Nurturing Lives

KAUSHAL
Giving impetus to the nation’s growth goals by providing trained manpower, GAIL lays emphasis on skilling youth, making them employable and economically empowered.

At the two hectares sprawling campus of GAIL Institute of Skills (GIS), Guna, courses are offered for employment as Industrial Electrician (Oil & Gas), Industrial Welder (Oil & Gas), Draughtsman Mechanical, welding technician, customer-care executive, unarmed security guard and CNC machining technician, among others.

Established in 2013, GIS is fulfilling the needs of manpower-heavy industries in a rapidly urbanising world. The residential facility can accommodate 150 students. The institute has tied up with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) for certifications.

The programme, running since 2011, has benefitted 6,000 students out of which 5,000 have got jobs. A door-to-door mobilization is conducted to sensitise the rural and tribal communities. Students of class X and XI, and ITI also approach the institute for admission. Each course lasts for two-six months with a batch size of 30 students. The students are placed through Rozgar Melas organised by the government. At GIS, Guna, there are 33 girls enrolled in various courses, out of a student strength of 300. The skill development programme is run in Panna and Tikaya as well but the huge campus in Guna is a favourite among students.

The trained students vouch for the education as GAIL helps them with employment opportunities also. Rohim Kushwaha is working with Bharat Force, Pune. “We came here after class XII. The hostel facilities are good, trainers are excellent. They also facilitate our personality development.”

Employed in Volvo Eicher, Babloo Thakur underwent a 52-day training. Like him, Akhishek, Chandra Mohan Shah, Vishal Shrivastava and Ankit Thakur also found employment in good companies.

GAIL also operates another GAIL Institute of Skills (GIS) in Nagaram, East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh. The Maharatna is also supporting operation of six Skill Development Institutes (SDI) in Raebareli (Uttar Pradesh), Bhubaneswar (Odisha), Kochi (Kerala), Vizag (Andhra Pradesh), Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and Guwahati (Assam), in association with other PSUs. GAIL is the nodal PSU for Skill Development Institute, Raebareli, set-up in the hydrocarbon sector. Around 2,322 students were trained in these six SDIs through GAIL’s contribution of Rs 23 cr.

GAIL has also partnered with Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) to train 221 candidates as ‘Plastic Products Manufacturing Operators’.

Underprivileged and unemployed youth have been trained at Himachal Pradesh (Baddi), Rajasthan (Jaipur), Telangana (Hyderabad), Tripura (Agartala) and Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow) through Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology (CIPET). They were provided residential training in plastic product manufacturing/modern processing to become technically competent. The comprehensive training model resulted in placement of 205 (93%) out of the total 230 candidates. The candidates were happy with the training as it gave them competence and brought an increase in income and savings. Their family's annual income increased by around 200-400 per cent. It also made them more confident and enhanced their social status.

AROGYA
The project was initiated to serve the underprivileged people who have limited access to established public healthcare facilities. With each year, the project gains more momentum and becomes more expansive, reaching over 19 lakh people in 37 districts in 12 states and deployed 60 Mobile Medical Units (MMU) in FY 2021-22, each with a GPS tracker, equipped in geo-fencing and sending alerts, besides other features.

Each van runs on the ADCR model: Awareness, Diagnosis, Cure and Refer. Each MMU is operated by a qualified doctor, pharmacist, nurse and a lab technician for doorstep healthcare services. During the visit, check-ups are done for ailments such as blood pressure, blood sugar, haemoglobin levels, oxygen saturation, malaria, hepatitis, dengue and typhoid. The medicines are distributed free of cost as are the nutritional supplements and deworming tablets. The complicated cases are referred to nearby specialty hospitals. Special attention is paid to women and child care.

Each region the MMU travels to, it collects health data. And then focuses on treating the disease prevalent in that region. For instance, Vijaipur, Guna district, being prone to skin diseases, there is more demand for skin ointments.

Dr Akhilesh Patel in the MMU visiting Patalia tribe village, checks 50-60 people daily. He shares, “Leukorrhea is very common in tribal women. Every six out of 10 women have leukorrhea problem. It is due to poor hygiene and use of unclean cloth during menstruation. In serious cases, we refer the patients to the district hospital. Another concern we are addressing is anaemia in teenage girls.”

In Dhamnar village, Guna district, Madhya Pradesh, 65-year-old Gulab Gir suffers from poor vision and also has high blood pressure. He shares, “I started taking medicines from this van and my BP is under control.” There are more happy patients. Munni Bai suffers from weakness. She says, “I am a patient of sugar, BP and am regular in my check-ups.”

There are five MMUs operating in villages around GAIL plant in Auraiya district, Uttar Pradesh. One MMU covers four villages in a day. Villagers are provided first aid, treatment for diabetes, asthma, arthritis, BP, viral fever and other common illnesses. During the pandemic, masks and other emergency medicines were also distributed. Serious patients are referred to Shree Dhanvantari Hospital.

Nurse Shashi Dixit, who is part of the MMU team visiting villages around Pata, Auraiya district, says, “The most common ailments here are fungal infection, joint pain and malnutrition. There is calcium deficit in most of the patients. Iron and protein supplements are distributed to pregnant women.”

Anganwadi worker Shanta Patelia from Patelia tribal village, Auraiya district, acts as a volunteer and encourages the villagers to avail the benefit of the MMU. She says, “There is much more attention to hygiene and cleanliness in the village now with the MMUs coming on a regular basis. We see an improvement in health and children get their nutrition supplies too.”

The little village of Dasehra in Auraiya district has a population of 2,000. Around 30 women are attending a breast cancer awareness camp close to the small primary health centre (Swasthya Upkendra). It also serves as the Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centre. Talking about the benefits of these camps and doorstep healthcare facilities, 40-year-old Pushpa Devi says. “Earlier, we had to go all the way to Achalda for treatment. Now, I get my medicine easily for cold and cough.”

The healthcare workers hold awareness sessions across all regions on basic hygiene practices, sanitation, water consumption, mother and child healthcare, immunization, anaemia, deworming, vector-borne diseases, hepatitis, typhoid, common cardiac problems, HIV, diabetes, snake bite, tuberculosis, leprosy, dental hygiene, eye care, family planning and contraceptives.

Stories of success and benefits come from Andhra Pradesh also. “The MMU vans cover over 24 villages and supplies quality medicines for blood pressure, diabetes and gastroenteritis affected patients among other ailments,’’ says Dr Yandava Richie, Medical Officer, GAIL-MMU, Nagaram. Dr Richie finds the MMU is beneficial to those patients who cannot travel to the local government hospital as it gives quality medicines free of cost and also discourages quacks hygiene visit to quacks.

“I have high blood pressure (BP) and sugar. I had to travel very far to get medicines and wait for hours at the government hospital. But the MMU makes check-ups hassle-free,’’ says 58-year-old Sampath Kumar of Nagaram village, Andhra Pradesh. Jalem Vijayakumari from the same village agrees. “We don’t have money to go to a private hospital. Now, we need not worry about our health as we get medicines free of cost,’’ says the 32-year-old mother of two.

Dr Sadon Singh Rathore, Guna district, says, “Fungal problem is high during summers with these truck drivers. On an average 4-5 cases of HIV positive are also reported, but we do see a reduction in HIV cases due to sustained awareness drives.”

On an average over 40 truckers with health issues turn up daily for consultation in such camps. Mohammed Shakeel Qureshi, 33, drives trucks across the country. He says, “I come for check-ups regularly, as we need to take care of our health.”

At KG Basin, Andhra Pradesh, the ‘health and nutrition intervention for vulnerable HIV-affected adults and children’ was implemented at a cost of Rs 25 lakh in FY 2021-22. Over 1,000 patients were provided nutrition kits containing dates, finger millets, wheat flour, peanuts, glucose, jaggery, green gram. Free medicines were provided to over 250 HIV patients who had other health problems such as diabetes, BP, in addition to HIV medicines.

A 22-year-old villager was devastated when diagnosed with HIV. Deserted by her family and husband, she had to struggle for survival with her three-year-old son, who tested negative. Then, she got aid through this programme in the form of a nutrition kit which had rice, pulses, oil, sugar and groundnut. “With all this nutritious food, our health is improving and we are able to build immunity. For livelihood, they helped in rearing poultry and selling eggs,’’ she adds.

In Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, GAIL has supported other HIV positive people with alternative sources of livelihood across six mandals: Mandapeta, Rajahmundry Urban and Rural, Korukonda, Amalapuram, Razole and Nagaram.

It distributed 200 backyard poultry, 200 fruit trees, 100 grain banks containing 1,000 kg of rice for 100 beneficiaries. Besides, kitchen gardens were encouraged among 100-odd HIV affected patients wherein all kinds of vegetable seeds were given for growing their own produce. About 400 food baskets containing 10 kg rice, 1 kg toor dal, 1 kg jaggery,
1 kg dates, 1 litre cooking oil, a kilo of ragi malt, 1 kg multi grain powder and half-a-kg of chikki were given.

Saksham
GAIL is also empowering persons with disabilities (PwDs) by extending support for distributing Aids and Assistive devices under GAIL Saksham. GAIL associated with Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO) to give assistive devices such as wheelchairs, motorized tricycles, smart canes, crutches, hearing aids with batteries and even other customized devices. These devices were provided to approx. 1,000 persons with disabilities in various locations-Divyangjans in Karaikal (Puducherry), Udaipur (Rajasthan), Giridih (Jharkhand) and Datiya (MP). The assistive devices and aids were delivered to their homes and were fully subsidised. The appliances have enabled the PwDs to study, travel short distances, and engage in livelihood generation activities. The PwDs show an increase in confidence level and sense of dignity, reduction in dependency on others and are brought into normal society. Hand Pumps

With a focus on sanitation and hygiene, GAIL has installed hand pumps, tube wells and 75 RO/UV Plants in many districts across remote regions of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Gujarat and Telangana. The initiatives have facilitated easy access to drinking water to nearly 1.4 lakh people.

In 10 districts of Uttar Pradesh, tube wells and hand pumps have made life easy for the people. Beneficiaries share their pleasure at this initiative across the country. At Auraiya district, Uttar Pradesh, GAIL supported installation of public hand pumps in Garhi Ka Purva village. Here, water is available at a depth of 180 feet. A class V student, Kumkum is studying in Gyanvidya Vidyapeeth, in this village. Both mother, Phoolari, and daughter are happy to have a hand pump near their home. “We had to request, sometimes even plead with neighbouring farmers who had motor pumps on their farms, to give us water. For those who do not have a well of their own, getting water is a challenge. Many passers-by also drink water from this pump.”

In Vijaipur, Guna district, Madhya Pradesh, GAIL has CSR interventions in 100 villages. It has even built small check dams for water conservation.

Development wheels never stop rolling for GAIL because it remains committed to the task of contributing to the welfare of millions.

1.. “It is our resolute belief that our dream for a brighter tomorrow can be realised through focused efforts that respond to the needs of the people, communities and environment today”
Ayush Gupta
Director (HR), Gail (India) Ltd
2.. “GAIL’s vision of “value creation” for all stakeholders remains the guiding force behind our social interventions. Giving back to the society is one of the core ethics imbibed in the ethos of the company.”
M K Sogani CGM & HoD (CSR), GAIL (India) Ltd