Union Minister for Coal, Mines & Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi launched new Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives of Coal India Limited in an event held at Ministry of Coal in Delhi on Friday.
Amrit Lal Meena, Secretary, Coal (through video conferencing), Rupinder Brar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Coal, Senior Ministry officials, officials of CIL, NLCIL, SCCL and the CSR partners were present on the occasion.
CSR for school education
Under the first initiative, Coal India Limited is taking its commitment towards quality education a step further by commissioning smart classrooms in 70 Government schools. This is in continuation of a similar initiative launched for 11 districts of Jharkhand in January this year.
The project worth Rs. 2.42 crore will be executed by EdCIL (India) Limited, a PSU. The initiative is expected to improve the learning outcomes among students as well as reduce the digital divide that exists between students of government and private schools.
Support to UPSC aspirants
A new CSR scheme of Coal India Limited– Coal India Lok Sewa Protsahan Yojana was also launched on the occasion. The scheme is aimed at providing a financial support of Rs. 1 lakh per candidate to SC/ST and Female/Third Gender candidates from coal mining districts of Coal India Limited who clear the preliminary round of Civil Service/Forest Service Examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) during year 2024 to 2026. A candidate should have an annual family income of less than Rs. 8 lakh to avail the benefit under the scheme.
The application process will commence after the declaration of results of Civil Service/Forest Service preliminary examination 2024 by the UPSC. The entire application process will be conducted through a dedicated portal developed by Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Ltd. (CMPDI), a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd. The portal was also launched on the occasion.
Supporting heart surgery – Nanha Sa Dil
Jharkhand is a key state for coal mining and is home to numerous coal mines of Coal India Ltd. Project Nanha Sa Dil was launched by the Hon’ble coal minister as a comprehensive initiative for making surgeries of Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) affordable for needy families.
At present, only 5% of the 2.40 lakh children born with CHD are able to undergo surgeries due to its high cost. CHD accounts for 1/3rd of all mortalities due to congenital defects. Since early detection leads to better prognosis, the project will screen over 18000 children in 4 districts of Jharkhand through 176 village/block level and 16 district level camps. Support for surgeries of the children with confirmed disease will be provided under the project. The Rs. 9.37 cr. project will be undertaken in Dhanbad, Ranchi, Hazaribagh and Giridih districts on a pilot basis with the possibility of scaling up based on its impact.
Training of doctors and paramedical staff in the niche field of paediatric cardiology during the process will be a additional benefit from the project. The project is being taken up through Sri Sathya Sai Health & Education Trust (SSSHET) which has been providing free of cost healthcare services under its ‘Hospitals without Billing Counters’ model. SSSHET has an experience of more than 28,000 paediatric cardiac surgeries so far.
Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojana – Phase 3
Nanha Sa Dil project takes forward the legacy of Coal India Limited’s unique flagship project “Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojana” which marked its major milestone of 500 Bone Marrow Transplants during the event. Coal India Ltd, in 2017 became the first PSU to take up the CSR project for curative treatment of Thalassemia by supporting BMT operations. A financial assistance of Rs. 10 lakh is provided to eligible patients for Bone Marrow Transplants.
To be eligible for the support, patients need to have an annual family income of less than Rs. 8 lakhs along with fulfilling the medical and age-related criteria. The Rs. 70 cr. worth project is currently into its 3rd phase. Recently, the 500th BMT under the project was completed.
Currently 11 prominent hospitals, spread throughout India are partnering in the program. The overall guiding framework is provided by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India. Thalassemics India, an NGO working in the field of Thalassemia for the past 25 years is the coordinating partner.
The scheme has recently won the internationally renowned ‘Green World Environment Award’, declared in January 2024 in the CSR category in “Fuel, Power and Energy” sector.
