The capital of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow is a historic city, located at the bank of river Gomti. Also known as the city of Tehzeeb, Lucknow is famous for its unique culture. The people of Lucknow are known for their polite mannerisms and their love for poetry, literature, art and food. The city’s historic roots make it a popular tourist destination, with major attractions being Bara Imambara, Chota Imambara, Rumi Darwaza, British Residency, Chattar Manzil, Hazratganj Market and many more.
This makes it very important to develop the infrastructure, safety and many other facilities in the city, in order to enable a pleasant stay for guests from across the globe. CSR has played a tremendous role in India in upgradation and development of infrastructure and safety measures across its territory.
In FY 2022-23, Lucknow was recipient of Rs. 70.96 Cr. in CSR funds from 178 companies. The major areas of focus of CSR initiatives in the district were Education, Health and Environment, with the respective amounts of Rs. 294.67 Cr., Rs. 266.39 Cr., and Rs. 67.57 Cr. The top spender in the district was HCL Technologies Limited that spent Rs. 11.37 Cr., followed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited with a spending of Rs. 8.75 Cr., and HDFC Bank Limited with a spending of Rs. 8.39 Cr.
Let us look at top companies who have contributed in the development of Lucknow through their CSR initiatives.
Bone marrow transplant unit in KGMU with CSR support
An eight-bed bone marrow transplant unit is being set up with CSR support at King George’s Medical University, Lucknow. The unit will be ready within the next six to eight months. This comes as part of a tripartite MoU (Memorandum of Understanding), which was signed between KGMU, CanKids (an NGO advocating for child cancer) and Aditya Birla Capital Foundation in October this year. An amount of Rs. 2.75 crore in CSR funding has been allotted for the establishment of this unit, including capacity building training of nurses and sanitation workers who will be deployed in the unit.
King George’s Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow
CSR for Road Safety in Lucknow
In November 2024, IIFL Home Finance Ltd partnered with the Uttar Pradesh Police to promote road safety in Lucknow as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts. As a step towards protecting the uniform personnel, the company distributed 200 helmets to Lucknow police at Traffic Police Commissionerate reinforcing the critical need for road safety awareness.
In September, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India organised a Road Safety Convention with school principals in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh as a part of their ongoing project- Mindset Development for our Future Generation. The convention saw active participation from over 150 School Principals and teachers including private and government schools in Lucknow.
HMSI has curated three learning modules age wise to guide the young population develop a disciplined mindset, thereby making a substantial contribution in fostering a safer society. During the convention, HMSI urged all school authorities to utilize the three learning modules, emphasizing need for collaboration to expand the benefits of this program to all students. The company invited schools to join hands, supporting the mission and working towards creating a brighter, safer future for India.
Empowering teachers and children through CSR
ALfA FLN (Accelerated Learning for All) Teacher Empowerment Program was conducted by DEVI Sansthan from July 9 to July 12, 2024, at City Montessori School, LDA Kanpur Road, Lucknow with an aim to empower 1500 government primary school teachers from four blocks of Lucknow, Malihabad, BKT, Zone 2, and Mohanlalganj. The goal is to make all the children of these blocks Foundationally Literate and Numerate as per NIPUN Bharat Mission, which is already beyond half-time in its deadline of 2026/27. It covers all primary school children of these blocks of Lucknow in the program and ALfA pedagogy that is making children literate and numerate in just 45 days.
Kotak Mahindra Bank’s Support to KGMU
Under its Corporate Social Responsibility commitment, Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited in association with Impact Guru Foundation has extended support to King George’s Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow, to provide critical life support ambulances. These state-of-the-art cardiac ambulances are equipped with specialised equipment, trained personnel and Advanced Life Support (ALS) capabilities and are designed to respond quickly to traumatic emergencies and transport patients to trauma centers or hospitals.
Reckitt’s ‘Diarrhoea Net Zero’
Reckitt, world’s leading consumer health and hygiene company, under its flagship campaign Dettol Banega Swasth India launched ‘Diarrhoea Net Zero’ with support from the Government of Uttar Pradesh in Lucknow in June 2023. In the next 3 years, the program is expected to impact 10 million people across Uttar Pradesh addressing 26% of the burden of diarrhoea.
Dettol Banega Swasth India has been working with the Government of Uttar Pradesh since 2015 to improve knowledge, attitude and behaviour of children and community and ensure better hygiene and health outcomes. Reckitt claims that Dettol and its partners have reached over 10.8 million children with its ‘School Hygiene Education Programme’ leading to a reduction in diarrhoea cases in school children and a reduction of nearly 39% in school absenteeism due to health issues.
Reckitt’s various interventions across the state, include supporting villages to become Open Defecation Free, promoting hygiene and sanitation at India’s biggest religious gathering – Kumbh Mela, receiving multiple accolades and appreciation from the Government of India for its initiatives. With the launch of ‘Diarrhoea Net Zero’ programme in partnership with Uttar Pradesh government, Dettol Banega Swasth India will continue to bring positive change in the lives of children and reduce the prevalence of Diarrhoea in the state through a scalable and replicable model.
HCL Foundation’s MoU with Lucknow Development Authority for a greener Lucknow
HCL Foundation (HCLF), the CSR arm of HCL Technologies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) in March, last year. The objective of the MoU is to increase green cover in order to improve habitat, enhance biodiversity, and restore the ecosystem. As part of HCL Technologies’ CSR Programme, afforestation will be done across a vast land along Sultanpur Road. This comes under the company’s flagship programme, HCL Harit, for the purpose of afforestation in Lucknow. The MoU is important for preservation of native species of plants and habitat improvement for birds, bees, and other animals.
Oxygen plant by Tech Mahindra in Lucknow
Tech Mahindra Foundation, The CSR arm of Tech Mahindra announced in July last year that they will be installing an oxygen plant at Vivekananda Polyclinic and Institute of Medical Science in Lucknow. This will be able to support up to 100 beds by increasing oxygen port capacity for the treatment of critically ill patients, they announced. This CSR activity is part of Tech Mahindra’s COVID-19 relief initiatives.
