As the festive season comes to a close, and we are once again reminded of the endless onslaught of the pandemic, PNB MetLife Insurance Company draws back the focus on personal hygiene and safety, especially among adolescent girls and women as they display a heightened need for specific health and hygiene services.
Together with LittleBigHelp India Trust, its NGO partner in the East, PNB MetLife is distributing 1,000 hygiene kits containing items like masks, handwash and detergents to vulnerable adolescent girls and women in the Bidhan Nagar area of Kolkata. Ashwin Kumar Jha, Chief General Manager (Field General Manager’s Office) of Punjab National Bank, the bancassurance partner of PNB MetLife, will distribute these kits to the beneficiaries.
The CSR initiative targets residents of some of the area’s lowest-income areas, viz: Sree Krishna Colony, Dakshindari, Gulermat, Dhoparmat and Basanti Colony, and is designed to raise awareness of the day-to-day hazards and good hygiene practices to protect their health and wellbeing.
The collaboration with LittleBigHelp India Trust signifies the growth and expansion of PNB MetLife’s CSR initiative – Damini into the eastern region of India. Damini is based on the idea of supporting and empowering girls on their journey to womanhood.
As one of the largest social welfare institutions in West Bengal, PNB MetLife has joined forces with LittleBigHelp India Trust to extend Damini into West Bengal in an effort to create better opportunities for vulnerable children and women in the Region.
Nipun Kaushal, Chief Marketing Officer, PNB MetLife, said, “Underprivileged women and girls face a multitude of health and other challenges at the best of times. Now with a global pandemic, this group will require additional support to thrive. PNB MetLife’s CSR initiative, Damini, was created to address the unique challenges girls face in their journey to womanhood and position them for lifelong success.”
Ashwin Kumar Jha, Chief General Manager (Field General Manager’s Office), Punjab National Bank, the bancassurance partner of PNB MetLife, said, “I am humbled to be part of this project. PNB MetLife, through its CSR initiatives, has always focused on empowering girls by supporting their educational endeavours and providing them with opportunities to grow thus propelling them towards a brighter future. This drive will shift the focus and conversations towards the health and hygiene of young girls and women at a community level. Tackling issues such as this will ensure that they are provided with a nurturing environment to evolve as more empowered citizens.”
PNB MetLife has tackled several health and education challenges facing underprivileged girls and women through its Damini program, including Education and awareness for girls on menstrual health and hygiene, bringing financial empowerment to rural women by providing them with skill development workshops to be self-reliant and financially independent. Such initiatives include:
Education:
PNB MetLife in partnership with Nanhi Kali supported the education of close to 1,400 girls at Moga (Punjab) and Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh). The initiative employed 46 local women as part-time teachers for the girls.
Skill Development and Financial Inclusion:
The Company in partnership with Drishtee NGO supports a livelihood program – ‘Sakhi Swavalamban’, where skill development training and financial literacy awareness programmes were conducted for 250 women from 117 villages across the Varanasi district. There was a 40% increase in household income of the beneficiaries.
Health and Hygiene:
PNB MetLife has partnered with LittleBigHelp India Trust to spread awareness on menstrual health among adolescent girls in two slums of Kolkata, West Bengal. The CSR initiative provides aid to 300 adolescent girls from the location to maintain menstrual hygiene and will spread awareness among 9800 residents of the slums.
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