The 6th edition of The CSR Journal Excellence Awards is all set to be held on the 9th of December 2023 at the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai. The CSR Journal Excellence Awards aims to honour innovative and best practices in Corporate Social Responsibility, recognising the best practices in six categories.
These are Education & Skill Training, Women Empowerment & Child Welfare, Environment, Agriculture & Rural Development, Health & Sanitation and Sports.
This year, our top three nominees in the Category of Health & Sanitation are Tata Capital Financial Services Limited, BALCO Medical Centre (Vedanta Medical Research Foundation) and ICICI Lombard General Insurance Limited.
Tata Capital Financial Services Limited, the financial services arm of the Tata Group launched Project Aarogyatara, an initiative aimed at eradicating curable blindness through inclusive primary eye care facilities.
BALCO Medical Centre is a tertiary care Oncology facility in Naya Raipur, Chattisgarh. It is the first flagship initiative of Vedanta Medical Research Foundation, a non-profit organization of Vedanta Resources and Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd. (BALCO).
Leading private general insurance company ICICI Lombard installs water puri¬fiers in schools under its preventive healthcare initiative titled ‘Niranjali’. The project has installed over 1800+ water purifiers in schools across Mumbai, Pune and New Delhi, benefiting over 500,000 children.
Project Aarogyatara
Tata Capital Financial Services Limited is the financial services arm of the Tata Group that caters to various needs of retail, corporate and institutional customers across businesses. Project Aarogyatara is an initiative to eradicate curable blindness through inclusive primary eye care facilities. The purpose is to improve eye health of low-income group families, help diagnose eye disorders, provide timely treatment and increase awareness about regular eye check-ups. The project has been implemented in the states of Maharashtra, Bihar, UP, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
This project is able to reach out 6 among the sustainability goals. These are SDG 1 – No Poverty, SDG 2 – Zero Hunger, SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-being, SDG 5 – Gender Equality, SDG 8 – Decent work and economic growth, and SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities.
Key highlights of the project:
A total of 2.26 Lakh individuals have been benefited
More than 23,200 individuals supported with free surgeries for glaucoma, cataract, diabetic retinopathy, corneal blindness, etc.
In Javadi hills, the project covered Tribal people (CMC Vellore).
In the previous years, Tata Capital supported vehicle that could travel in the hilly terrain and ensure the last mile reach.
Implementation of the project has been structured in an effective phase wise manner.
The project has been executed with renowned hospital partners in India like are CBM India, Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospital, Shankara Eye Foundation (Sri Kamakoti Medical Trust), Bhajandas Bajaj Foundation and Jupiter Hospital.
BALCO Medical Centre
BALCO Medical Centre, a 170 bedded state-of-the-art tertiary care Oncology facility in Naya Raipur, Chattisgarh is the first flagship initiative of Vedanta Medical Research Foundation. VMRF, a non-profit organization, is an initiative of Vedanta Resources and Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd. (BALCO) to contribute towards prevention of cancer and its related illnesses. The facility is equipped with modern, multi-modality diagnostic and therapeutic facilities within easy reach of India’s population at an affordable cost. Services include medical, surgical, radiation, haematological and palliative care.
The core objective of this project is cancer care for all and early detection, by recognizing the importance of comprehensive care and extending services beyond medical treatment. The project facilitates 360 degree care for patients coming from below poverty line. The project addresses nutritional, logistical, and transportation challenges.
Key highlights of the project:
The project facilitates 360 degree care for patients coming from below poverty line, meets their convenience, therefore, nutritional, logistical, and transportation challenges are addressed which will lead to early detection of cancer and lesser patient dropout.
This project is offered to lower socioeconomic backgrounds and remote villages of Chhattisgarh and other parts of Central India, which are considered vulnerable or marginal groups due to limited access to healthcare resources and cancer care awareness.
The project’s focus on holistic support aimed to provide a 360-degree care approach. By offering not only subsidized accommodation and free transportation services but also nutritious meals, it addressed various aspects of patient well-being during their cancer treatment journey which resulted in lesser dropouts.
To ensure sustainability; the project is in collaboration with renowned cancer institutes and hospitals for exchange of knowledge, and enhancement of skills, capabilities and core practices.
Collaboration has been done with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Cancer Registry (NCR) aids in collecting and analyzing data related to cancer cases, contributing to a better understanding of the disease, its prevalence, advanced research and knowledge in the field of cancer and contribute to evidence-based practices.
In September 2022, The Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, and BALCO Medical Centre, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to drive excellence in cancer care in the country.
As per the MoU, the BALCO Medical Centre and Tata Memorial Centre will join forces for exchange of knowledge, and enhancement of skills, capabilities and core practices. BMC will leverage TMC’s expertise and decades of experience in cancer treatment for developing best-in-class technical and medical guidelines. With this association, TMC will also empanel BMC as a referral centre for patients from Chhattisgarh, and neighbouring states.
Niranjali
In the FY 2017-18, leading private general insurance company ICICI Lombard initiated installation of water purifiers in schools under its preventive healthcare initiative titled ‘Niranjali’. Since then, the programme has grown from installation of 5 water purifiers in Mumbai schools to installing purifiers in schools across Mumbai, Pune and New Delhi.
The project has installed over 1800+ water purifiers in schools, benefiting over 500,000 children. Impact assessment is conducted annually to evaluate outcomes at different levels, ensuring inclusiveness, relevance, convergence, expectations, and service delivery.
The objective of the CSR project, named Niranjali, is to proactively contribute to meaningful socio-economic development by providing clean drinking water to students in municipal, government and underprivileged schools. The project aligns with the company’s commitment to social responsibility and sustainability.
The project aligns with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: Good Health & Well-being by preventing water-borne diseases in children. While focusing on preventive healthcare, the initiative ensures sustainability by partnering with Eureka Forbes and Kent RO for water purifiers with annual maintenance contracts.
