ENCAPSULATING INCLUSIVE GROWTH

Among the diverse range of projects it covers are infrastructural development, education, health and sanitation, capacity building and gender empowerment. All their CSR projects have been customised in accordance with the local requirements; need Assessment Surveys act as a guide while Village Development Advisory Committee, Rehabilitation and Periphery Development Advisory committee, public representatives, etc. help in understanding what the community requires.

The Karsada plant collects waste from 90 wards of the city, which accumulates, to around 650 tons of solid waste per day. 60 labourers are employed to manually pre sort and lime spray- which acts as a disinfectant and odour controlthe waste which is then dumped into the automated machine which proceeds to turn the solid waste into compost using a methodical procedure. The solid waste that cannot be turned into compost is separated and used as a landfill at the designated area of the municipal corporation. The rest of the waste goes through a rigorous process where it’s refined, crushed and powdered to be made into compost. The plant can successfully deliver 30 to 50 tons of compost per day.

Access to education is one of the primary focuses of the CSR activities of NTPC. In Vindhyachal Project, Singrauli district, Madhya Pradesh: NTPC, since 2013/14 has provided for the boarding, lodging, school fees as well as the entrance coaching fee of 30 selected students of the district per year. A district wide talent search was conducted every year to select the 30 brightest students of the district who fall under the below poverty line. These students are then looked after by NTPC; enrolling them in a 2 year medical/engineering coaching class in a tie up with reputed coaching institute. The onus is on providing quality education that would have been otherwise unattainable for the students due to their poor financial background. Further, the students who are able to get into reputed government institutes are also provided with Utkarsh scholarship-intended to cover their educational costs- which comes around 90 thousand per year. NTPC spends around 65 lakhs per year on covering the boarding and schooling expenses of the students.

At Rihand, in a truly unique and commendable utilization of resources, NTPC has facilitated a knowledge sharing between its highly qualified employees and the children from the surrounding areas. Volunteering during their leisure time, NTPC employees are providing coaching to around 60-70 students who cannot afford quality coaching. The batches have been divided into two: one, consisting of the students in the primary schools, and two, consisting of the students who have passed matriculation. The coaching objectives towards first batch, consisting of smaller children, are aimed at procuring their admission to the Navodaya Vidyalayas while the second batch is more of an entrance coaching oriented one that focuses on the 10th/ 12th pass students. Procuring admission to the Navodaya Vidyalayas and reputed polytechnic and engineering colleges will help the students in ensuring a quality education while also improving their overall academic standard. The NTPC Rihand employees have successfully created an atmosphere which fosters the volunteerism and giving back to the community approach.
In Jhanor, district Bharuch (Gujarat), NTPC has facilitated the creation of ‘quality circles’ in the schools. ‘Quality circles’ are basically groups created to debate, discuss and tackle social and academic problems. Each circle consists of 10-12 student members, which also consist of a teacher. The objective of the quality circle is to promote the incubation of genuine and innovative ideas- relying on the inherent creativity of childrento solve common problems. The initiation of such dialogues also helps to create an innate concern for such topics as health and hygiene; while also helping to initiate the same dialogue in the homes of the children. At Ramagundam, district Peddapalle (Telangana), an interesting part of the education related CSR activities is the night school where as many as 2000 adult illiterates are taught by local youngsters who have attained good degrees. In one of the villages, Malayapalli, there are five centers and the adult ones are taught alphabets. There are about 20-40 students in each class, in 4 villages and total 30 centres are in operation.

“Initially it was difficult to get them to use the toilets. The elders complained that it’s hot inside” says Mukeshi Bhatt, social worker who is associated with this work. “They were habituated with open- defecation; it took them time to get accommodated. We targeted the children and the women, and cultivated the habit in them”, she continued.
At Vindhyachal station in Singrauli (MP), the mobile health van operated by NTPC, does regular visits in the rehabilitated and resettled villages in the area. The van is equipped with a generator and basic health check up facilities. The staff consists of a doctor and a lab technician; both of whom are always on board. The van visits 24 villages in a month according to a pre fixed schedule; distributing medicines free of cost, conducting check-ups and referring to other hospitals if need be.

Similarly, in Rihand, Sonebhadra, Uttar Pradesh, NTPC had trained 40-50 farmers on well researched agricultural techniques and intercropping methods. Still practicing traditional techniques of farming, the farmers of Rihand could not utilize the full potential of their lands; more accurately, they were not aware that their land could produce more or better yield. On being provided the training, a few farmers have shifted to banana cultivation mixed with intercropping which has seen their income go as high as three times what they used to receive. Apart from providing the initial training, NTPC also held regular interventions to advise the farmers on the best farming practices.

In Sipat, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh: The state popular for its tribal population, is also known for agriculture and cattle breeding.Keeping in mind the occupation of major villagers, NTPC has been implementing integrated livestock development centre and fodder multiplication centre in 31 villages in & around Sipat Plant.Artificial insemination is also done for which around Rs156 lakhs were allotted, covering 31 villages. One of the cattle bearers, Bahurilal Sahu owns five cows and two buffaloes. His cows were inseminated and the calves they produce have improved in their health and all other aspects. “The fodder provided by them has also been a great help. While two months ago cows would give 5 litres milk a day, they can produce about 7-8 litres now, which is increasing my income,” he said, that too only with improved fodder.The fodders provided mainly includes maize and sorghum and to keep a regular check on all the cattle, three-four animal health treatments camps are organized every month where vets check the cattle and treat the sick ones. To boost the health and milk production of cows, azolla seeds are given to the farmers.

Within the span of vocational training at Ramagundam, a remarkable activity has been manufacturing sanitary napkins. Within the premises of NTPC township, fivemember women team makes sanitary napkins with the help of cotton and synthetic. Yasodha, 53-year-old widow from a village nearby, has had an education only up to standard eighth but through the programme, she has been managing four thousand rupees per month.
“Initially we support them with raw materials that come from Jayshree Industries and provide them three-day training. These women are chosen from backward communities with no support and quite surprisingly, they are extremely hardworking. They prepare 400 pairs of napkins a day which we distribute on a timely basis in all nearby villages through the district administration,” added NTPC representative. The vocational training programme also includes pickle masala making unit, running canteen in Jyothika club, running beauty parlour, tailoring Unit in NTPC Shopping complex, saree tie and dye unit in a PAV - Laxmipuram and waste paper recycling unit with eight women which is still in progress.