Ahmedabad-based pharma major Cadila Pharmaceuticals Limited has adopted 15 villages and will develop them as “Model Villages” under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
Of the 15 villages, 12 are in Gujarat, including eight in Ahmedabad, two in Mehsana, and two in Bharuch, two villages are in the Samba district of Jammu & Kashmir, and one is Devala village in Tamil Nadu. The CSR activities planned by Cadila Pharmaceuticals will be implemented by Indrashil Kaka-Ba and Kala-Budh Public Charitable Trust, the CSR arm of Cadila Pharma.
Cadila Pharma has finalised a systematic plan to work on sustainable development of the 15 villages and develop them as model villages. The developmental projects to be undertaken in the villages will include works related to Health & Hygiene, Education, Livelihood, Agriculture & Animal Husbandry, Environment, and Financial inclusion.
“Giving back to society and supporting noble causes has been the core philosophy of Cadila Pharma since it was established in 1951. The company’s founder Shri Indravadan Modi was driven by this philosophy, which led him to establish the Kaka-Ba Hospital in Hansot village of Bharuch way back in 1985 to ensure quality healthcare services are available in the area. The legacy has been dedicatedly followed by his son and current CMD Dr. Rajiv Modi, and as a result, the scope of Cadila Pharma’s CSR initiatives has expanded multifold, benefitting communities at large at several locations,” said Dr. Bharat Champaneria, Trustee of Indrashil Kaka-Ba and Kala-Budh Public Charitable Trust.
Talking about the latest initiative, Dr. Champaneria said, “The projects we have planned will change the face of the villages. I would also like to say that this is just a beginning and the scope and span of activities will be expanded further in the time to come.”
Under the Health & Hygiene vertical, Cadila aims to eliminate anaemia and malnutrition in students and communities, extend quality medical services including surgeries, provide e-vehicles for door-to-door waste collection and management and create facilities for clean drinking water among others. So far three community RO plants have been made operational, which provide clean drinking water 24X7 at a nominal cost to the village community.
On the education front, Cadila will work to improve the quality of education by providing infrastructure support to schools as well as support for competitive exams to students. Cadila is also working on a plan to provide remedial teaching to students from classes 5-8 to bridge the gap of classroom education forced by the Covid-19 lockdown. The company has installed more than 50 sanitisation stands in schools to ensure basic sanitisation to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
As a part of the Agriculture & Animal husbandry vertical, Cadila is committed to realising the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to double the income of farmers by encouraging them to adopt modern sustainable agriculture and animal husbandry practices. To implement this initiative effectively, Cadila is organising seminars and workshops for farmers involving experts from government organizations and in-house resources. Cattle camps at regular intervals have improved animal health leading to enhanced milk production.
Under the Village Infrastructure initiative, Cadila aims to improve the basic infrastructure of the villages, which includes installation of paver blocks at community places, renovation of Anganwadi buildings, renovation of community halls, among others.
Environment conservation is one of the major initiatives undertaken by Cadila under its CSR activities. In 2021 alone, the company has planted more than one lakh trees in villages and open lands in collaboration with Gujarat’s Forest Department. To promote renewable energy, the company has provided solar panels to villages reducing their dependence on traditional power sources. The initiative has not only helped in reducing carbon emissions by shifting to renewable energy but also reduced electricity bills of villages.
Keeping the livelihood needs of communities in mind, Cadila has also actions to revive Self Help Groups in villages and organise livelihood training programmes in collaboration with Government Livelihood Mission agencies.
