PLANTING HOPE, EMPOWERING LIVES
DCM Shriram has played a dynamic role across the social spectrum with unwavering resolve over the decades
Sir Shri Ram, the founder of this hallowed group of companies, was a quintessential karmayogi, a public-spirited leader revered equally for visionary business acumen and his compassionate heart. His tremendous social will set the template for the organisation and shaped numerous life-altering initiatives that touched the lives of the underprivileged and transformed countless lives. More importantly, the founder’s profound commitment to social service ingrained ‘care’ into the very DNA of DCM Shriram. Not surprisingly, other than being a leading business conglomerate integral to India’s growth story, DCM Shriram has played a dynamic role across the social spectrum with unwavering resolve over the decades. Through the vicissitudes of time marked by tumultuous change, what remains intact is the company’s fierce commitment to doing good karma and DCM Shriram Foundation does exactly that.
Bharuch, a bustling town in Gujarat, resonates with the notes of progress orchestrated by DCM Shriram Foundation. From Zadeshwar’s mural-adorned dreams to Bharuch’s green rebirth via Miyawaki magic and the Aqua Revolution’s liquid gold initiative, these narratives converge to shape a symphony of positive change.
In the heart of Bharuch, Gujarat, a bridge stands tall, not merely as a pathway connecting two ends but as a canvas telling tales of dreams, aspirations, and a community’s commitment to a brighter, sustainable future. This is the story of the
“ Around 22,000 species flourish, symbolising the foundation’s dedication to fostering biodiversity and maximising green space.
Zadeshwar Bridge and its wall paintings – a project built under the benevolent guidance of DCM Shriram Foundation.
The bridge is adorned with murals capturing the essence of the region and its aspirations. These murals are divided into three sections. The first, a part of the Kishori Utkarsh Pahel, celebrates the power of educating and empowering adolescent girls, depicting them as doctors, police officers, and lawyers. The subsequent sections focus on environmental sustainability and waste management, portraying “My Liveable Bharuch” and emphasising community responsibility in preserving the environment. These sections, painted by specialist artists, feature the 5 Rs of waste management, reminding passers-by of the impact of their choices on the future.
The project, which took four painstaking months to complete amid the ebb and flow of the city’s bustling traffic, has transformed a mere bridge into a 1.8-kilometre-long symbol of hope and progress.
A vibrant forest thrives in a stretch of land once barren and lifeless, teeming with life and hope. This transformation, a gift from the DCM Shriram Foundation and the BAIF Team, results from a visionary initiative employing the Miyawaki Tree Plantation method.
The Miyawaki method, a ground-breaking afforestation approach from Japan, has been masterfully applied in Bharuch, transforming a once barren land into a thriving forest. This technique involves planting native species closely together. Result? Around 22,000 species flourish here, symbolising the foundation’s dedication to fostering biodiversity and maximising green space.
Dipak Kumar, the horticulturist at the forefront of this initiative, shares his journey with evident pride. “The soil was barren,” he reflects, underscoring their initial challenges. His efforts, driven by vision and hard work, have revitalised the soil, turning a desolate area into a vibrant ecosystem. Dipak highlights the Miyawaki method’s unique pyramid structure: “Tall trees form the canopy, medium-sized ones form the sub-canopy, followed by smaller trees and shrubs.” The increased biodiversity not only supports plant species but also serves the local community with fruit trees like guava and custard apple enriching the lives of nearby villagers.
The implementation of Miyawaki Tree Plantation
Zadeshwar bridge in Bharuch inspires many
In the arid regions of Bharuch, water is not merely a resource; it’s a symbol of life and prosperity. Recognising the dire need for sustainable water solutions, DCM Shriram Foundation spearheaded the water conservation initiatives in the region based on the dual pillars of water conservation infrastructure and hand pump recharge. This has translated into the Mahuda Faliya pond and the Zap Faliya hand pump recharge initiatives.
The Sarpanch, Mr. Ajay bhai, at a gathering by the pond, reflects, “It’s been a mere four to five months since its completion in March.” His words highlight the project’s swift impact. More profound insights come from Kalubhai, a hand pump recharge beneficiary. He recalls how the water, once yellow and high in Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), is now clear and safe.
The secret behind this transformation is the innovative natural filter system, a medley of sand, gravel, and other natural materials, ensuring that impurities
Kishori Utkarsh Pahel (KUP) aims at building awareness and inculcating aspirations in the adolescent girls of Bharuch
remain at bay. With the hand pump drilled about 1.5 meters beneath the earth, a connecting pipe aids in the recharge. Mirroring this success, the process was replicated in the panchayat borewells under the Har Ghar Jal Yojana, ensuring that every household in the hamlet can now access clean drinking water.
Rudrakshbhai, the civil engineer from the BAIF team, explains that while the total storage capacity stands at a whopping 50 lakh litres, they’ve efficiently utilised 37 lakh litres. Before the intervention, the TDS used to soar between 2200 and 2500, rendering it useless even for agricultural or domestic chores during the scorching summers.
Ingenious techniques such as farm bunding and stone bunding have also been introduced to augment groundwater recharge further, ensuring that no drop goes to waste
In the bustling district of Bharuch, there is a movement lighting up the eyes of young girls and fuelling their dreams. This wave of change, named Kishori Utkarsh Pahel (KUP), is a conscientious effort by DCM Shriram Foundation aimed at building awareness and inculcating aspirations in the adolescent girls of Bharuch.
The process begins with community outreach. Like artisans delicately sculpting their masterpieces, the KUP team goes door-to-door, introducing the program to families and registering young aspirants. The team approaches each door with resolve. Their gentle knocks resonate like a metaphor for change. Schools, too, have become epicentres of this transformative wave. At the helm are dynamic individuals like Minakshi Singh, who employs comprehensive tools like manuals, aprons and flashcards with her team, making the learning experience interactive and impactful.
The young Yashvi Purohit, a student of Diwan Dhanjishaw High School, Jhagadia, embodies the spirit of transformation that drives this initiative. Once a shy girl, Yashvi’s journey through the program has propelled her from being a Gram Jagrut Kishori to a Taluka Jagrut Kishori, titles that signify her rising leadership roles. “I once feared the stage,” she reminisces, “Now, I can effortlessly speak on any platform, all thanks to the foundation!”
Farmer Akhileshwar Nath Trivedi is one of the many beneficiaries of Jeetega Kisaan initiative
Supporting this momentum is Gitaben, the school’s PT teacher. She observed how the initiative’s emphasis on nutrition, sanitation, and rights awareness plays a crucial role in countering malnourishment.
Devendra Parmar, one of the pioneering coordinators, elaborates on the program’s multi-tiered approach, targeting community, school, and Anganwadi workers. Jahnavi Vansadiya, another coordinator, says, “Through our six modules on nutrition, life skills, sanitation, rights, menstrual cycle, and holistic growth, we aim to enable the development of a complete, confident young woman.”
As Minakshi Singh and her team stand ready, their determination to find the next Taluka Jagrut Kishori is palpable. They are not just enrolling girls into a program but enrolling them into a brighter, promising future!
In the heart of Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh, throbs the unique Jeetega Kisaan initiative, which seamlessly weaves together agri-skilling, livelihood support, and water conservation, boosting the productivity and incomes of farmers and fostering a sense of dignity. Beyond the fields, the program facilitates market linkage for the farmers which enables them to get better access and better prices for their produce. The ripple of these initiatives heralds a self-reliant, prosperous future for farmers and villages alike.
It is the morning of Chatt Puja, and the celebrations are clearly in the air when one drives through Sonbhadra in Uttar Pradesh. The golden paddy fields seem to be glowing in the morning sun, ready to be harvested.
The mood in the Jiva village is clearly celebratory. Music from a few puja venues floats in from a distance as farmer Akhileshwar Nath Trivedi walks through a narrow pathway between his fields, humming to himself.
A year back, he had sat huddled with his family under plastic sheets like a bird protecting its children under outstretched wings after torrential rains had washed away his home and flooded his fields. “It seemed like it would be
Preperations underway for a cluster meeting for farmers in Sonbhadra
“ A confluence of agri-skilling and livelihood, layered with water conservation, the project aims to help small and marginal farmers.
over for us in no time. When I remember that day, shivers still run down my spine”, he says.
He thanks the powers above for saving him that fateful day and DCM Shriram Foundation for keeping him from the poverty that followed in its wake. The Jeetega Kisaan program helped him restart his life with dignity.
“We are farmers. Our lives depend on our crops. A good crop means we have enough to eat, sell, and sustain our families; a bad crop means we are buried under loans from local moneylenders. However, guidance from DCM Shriram Foundation has come as a boon for us. Simple things taught to us and the constant presence of its team always for our guidance have been boons,” he says with a smile.
And boon it sure has been.
Not only has his expenditure on water and fertiliser come down, but he has also seen better quality and quantity of crops. He enthusiastically demonstrates how a humble-looking pipe has enabled him to give his family a better life.
He inserts a 30 cm long and 15 cm wide PVC pipe with holes on the sides into the damp soil of the field. The AWD (Alternate Wet and Dry) method is used to irrigate the fields. The farmer fills the pipe with water and observes it closely. “I need to water the field again only when the water level in the pipe has gone down to the level of the soil,” he says. This method has proven to be highly effective. “I was able to produce 14 quintals of rice using only half the water I used in the previous yield,” he says, chuckling with satisfaction. “I won,” he says.
Exactly what DCM Shriram Foundation wants to see with the Jeetega Kisaan initiative in Sonbhadra.
A confluence of agri-skilling and livelihood, layered with water conservation, the project aims to help small and marginal farmers increase their productivity and income by providing them with training in better practices. The bigger goal is to achieve the Zero Hunger targets Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2. The program takes an integrated route for improving yield and crops to improve the lives and livelihoods of farmers. And it is happening.
Ask Vimal Kumar Pathak of Deora village. A game-changing intervention in their farming, he says, has been the guidance in using the correct amount of fertiliser at the right time.
“Not only are the crops saved from diseases, but we are also taught what is the right amount of fertilisers to use. As farmers, we thought we knew it all, but clearly, we didn’t. I can finally confess,” he shares.
But admissions like this are not easy to come by. It takes effort and hard work to change beliefs formed over generations. But persistence wins. While the farmers already had the wisdom from years of farming and traditional knowledge, DCM Shriram Foundation gently introduced its scientific interventions and support into their lives.
The regularly organised cluster meetings, for example, guide farmers on farm management, soil testing, soil health and its importance for crop optimisation, environment protection, insects and diseases management for paddy and wheat crops and the nutritional balance of the soil.
(Facing Page) An enthusiastic teacher holds children in rapt attention at Khushali Skiksha Anganwadi in Hardoi
In farmer Trivedi’s words, this has been a game changer. “When we see and experience things for ourselves, we understand the concepts much better.”
In the village of Deora, one community that is both necessary and despised is that of the money lender. Devesh Pathak, a resident of Deora Village, knows this all too well. Responsible for a family of four children, his wife, and his parents, the prospect of being at the mercy of a moneylender is daunting
“These individuals take our harvested crops, promising payment once they are sold. Unfortunately, the payments are often delayed, and in some instances, this delay stretches for years. It is heart-breaking,” says Devesh.
However, a transformative shift occurred when farmers chose to trust DCM Shriram Foundation. Through its new market connections, farmers now secure better returns for their crops, receiving payment within ten days of selling their stock.
In a notable instance in 2022, the farmers successfully sold their entire wheat stock to the Adani group. Beyond the immense pride associated with this achievement, it ensured they received the rightful compensation for their tireless efforts.
The Jeetega Kisaan program, championed by the foundation, aims to assist farmers in establishing crucial crop-market connections and improves last-mile delivery. The smiles on the farmers’ faces are not just expressions of happiness but marks of triumph.
Khushali, an anthem of prosperity, reverberates through the realms of Health (Khushali Sehat), Sanitation (Khushali Swachhata), Environment Sustainability (Khushali Paryavaran), Education (Khushali Shiksha) and Skilling & Livelihood (Khushali Rozgaar) riding on the transformative initiatives of DCM Shriram Foundation. Each initiative resonates with the Foundation’s commitment to nurturing holistic development and self-reliance in communities.
How amazing it must be for children to have their first teacher, their mother, around at a place where they start their education.
DCM Shriram Foundation understands the significance of this feeling. It
(Right) Silai School, a stitching centre under Khushali Rozgaar
contributes to society by running Khushali Shiksha, an education initiative in the Sikandarpur Kallu village, Loni of the Hardoi district. This initiative aims to open multiple doors of opportunities for children by promoting collaborative learning in Anganwadis.
Mrs Sarita Shukla, a worker at the Smart Anganwadi in Village Sikandarpur Kallu, shares how the numbers at the centre has increased, all thanks to the facilities. “Earlier, even though 60 students were registered, only 15-20 showed up. Now 35 -40 of children turn up on an average, all thanks to the facilities by DCM Shriram Foundation.”
Munshilal Rajput, whose two daughters go to the centre at Sikandarpur Kallu smiles when he says, “There is electricity, there are a lot of toys and educational charts. My daughters love coming to the centre now.”
The Khushali Sehat initiative aims to minimise infant and maternal mortality by facilitating female immunisation, combating malnutrition, helping women improve their menstrual health, and promoting institutional deliveries.
The foundation provides the villages with Mobile Health Units (MHUs). Qualified medical practitioners use these vehicles to go from village to village, conducting free ante-natal check-ups and identifying High-Risk Pregnancies (HRPs). “We inform all the pregnant and lactating women in the villages about the visit of MMUs one day in advance,” says Ms Meera Singh, an About Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA).
The village is abuzz on the morning of the visit. “Before the MHU vans started operating, women didn’t take the medication prescribed by the ASHA very seriously. Now that the AMHU doctor conducts the consultation and examination, this scenario has changed for the good,” says a pregnant woman.
(Below) Khushali Sehat: healthy women make a healthy family
Dr. Chandni Agnihotri, an MHU doctor, identifies high-risk pregnancy (HRP) cases, and then the village hospitals take care of them further. Dr Deepika Singh, a doctor, points out that a senior gynaecologist had joined her for teleconsultation with a patient visiting her in the Community Health Centre (CHC).
The women and their families couldn’t be happier.
Stitching is a common skill among village girls and women. By combining it the skill of Zardozi embroidery, the value of their creations increases many times over, as the women involved in DCM Shriram’s Project Zardozi have discovered.
Ask Sonal Gupta, a beneficiary of the Project Zardozi. “All thanks to my training with Project Zardozi, I easily make Rs 4,000-5,000 a month, and orders keep pouring in. It feels great to earn one’s own money,” she says gleefully.
Many other women are smiling, too, thanks to DCM Shriram Foundation’s vision
This remarkable livelihood sustenance program aims to help artisans like Sonal discover and hone their design and entrepreneurial skills, learn to promote their craft and become financially independent. On the one hand, capacity-building workshops refine their craft and business skills, and on the other, collaborative design innovation in the traditional Zardozi style is fostered through partnerships.
Three silai (stitching) schools have also been set up in other parts of Uttar Pradesh to help women learn a skill.
What can be a better way to give back to Mother Earth than by taking care of the soil that grows life? As a responsible organisation, DCM Shriram Foundation runs a Soil Health Program called Upjau Mati Pariyojana to ensure that farmers know the right techniques to take care of the blessing of nature.
This initiative aims to cater to the challenges faced by farmers in Hardoi by taking the responsibility to save the soil. Farmers are educated about how they can make organic manure from compost in just 30 days! Through this Upjau Mati Pariyojana, the Foundation aims to provide a handholding of 3 years to these farmers so that by the end of 3 years, creating organic manure from compost becomes a habit for them.
“Earlier, we thought that we weren’t using enough or the right set of seeds so our yield was poor. All thanks to DCM Shriram Foundation, now we know that it is not so much about the seed quality as much as it is about the soil quality”, says a happy farmer whose barren land now reaps a good harvest.
To ensure proper waste management in the Hardoi district, DCM Shriram Foundation has launched a solid waste management initiative. Now, the people of Hardoi are capable of carrying out primary segregation of waste (wet and dry) themselves when the garbage trucks collect garbage from door to door. The Foundation started this initiative to contribute its bit to the Swachh Bharat Mission. Through this program, it is creating awareness about the need and importance of waste segregation in villages.
Clearly the impact in the communities is visible.
“ Farmers are educated about how they can make organic manure from compost in just 30 days!
Better waste segregation awareness technique
Ajay S. Shriram, Chairman and Sr. Managing Director, DCM Shriram Ltd
“WE ARE COMMITTED TO MAKING LASTING CHANGE AT GRASSROOTS LEVEL”
Ajay S. Shriram is a guiding force as Chairman and Sr. Managing Director at DCM Shriram Ltd. He is not just a leader, but a visionary catalyst of positive change
How does today’s CSR at DCM Shriram align with Sir Shri Ram’s values?
Our founder, Sir Shri Ram, was among the first industrialists to envision a path based on integrity, devotion to duty, and liberal humanism oriented to the well-being of all sections of Indian society. At DCM Shriram Ltd, social responsibility has steadfastly enshrined the values of Sir Shri Ram, who looked at development from the eyes of the community. While our efforts towards nation-building started well before the CSR laws kicked in, the structure of our CSR programmes has evolved in step with the emerging legal framework and the needs of society. We are committed to making a sustainable impact on the lives of the communities and bringing about lasting change at the grassroots level.
How has DCM Shriram Foundation been helping farmers, considering the challenges they face in farming?
At DCM Shriram Foundation, we have been focusing on the small and marginal farmers that account for about 85% of India’s farmer population. Our approach revolves around: • Crop-specific package of practices: Providing agronomic advisories aimed at maximizing yield, including quality agricultural inputs like high-yielding seeds and balanced fertilisers. • Climate-smart agricultural practices: Collaborating with farmers to de-risk their livelihoods by working on practices that regenerate soil health, increase organic carbon, and conserve water usage, aligning with the government’s mission of more crops per drop. • Access to better market linkage: Emphasizing aggregation and connecting farmers to the right buyers to boost their income
How have you integrated technology into farming, and what changes have you witnessed?
We believe that technology should be an enabler for farmers. DCM Shriram Foundation ensures that farming technology is accessible to small and marginal farmers. We promote agri-entrepreneurs to run common service centres that rent out agri equipment to small and marginal farmers who cannot afford to buy them. Additionally, we initiated the DCM Shriram AgWater Challenge, collaborating with The Nudge Foundation, as an innovative catalyst for water-smart agriculture. The challenge generates scalable solutions for efficient and sustainable water use.
Is farming in India getting the importance it deserves? What is the scope of growth?
Recognition of farming’s importance has grown, but challenges persist. Addressing the increasing food demand will require a) supplying improved planting material, including GM technology; b) disintermediating the value chain for higher farmer income; c) incentivising crop diversification; d) promoting sustainable practices; and e) ensuring stable policies for marketing and storage. Implementing these measures is vital for agriculture sector’s sustainability under increasing pressure.