Top CSR Projects in Jharkhand

Jharkhand, one of the newest states of India is known for its rich mineral resources like Uranium, Mica, Bauxite, Granite, Gold, Silver, etc. and for the large amount of indigenous population living there. Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar on the 15th of November 2000, on the occasion of the birth anniversary of tribal icon Birsa Munda.

The state government expects that their CSR policy will create transparency and avoid duplication of efforts arising out of similar central and state-sponsored schemes thereby rationalizing the utilization of resources for positive impact. It will also help prioritize meaningful CSR projects to create a sustainable, long-term impact on communities and the environment.

The government of Jharkhand aims to maximize the potential of CSR investments to achieve the results that are best for the state. Its sound policy is set to attract CSR investments in the state. Here is a look into the top CSR projects in Jharkhand.

Amount spent on CSR in FY 2022-23

As per data from National CSR portal, in the financial year 2022-23, the total CSR expenditure in Jharkhand has been Rs 388.35 crores. The top 3 districts to enjoy CSR benefits in the state are respectively East Singbhum (amount spent towards CSR Rs 99.43 Cr), Ranchi (Rs 67.25 Cr ) and Godda (Rs 18.89 Cr).

The top 3 sectors in which most of the CSR activities have been performed in the state are Education, Healthcare and Environment. The top three companies spending for CSR in Jharkhand in FY 2022-23 are respectively HDFC Bank Limited (86.41 crores), Tata Steel Ltd (Rs 67.66 crores) and Central Coalfields Limited (34.72 crores).

East Singbhum District – Top recipient of CSR Funds

Purbi Singhbhum or East Singbhum district is situated at the southeast corner of Jharkhand. It was formed by isolating nine blocks from old Singhbhum on 16th January 1990. East Singbhum district comprises two sub-divisions namely Dhalbhum and Ghatshila. The district consists of eleven blocks namely Golmuri-cum-Jugsalai (Jamshedpur), Potka, Patamda and Boram in Dhalbhum Sub-Division and Ghatshila, Musabani, Dumaria, Baharagora, Dhalbhumgarh, Chakulia and Gurabandha in Ghatshila Sub-Division. The Head Quarter of this district is Jamshedpur.

From the industrial growth and mining quarrying point of view, this district has a leading position in Jharkhand. The total geographical area of district is about 3533 Sq. kms, which is about 2.03% of the whole state. About 53% of the total area of district is covered by residual mountains and hills consisting of granite, gneiss and schist. It is a part of Chhotanagpur plateau. The Dalma range extends from west to east covered by dense forest on the northern side. The Subernarekha river flows from west to south-east direction. The district is rich in minerals and these are found abundantly including Iron Ore, Copper, Uranium, Gold and Kyanite.

CSR projects in the district include focus on rural development, supplementary nutrition programmes, enhancing education and healthcare opportunities for the tribal and backward communities, CSR-funded free coaching for bank P.O. examination etc.

Top CSR Projects in Jharkhand

CSR of Central Coalfields Limited

Central Coalfields Ltd in partnership with State Govt of Jharkhand established the Jharkhand State Sports Promotion Society in the year 2016. In the first batch, 78 sports cadets were admitted from various Districts of Jharkhand. In the year 2016-17, 100 more Sports Cadets were added. About 97% of the academy sports cadets are Tribals and OBCs from remote villages of almost all 24 districts of Jharkhand. The cadets are provided free boarding, lodging, sports training, schooling etc in the sprawling campus at Khelgaon, Ranchi along with a monthly stipend of Rs 500.

 The Academy is presently managed by a Local Management Committee (LMC) of Officers from Central Coalfields Ltd (CIL). Coaches of international repute have been selected from across the Country. They have led the Indian contingent in Olympics, Sr World Championship, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in their respective areas of specialisation. Sports disciplines like Athletics, Archery, Football, Taekwondo, Wrestling, Judo, Hockey, Boxing, Weight Lifting, Shooting, Synchronised Diving, Swimming and Table Tennis are taught here.

In May 2023, CCL launched first-ever “Hospital on Wheels” for stray animals under new CSR initiative in Jharkhand. The inaugural function was held at CCL, Darbhanga House, Ranchi. The vehicle equipped with modern facilities is aimed at providing crucial veterinary care to stray animals which are neglected and need attention. Equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment and staffed by compassionate veterinarians, the hospital will bring healthcare directly to the streets, parks, villages and neighbourhoods where these vulnerable creatures reside.

This CSR initiative of CCL will not only offer round-the-clock medical attention to stray animals in Ranchi but will also visit different command districts of CCL to immunise, sterilise and conduct sensitisation cum awareness campaigns for the villagers.

HDFC Bank’s Holistic Rural Development Programme

HDFC Bank’s Holistic Rural Development Programme (HRDP) includes farm and nonfarm-based livelihood, water conservation, on-ground training for farmers, creation of Farmer Producer Organisations, sanitation and Natural Resource Management. The bank facilitates livelihood enhancement opportunities, particularly for women and youth, primarily in agriculture and allied areas such as dairy and poultry. The objective is to help them find jobs locally, enhance their household income and discourage migration.

The focus is on facilitating employment opportunities for migrant labourers who returned to their native villages following job losses due to the pandemic. Under this program, the bank also helped promote entrepreneurship such as poultry and goat rearing. Rural Jharkhand along with villages in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Assam and Meghalaya were targeted for this program.

Tata Steel Foundation – MANSI programme

With an aim to address the problem of maternal and infant mortality in rural India, Tata Steel Foundation, the CSR arm of Tata Steel Limited has been running an initiative named ‘MANSI’ (Maternal and Newborn Survival Initiative) which reduces mortality among neonates and infants by enhancing the capacity of Government health volunteers (ASHAs/Sahiyas) in the Home Based Newborn Care (HBNC) system. MANSI is equipping community health workers with low-cost home-based practices to reduce neonatal, infant, and child mortality, and improve maternal health, which is a major national health issue.

The programme is currently operational in the states of Jharkhand and Odisha. The company’s flagship programme, MANSI won the National CSR Award in 2019.

Tata Steel, the National Health Mission (NHM), American India Foundation (AIF) and the Society for Education Action and Research in Community Health (SEARCH) have collaborated for the implementation of this project in a public-private partnership model. The project is being implemented in 12 blocks across Jharkhand and Odisha.

The programme focuses on building capacity of existing government voluntary health workers (Accredited Social Health Activists-ASHAs, known as Sahiyyas in Jharkhand). To overcome the constraint caused by low literacy levels of these activists, (Sahiyyas) classroom sessions are hosted where they are provided training, using largely visual/ pictorial aids, on parameters which would address the root causes and underlying reasons for neonate and infant mortality.

The project in its third phase (2021 onwards) has witnessed the participation of almost 2500 sahiyyas and over 200 project staff in Jharkhand’s Kolhan division, covering 38 blocks. In MANSI’s third phase, Tata Steel Foundation has expanded the programme by introducing MANSI Plus, a maternal, neonatal and infant mortality health programme. MANSI Plus is addressing issues like adolescent health, right marriageable age, teenage pregnancies and malnutrition — factors contributing to the mortality rate.

Tata Steel’s ‘Green School’

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Tata Steel Foundation (TSF) launched phase six of the ‘Green School’ initiative in July this year across Tata Steel’s operational locations in Jharkhand and Odisha. TSF is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Steel Limited and is the CSR implementing organisation while TERI is an independent, multi-dimensional research organisation with capabilities in policy research, technology development, and implementation.

Collaborating on sixth phase of the Green School Project, TERI and TSF will work towards educating and empowering young minds in the age group of 12-14 years on water, energy, forest, biodiversity, and waste management to undertake awareness and action projects at school and community levels to develop solutions enabling the creation of a sustainable environment.

The Green School Project was launched in 2017 by TSF and TERI to work towards creating awareness about environmental conservation in schools through curriculum linkages, action projects, and capacity-building activities.

Currently there are 53 schools under this project.

Tata Power CSR for Sports

Maithon Power Limited (MPL), a subsidiary of Tata Power, announced in September 2024 that it is thrilled to celebrate the outstanding achievement of Jharkhand’s Under-14 football team, which has secured the runner-up position in the National Football Championship. Gauri Singh, Moutushi Mandal, and SunenaTudu who were part of the under 14 Jharkhand football team made it to the team through MPL’s ‘Essential Enablers ‘ Program.

Their impressive performance is a testament to MPL’s dedication to nurturing athletic talent and advancing sports development in rural communities through its ‘Essential Enablers’ sports project, an initiative launched in 2018 as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program.

The ‘Essential Enablers’ project aims to provide sports training and infrastructure to over 1500 community youth, with a special focus on empowering girls and marginalized groups. This initiative has proven to be a powerful catalyst for positive change, offering meaningful alternatives and engaging youth from affirmative action groups in constructive activities.

The project has produced impressive results, with over 1200 athletes trained and 265 medals won in various competitions across Maithon, Dhanbad, Jharkhand, and India. Beyond their athletic achievements, the initiative has significantly enhanced the overall well-being of the community. By providing a safe and supportive environment, it has promoted healthy lifestyles, social cohesion, improved academic performance, enhanced self-esteem, and strengthened interpersonal skills among participants.

CSR of ESL Steel Limited

CSR activities of ESL Steel Ltd, formerly known as Electrosteel Steels Ltd are mostly focused in and around Bokaro. The company owned by Vedanta Ltd undertakes CSR activities aimed at improving healthcare facilities, education, skills, water & sanitation, agriculture for the local population and empower women.

Under Project AAROGYA, Vedanta ESL Health Clinic provides healthcare facilities, lab testing, Special camps with Mobile Health Van. Different awareness camps, Special Camps, Blood Donation Camps, Eye Check-up, and cataract operations, Covid testing and STI, HIV, TB, Malaria etc. illness/diseases specific camps are organised under this project.

The Mobile Health Unit programme involves professional doctors, nurses and pharmacist who form a team along with a dedicated vehicle who visit two village locations in a day. The camp brings primary health care services to the doorstep of the villages and provides free of cost medicines.

Vedanta ESL Skill School is a multi-trade residential training Centre aimed at securing employment for youths in partnership with Learnet Skills. The project aims to impart training through a short duration vocational program to the unemployed youth. The training programme equips the youth with requisite skills as per industry standards thereby engaging them in a sustainable employment in an organized sector.

The students are provided training under 2 trades namely, Solar PV Installer (Duration: 90 Days) and Sewing Machine Operator (Duration: 45 Days).

Jharkhand has a rich legacy in the field of archery. Taking this idea forward, the company has developed state of the art – VEDANTA ESL ARCHERY ACADEMY, catering to 47 young archers of all the age groups up to the age of 21 years under the guidance of renowned professionals. The students are being trained under following categories: Under 9, Under 14, Under 17 and Under 21. They will be trained for 3 years.

With the intention of making safe drinking water available in the state, the company has undertaken several measures under Project SWAJAL. Hand pumps are the primary source of water in these villages. The response time for attendance of such complaints and repairs has set to be done in minimum 3 working days after receiving complaints. Apart from this initiative, ESL CSR is also helping the community with water Supply through tanker during different social events/functions. The company has also provided Solar operated drinking water facilities and tap water connections in the nearby villages through Project SWAJAL.

PRERNA is an education project, which aims to provide quality and equitable education opportunities to the students of the socio-economically weak sections of the society within ESL’s CSR operational areas for wholesome development of the students so that they can achieve greater heights. ESL is running Project PRERNA in partnership with Sarthak Sustainable Development Foundation (SSDF).

Project JIVIKA aims to ensure socio-economic empowerment of women. The aim is to strengthen 50 SHGs/500 women through different interventions which would ensure multilevel livelihood impact on beneficiaries and their families in textile, mushroom, phenyl production, bamboo craft and other interventions. Project JIVIKA is being run along with Drishtee Foundation since September 2020.

NABARD’s flagship project WADI is Small orchard-based development projects for Tribal” projects, catering to more than 500 tribal farmers from 8 villages in Chas and Chandankiyari Blocks in Bokaro district in partnership with ESL Steel Limited under its CSR initiative since FY 2020-21.

Along with the orchard-based activities, the project also covers financial assistance for Agri-allied activities such as animal husbandry and micro-enterprise development activities to cover more landless population for better Income generation under the project. The other components of the projects include arrangements for irrigation, land development, skill/capacity development of community, women folk, children, and health development. The aim of the WADI project is to provide sustainable livelihood to tribal and non-tribal household out of Orchard produce from 5th year onwards.

CSR of NTPC

As part of its CSR, NTPC Coal Mining took up an initiative to sponsor 80 youths including 4 girls from all coal mining project areas and its vicinity from the states of Jharkhand, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh for skill development training in two courses: Machine Operator Injection Moulding and Machine Operator Plastic Processing. The courses were carried out in association with Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology (CIPET), Ranchi for a duration of 6 months.

Dell Technologies CSR

Dell Technologies has successfully implemented its Mobile Solar Community Hubs project in Jharkhand, as part of its commitment to impacting communities positively through technology. These mobile hubs, equipped with laptops, television screens, solar panels, and 4G internet facilities, aim to provide digital access to local residents. In collaboration with the Common Service Centres Scheme (CSC), Dell and Learning Links Foundation have deployed these hubs in six aspirational districts, including Ramgarh in Jharkhand. The project focuses on providing digital and financial literacy training to students, youth, and women, along with technical skills and entrepreneurship guidance.

Additionally, Dell aims to upskill ex-servicemen and retiring junior-ranked personnel from the Indian Armed Forces, addressing any gaps in skill acquisition during their military tenure. Archana Sahay of Dell Technologies emphasized the goal of supporting underrepresented communities to achieve digital equity, while Nuriya Ansari of Learning Links Foundation highlighted the critical role of the project in transforming the lives of rural communities and ex-servicemen. Through this initiative, Dell aims to contribute to narrowing the digital divide and fostering inclusive growth in Jharkhand and beyond.