Madurai : GHCL Foundation Trust, the corporate social responsibility arm of GHCL Limited, has extended its CSR activities in Madurai district and Manapparai town under the municipality in Tiruchirappalli district of Tamil Nadu. The key focus areas of the CSR activities are on agriculture & animal husbandry, health, education and women empowerment.
The CSR initiatives were introduced in 2019-20 with primary focus on health impacting more than 500 lives to begin with followed by more than 11,000 in 2020-21; over 14,000 in 2021-22; and more than 15,000 lives in 2022-23 in Madurai and Manapparai.
By the end of FY 2022-23, more than 45,000 lives were impacted across Madurai and Manapparai in the areas of health, agriculture and animal husbandry, education and skill development and women empowerment.
The CSR programmes in the area of health, education and skill development for the community are conducted on a periodic basis as per the community need which is assessed during field visits/ and through partners (Govt. line depts.). In addition, GHCL Foundation has detailed Need Assessment reports for reference. These programmes have predetermined objectives and outcomes based on various parameters for identification and assessment in order to improve and develop the lives of people living in communities close to plant locations. Initiatives such as health awareness camps, sanitation, water purification, livelihood development support, school education support, women empowerment programs, etc. are some of the major programmes contributing towards the overall development of both employees and the community.
The GHCL Foundation works with the rural community through direct and indirect mode of intervention. GHCL Foundation teams organizes the rural community by encouraging volunteers and conducts need based intervention programs in partnership with government departments as ‘Knowledge Partners’.
Commenting on the impact of the ongoing CSR programmes, Mr. Balakrishnan R, CEO – GHCL Textiles Limited said, “GHCL Foundation has always been at the forefront of spearheading CSR activities on ground that help the underprivileged rural families in achieving social status. We also aim at creating a holistic development of the communities and are committed towards providing our support in more ways than one. We have attained significant impact in making the communities self-sustainable through our focus on agriculture & animal husbandry, health, education and women empowerment. We will continue with similar programmes in the area of waste management and organic farming as per the need of the community.”
As an indirect mode of intervention, GHCL Foundation has collaborated with NGOs such as HelpAge India for ‘Mobile Health Unit’ services in Manapparai; Family Planning Association of India (FPAI) on rural health and sanitation programs, Formation of Educational Development Centre for Rural Organization and Training (FEDCROT) for skill training programs for women empowerment and adolescent girls; and Annai Institute of Vocational Training (AIT) for Skill training for women empowerment programs.
