Society started its educational activities in 1962 with only 256 students in a High School. Today, the Society has over 18,000 students on the roll of Primary School, High School, Jr. College, Deg. College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Polytechnic & Engineering College, College for Management Studies, Law College, and College of Pharmacy.

Blue Dart encourages ‘Shared Value’ through Employee Volunteerism

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The CSR Journal

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August 29, 2015

Living Responsibility or corporate responsibility is a core element of Deutsche Post DHL’s Strategy 2015 and is adopted by Blue Dart too. As a socially responsible corporate, Blue Dart’s commitment towards community causes has been unwavering since its inception in 1983. Blue Dart, as a responsible corporate citizen believes that giving back to society is not just ‘corporate social responsibility’, but a duty towards its communities and the environment from where it draws its resources. More than ‘responsibility’ it is ‘sustainability’ that is its cornerstone. The organisation believes in making a positive contribution to the world by using its knowledge and domestic/global presence in ways that benefit people and the planet and endeavors to maintain a delicate balance between economic, environmental and social interests.

In line with Deutsche Post DHL’s ‘Living Responsibility’, Blue Dart takes its responsibility to society, to the communities, to employees and to the environment seriously. Under this credo, Blue Dart (along with DP DHL) focuses its corporate responsibility on environmental protection (GoGreen), disaster management (GoHelp) and championing education (GoTeach). Like every year, Blue Dart in collaboration with DHL celebratedGlobal Volunteer Day (GVD), its largest volunteering exercise conducted across the globe from 4^th to 14^th September 2014. Global Volunteer Day is a community outreach program focused on instilling among its employees the spirit of volunteerism and encouraging them to make a positive contribution to the world. The program enables employees in the various business units in each country to come together and collaborate on the volunteer activities for the community.

All GVD activities are driven by employee volunteerism – the willingness of employees to volunteer of their own accord, their time, talent and expertise, on behalf of the organization to a worthy social cause that will deliver benefits to their local community, without expecting any rewards or tangible gains in return for their contribution. This year, over 7,500 volunteers across business units in India and over 100,000 globally, joined hands to make a difference during GVD 2014, showcasing exemplary unity in spirit, vision and purpose. Not just employees, but partners and customers also came together to give back to local communities and the local environment through wide ranging initiatives and campaigns.

Key Highlights of GVD 2014:

GoTeach – 430 volunteers across business units participated in activities likeorganizing drawing competitions, poster designing, conducted games and held a computer training workshop for underprivileged children across 13 locations in association with Teach for India.

GoGreen – 1700 X BU (cross business unit) volunteers in India supported a staggering 3,000 trees with Grow-Trees.com (official partner of the United Nations Environment Program’s Billion Tree Campaign and WWF’s Cities for Forests Campaign) in Koraput, Odisha to reverse the effects of soil erosion and regenerate degraded forests. Besides this, sapling plantations were also carried out in rural communities in Aurangabad, Satara etc.

GoHelp – Blood Donation drives were conducted at several facilities across India. Besides this, volunteers also undertook visits to orphanages and old age homes and conducted material donation drives for Goonj. Volunteers also supported Government of India’s mid-day meal programme by donating over 10000 kgs of foodgrains under the ‘Dal by Dal’ campaign with Akshaya Patra and conducted newspaper donation drives with Dhanwantri Medical Trust to support children suffering from cancer.

NGOs like Shop for Change and Multiple Sclerosis Society of India also put up their wares for sale to bring a change in the lives of small farmers/artisans and patients suffering from multiple sclerosis. In addition to this, volunteers conducted cleanliness drives at various locations following the ‘Swach Bharat Abhiyaan’ (Campaign Clean India) mandate by the Hon. Prime Minister of India.

Volunteers also celebrated with children from Sweekar Academy of Rehabilitation, a home that works for the rehabilitation of the physically challenged and hearing impaired children.

YES Bank organizes walk for children with actor Rahul Bose

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The CSR Journal

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August 29, 2015

YES BANK, India’s fourth largest private sector Bank has launched the “Walk for Children” in association with Stepathlon and ‘The Foundation’. The Walk was kicked off by Rahul Bose who is a Social activist in addition to being a renowned actor and director.

The walk was part of the Children’s Day Celebrations organized by YES BANK. An estimated 200 YES BANKers & Students joined the walk at the Worli Sea Face on Saturday morning. For every kilometre walked by each individual, YES BANK contributed Rs. 100 to the NGO, ‘The Foundation’ for their initiative Restoring Equality through Education & Advancement of Children (REACH).

Speaking on the occasion, Rahul Bose said, “It was a wonderful to participate in YES BANK’s ‘Walk for Children’ initiative. My foundation, ‘The Foundation’ is incredibly grateful that over 200 employees of the bank undertook the charity walk this morning. It was a gesture that shows us that compassion and sensitivity are all it takes to make a movement!”

Mr. Deodutta Kurane, Group President, Human Capital Management, YES BANK,said, “Primary education is a significant pillar to empower and enable under-privileged children to achieve equality in our society. YES BANK is proud to partner the REACH initiative and contribute towards this important cause of ensuring that students from economically weaker sections of the society are enrolled in appropriate educational institutions.” YES BANK’s initiative combines altruism and movement to make a real difference to the lives of children. Stepathlon is proud to walk with YES BANK, The Foundation and Rahul Bose a day after Children’s day for the welfare of the next generation said Ravi Krishnan, Co-Founder & CEO – Stepathlon.

In addition, On the occasion of Children’s Day, YES BANK through its YES COMMUNITYplatform engaged with 75,000 children across schools in India, with the objective of igniting these young minds to be the ambassadors of change and trigger a sense of cleanliness.

YES BANK branches conducted screenings of inspirational films on cleanliness, environment and kindness as a part of YES FOUNDATION’s YES! i am the CHANGE@Schools initiative. The children also took pledges on ensuring cleanliness at their school, homes and surroundings, thereby, becoming responsible citizens.

Fighting to Preserve the Seed

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August 29, 2015

By Sarat Pratapchandran in International Stories

Founder of Lettersnatcher.com, Sarat Pratapchandran’s career spans philanthropy, corporate social responsibility and content management. A graduate from the Walter Cronkite School Read More

I still remember the incident vividly because I had run away in fear. It was 1995, and I was walking on Brigade Road in Bangalore, on my way to see the opening of the city’s first Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet. I suddenly heard the sound of shattering glasses and then, all hell broke loose. Farmers, armed with stones and sticks had started attacking Bangalore’s first KFC outlet to protest against Cargill, the introduction of an American sub-culture, and a new agricultural policy in Karnataka. ‘Over the last two decades, food dictatorship has outgrown food democracy in the world’, says Dr. Vandana Shiva, a global activist who opposes genetically modified organism (GMO) foods and Big Agriculture. After beginning her environmental career as a tree hugger in the Himalayas, Dr. Shiva has devoted her life to the seed and its sovereignty.

The seed is the creator and the preserver. ‘I never thought I would spend so much time looking at food,’ Dr. Shiva, dressed in a sari with a big round bindi on her forehead said, addressing an enthusiastic crowd of youngsters at Arizona State University, the largest public University in the United States. She criticized India’s Green Revolution, orchestrated by the late Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The Green Revolution introduced high yielding farming techniques in India and won the Nobel Peace Prize. However, Dr. Shiva says its aftermath led to discontented farmers, alien, genetically engineered seeds, violent conflicts, deaths and horrendous side effects from pesticides.

The violence in Punjab in 1984 was the offspring of the Green Revolution, says Dr. Shiva and according to her every major global conflict has its root in food security. The premise is simple. When you put an authentic, nature-created seed in jail and introduce GMOs, you usurp a farmer’s rights. ‘What can one do when you can’t choose what you grow, when you can’t determine the price, and when you are unable to manage your water resources?’ Dr. Shiva asks. Seed diversity is the real insurance of the future. With every fourth farmer being Indian, investing in seed banks and growing non-GMO food is critical, she says.

Throughout her career, she has fought seed piracy and intellectual property laws and patents created by huge global corporations like Monsanto and Cargill. Dr. Shiva successfully won a patent suit against intellectual property rights for Neem, and won the fight against a Texas company’s wishful thinking to patent the word ‘Basmati.’ According to her, the patent system is a minority system causing ecological destruction and a crisis for democracy. She believes the original seed, a gift of nature, determines yield. On the other hand, a GMO destroys its authenticity, invades its space and basically terrorizes the earth and farmers.

However, just weeks after Dr. Shiva’s talk in the U.S, ballot initiatives in Colorado and Oregon that would have mandated labels for GMO foods failed. In Hawaii and California, little headway was made with county-level bans on GMO’s. And, this is happening at a time when the U.S. food industry is planning to pump in another $100 million to support anti-labeling initiatives across the U.S. Dr. Shiva says subsidies to the food industry costs American farmers an extra ten billion dollars annually. According to her, food manufacturers utilizing GMOs make over half of their profits from royalty collection. The global subsidy on food, according to Dr. Shiva is $400 billion.

‘Patents on seed are a Ponzi scheme. Because of GMOs we don’t have food. 70% of food we eat comes from small farmers. There is a higher law that will determine our future not laws created by mortals with greed as the single purpose’ Dr. Shiva declares. ‘The future of a seed democracy starts now in seed banks, seed exchanges and preserving our own authentic seeds.’ However, despite her lofty ideals and Gandhian talk, Dr. Shiva has plenty of critics. There are many who state that her fiery agenda against Big Agriculture is not rooted in facts and scientific reasoning.

An article in Forbes earlier this year dubbed her a wealthy activist who is a poor advocate of the poor. The magazine went so far as to say that she charges thousands of dollars for her speaking circuits in U.S. universities. Irrespective of how the world characterizes her, Dr. Shiva has earned a fan base in the United States. A move towards organic farming and conscious capitalism in different parts of the U.S. has helped her efforts. In India, her organization, Navdanya is working to preserve biological and cultural diversity in agriculture.

YES Bank Retains its Leadership in Climate Change Disclosure

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The CSR Journal

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August 29, 2015

YES BANK, India’s 4th largest private sector bank, has been announced as a Climate Disclosure Leader for the fourth consecutive year. In recognition of the Banks’ efforts in the responsible and sustainable space, YES BANK has been adjudged the first among financial institutions on the India leader-board at the CDP India 200 Climate Change Report 2014. With this recognition, YES BANK becomes the first and only bank in India to be a Climate Disclosure Leader for four consecutive years.

The Report was launched by Dr Kirit Parikh, Former Member, Planning Commission & Chairman, Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRADe) with Mr. Marcus Norton, Chief Partnerships Officer, CDP and Mr Ravi Singh, CEO, WWF India and presents a comprehensive analysis of action and strategy on climate change by Indian companies.

YES BANK scored 92 points out of the maximum 100 points, on the CDLI leader board, making it a joint 6^th among 59 companies. As Climate Disclosure Leader, YES BANK was assessed on the level of action on climate change mitigation, adaptation and transparency.

Mr. Rana Kapoor, Managing Director & CEO, YES BANK and President, ASSOCHAM said, “We believe that climate change action needs immediate intervention and YES BANK is constantly working with its stakeholders on mitigation and adaption initiatives. YES BANK since its inception in 2004, has conceptualized and adopted Responsible Banking as one of its strategic pillars, and this recognition by the CDP is an endorsement of its sustained efforts towards climate change action.”

Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Namita Vikas, Senior President & Country Head – Responsible Banking, YES BANK said, “We are delighted to be highest ranked financial institution in Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index for 2014. This marks the 4^thconsecutive year that YES BANK is on this prestigious leader board & affirms its progress in integrating climate change imperatives into its business strategy. Through sustained leadership in renewable energy financing & achieving internal emissions reduction targets, we have been able to create a positive impact on climate change.”

Sesa Sterlite Bags National Award for Excellence in Energy Management

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The CSR Journal

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August 29, 2015

Efficient management of available energy resources has been one of the major thrust areas of Sesa Sterlite Limited’s operations across the world. The Aluminium smelter and Captive Power Plant (CPP) unit of Sesa Sterlite Ltd, Jharsuguda (Earlier Vedanta Aluminium Ltd.) have been bestowed the coveted ‘Excellent Energy Efficient Unit’ award in the ‘15th National Award for Excellence in Energy Management 2014’ in General and Power category respectively on 29-30th October 2014 held at Hyderabad.

The National Award for Excellence in Energy Management was organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Hyderabad. The Awards have been instituted to recognize and honor “Excellence” in Energy Management among commercial and office building sector as well as to create an opportunity to share Best Practices and technologies adopted. A panel of judges evaluated companies on the basis of the presentations made on the implementation of Energy Conservation and Management activities. It is noteworthy that more than 200 companies from various sectors such as paints, refineries, power, paper, automobile, steel, cement, and building category applied for this competition. 97 companies were shortlisted and were asked to make a final presentation at the HICC centre in Hyderabad.

Mr. Abhijit Pati, President & Chief Operating Officer, Sesa Sterlite Ltd, Jharsuguda said that this award not only added one more feather in its cap but also reaffirms Sesa Sterlite’s commitment towards adhering to greener business practices which are not merely energy efficient but further downscale the effects of their operations on the environment and its constituent Natural Resources.

On behalf of the company Mr. Dayanidhi Behera, N Srinivas, Bijneswar Mohanty, Pratap Singh, Ramesh Patro and Sandhydeep Jena of Smelter and Mr.Manas Tyagi, Prabupada Acharya, Monalisha Das and Anuradha Das of CPP received this prestigious award.

DIESL organizes Tree Plantation drive

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The CSR Journal

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August 29, 2015

Drive India Enterprise Solutions (DIESL), a Tata company organized a tree plantation drive across India. This initiative called ‘Plant A Sapling Program’ (PASP) has been a part of company’s annual wp program for many years. This year, PASP was conducted on 15^thand 16^th September 2014 in which 65 warehouses located in various Tier I & Tier II cities participated. In two days, more than 392 saplings were planted by 806 employees of DIESL. The campaign was also linked to Tata Volunteering Week (TVW) II which is a group level volunteering program organized every year by the Tata Sustainability Group (TSG).

In addition to this, the company also organized Blood Donation camps to support TVW II. Employees from DIESL’s corporate office, branch offices and warehouses volunteered by donating more than 230 units of blood to various blood banks including Arpan Blood Bank (Mumbai, Bhiwandi, Pune), Lions Blood Bank (Delhi , Kolkata), Lhna Blood Bank (Lucknow), Unique Blood Bank (Bangalore), Red Cross Society (Ahmedabad), etc.

Speaking about the initiative, Milind Shahane, Managing Director of DIESL, said, “Being a leading logistics arm of the Tata Group, it’s our endeavor to support the health and the environment of the industry we belong to. As a part of DIESL’s corporate sustainability program ‘Prayaas’, we have taken up various initiatives for the upliftment of our community and its surroundings including blood donation and tree planation drives.”

– Press Release

Last day to register for HAIYYA’s Citizen Leadership Programme

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The CSR Journal

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August 29, 2015

Are you tired of everyone blaming each other for the problems in India? Do you want to make a small difference in your community? Do you get annoyed when people hold the system responsible and say nothing can be done for our country?

Apply to be a Haiyya Fellow and join a group of citizens across Mumbai and Delhi who are taking leadership to ensure that our neighborhoods are what we want them to be! The deadline for applications is October 17.

The Haiyya Fellowship is a three-month leadership development program where you are trained as a community organizer to run a campaign in your neighborhood on a civic issue – you will learn about local governance, how to create movements and how to get more people in your neighborhood involved. Fellows will get a chance to work with and be mentored by Alumni Fellows that continue to impact their neighbourhoods. We are also partnering with 270 Strategies, a grassroots organizing group in the US who led the Obama campaign, to help deliver the training for this next class.

Starting beginning November and lasting until the middle of February a cohort of 30 Fellows across Mumbai and Delhi will be working on issues ranging from safety to sanitation and ensuring that local government is accountable to what citizens want. We look forward to receiving your application or you forwarding this along to others who you think will be interested. Please also re-post our Facebook post on your walls and retweet us on Twitter to help spread the word.

We are also excited to let you know that if you don’t live in Delhi or Mumbai, but want to learn more about running neighborhood campaigns using the community organizing model – you can download, The Haiyya Way, a step by step manual which takes you through the stages and provides you with tools to work in your neighbourhood and build your community. The Haiyya Way is in its beta phase; we keep improving it to make it more useful and your feedback is vital to this process. Please send all feedback to kanika@haiyya.in.

We look forward to building our neighborhoods such that they are safe, clean and the environments we are proud to have our families and children grow up in – but its only going to happen if we act and lead. Join us in our movement to make it happen!

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Disclaimer: thewpjournal has no direct or indirect relationship with this organisation or programme. The invitation has been published here as it was received, for our patrons who may find it interesting.

Indis Foundation releases its wp report

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The CSR Journal

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August 29, 2015

INDIS FOUNDATION (PBEL –wp Division) in association with LIONS CLUB OF HYDERABAD, KUKATPALLY jointly organized a FREE EYE CHECK UP CAMP at Khanapur village of Rajendranagar mandal on 12-9-2014 . Ophthalmologists from the SADHURAM EYE HOSPITAL and PEACE FOUNDATION participated in the camp and extend their professional services.

In the camp about 300 people mostly aged women and men from the village as well as surrounding places participated and utilized the free eye check up services by Spectacles were provided to 89 patients at free of cost by the LIONS CLUB OF HYDERABAD,KUKATPALLY to the deserving members . Also for 12 patients free eye surgery was done free of cost by SADHURAM EYE HOSPITAL ,Hyderabad. In this program from LIONS CLUB the 1^st VDG Ln. Hanumantha Rao, Ln. Eswar Reddy,Ln L.Raghuram Reddy,Ln. Venkat Rao ,Ln Subbireddy participated .From PBEL Sri. Goverrdhan Reddy, Sri.Soma Jagan Mohan Reddy,Sri.P.V.Ramana and Mr.Rambabu participated and helped in successful conduction of the program. The ACP of Rajendrangar Sri Muthyam Reddy, Rajendranagar Mandal President Sri.Mallesh ,Khanapur Sarpanch Sri. Narsimha participated as Guests and extended their support and also distributed free spectacles to the patients.

INDIS FOUNDATION with an objective of providing skill training to the women and youth in collaboration with Khadi MahaVidyalaya( a State Govt. institution) ,Rajendranagr,Hyerabad organized the skill training program in Leaf plate making, paper products making to 30 poor women of Himayatsagar village. women members of the village who are willing to undergo the skill training was identified and providing the training at Himyat sagar village from 21^st September .This training will be given for a period one month with the help of Khadi Mahavidyalaya Instructors. On completion of the training each of 5 women will be made in to Self Help Groups(SHGs) and start their own enterprise to earn the additional income to the family. This initiative of INDIS FOUNDATION will help the poor women to improve their financial status and also improve their livelihood. It is expected that each of the women through their self employment activity will earn on average Rs.5000 per month.

In the month of June 2014 with an objective of spreading the Multi Speciality Hitech Medicare service to the Rural and Tribal poor of Vishakapatnam district and nearby areas of Andhra Pradesh, ,INDIS FOUNDATION in association with the NGO networks of Vizag and Narsipatnam areas and OMNIRK- Multi Speciality Hospital organized an NGO meet to identify the RURAL HEALTH PROMOTERS (RHP). The RHPs will motivate the people on the services and specialties of OMNI RK and link up the patients from the Rural and Tribal areas to provide Hitech medicare at an affordable cost to the poor. In this program about 150 NGO attended in the both camps .

As a follow up of this program the NGO network selected 319 candidates who will work as the Rual Health Promoters in the villages and guide the patients and the general public on the Heatlh care and Health education programs and link up the needy patiens to the OMNI-RK to get an affordable treatment and excellent service to the patients .

In collaboration with NSIC (Govt. of India) INDIS FOUNDATION planned to implement a program for “PROVIDING HEARING AIDS AND ARTIFICIAL LIMBS TO THE POOR “ This program will be implemented at Vikarabad area(Rangareddy district of Telangana State) covering the surrounding mandal villages. As part of it survey will be done in the villages and identify the people with the orthopedic and hearing disabilities. Further to this a screening camp will be organized utilizing the services of ENT and ORTHOPEDIC DOCTORS to screen the patients and short list the needy who required the supporting aids to overcome their disabilities. For implementing the said program NSIC (Govt. of India )Sanctioned Rs.3,00,000 towards the cost of organizing the screening camps and purchase of the required aids for the deserving patients. The entire implementation of this program will be completed by end of October 2014. With this about 100-150 physically challenged poor people will be benifitted and get confidence to have a dignified life removing the stigma.

B for Bank : YES BANK’s financial literacy initiative

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The CSR Journal

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August 29, 2015

Pradhanmantri Jan Dhan Yojana is on full swing and the Finance Ministry will also initiate a survey to review the effectiveness of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) and analyze how many accounts have been opened. But what is important for this drive is basic knowledge of banking.

Considering this YES BANK has flagged off the Financial Literacy Month on 9^th of September, International Literacy Day by conducting Financial Literacy camps in partnership with schools, colleges, associations, RWAs and youth clubs across India. YES BANK under its flagship community engagement platform, YES COMMUNITY has undertaken this initiative with an objective to provide access to basic financial education relating to personal finance, enabling individuals to take effective action to improve overall well-being and avoid financial distress, an imperative for sustainable development.

YES BANK’s branches across the country conducted knowledge sharing sessions on financial literacy such as Fake Note Detection techniques, Know Your Tax workshops and YES BANK branch tour for school students. Over 25,000 individuals participated in this drive, which was conducted with the aim to empower communities with financial education tools and resources, thus moving beyond the transactional to becoming partners in facilitating financially responsible lives.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms Namita Vikas, Senior President and Country Head, Responsible Banking, YES BANK Ltd said, “Education is one of the key drivers for sustainable development and the biggest factor to poverty alleviation. It is important to have a holistic approach to financial education from a young age to influence behaviour over time. YES BANK is reaching out to children and youth with financial education tools and resources equipping them to lead financially responsible lives. We hope this effort will increase levels of conscientiousness in their personal finance behaviours.”

YES BANK advocates inclusive public, social and sustainable environmental development, through YES COMMUNITY, Bank’s unique community engagement initiatives that are conducted across its over 575 branches across India.