Footprints The CSR E-Newsletter

1. Footprints The CSR E-Newsletter May 2013

2. The untold stories... With the sun bright and burning and the air sweetened with the fragrance of ripe mangoes, as we thirstily wait for a thunderstorm, we know it is the month of May. Besides our ongoing activities of the Month - Inter-village Cricket tournament, career counselling sessions for the High School students of Vernacular Medium schools, calamity management initiatives in various villages , here are few stories of such heroes and winners who never gave in to the fate they were destined to. JSPL believes in improving the quality of lives of people of the community it surrounds, in view of this CSR Angul has been effectively providing the impetus to the common people to take charge of their lives and make it better. As is said, out of need springs desire, and out of desire springs the energy and the will to win. We, Team CSR acknowledge the battles they have won, respect their worth as individuals and applaud their courage! We request you to take few minutes out of your busy schedule and get close to their lives. We hope you enjoy reading! “We deem those happy, who from the experience of life have learnt to bear its ills without being overcome by them.”

3. Beyond the horizon...

4. Beyond the horizon... Kshitish Ranjan Das of Badakerjang village is the fourth son of Purnachandra Das. Kshitish has three siblings. His father is a school teacher. It has not been possible for his father to provide the children with all the luxury considering the petty amount he gets end of the month. Despite struggling to make the ends meet, Kshitish scored a 90% in matriculation examination. To acknowledge his effort and motivate him further, JSPL under its “Utkarsh” Programme provided a scholarship of RS 24000/- i.e. one thousand per month for two years to Kshitish. Kshitish has now cleared OJEE (Orissa Joint Entrance Examination) and got admission in Rajdhani Engineering College, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. He says that with the scholarship amount he has bought himself study materials which otherwise would have been difficult to purchase, and with the help of these books he has been able to clear OJEE and with the remaining money he has paid his first year course fee for mechanical engineering. A financial support of this kind in today’s time has helped him battle half the struggle, he feels. He also considers this initiative as a benchmark in fighting illiteracy and tap dropout rate to a great extent.

5. The Green Soldiers!

6. The Green Soldiers- Fighting the Plastic Menace With the growing ‘zero plastic drive’ within JSPL campus, comes the increasing demand for environment-friendly alternatives. This gave birth to the idea of utilizing and facilitating human resources within the periphery villages for creating alternatives to plastic bags. As is seen in rural areas after the advent of industry, young girls from families that were initially engaged in farming are left with little or no option of engaging in alternative income generating activities. The CSR team members from Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. often visited groups organised as ‘Balika Mandals’ in the periphery villages. One such group was the Balika Mandal of Thakurghara Sahi, Badakerjang. Old newspapers were provided to them by JSPL on an initial basis. Once they mastered the skill, their finished products were linked with the market through JSPL. The group is now selling big-sized envelopes for Rs.22/- a kilo. JSPL has linked their produce to the market by generating envelope orders from medicine stores, grocery shops and the Jan Jeevika Kendra inside the JSPL Campus which regularly churns SHG produce. The group has also started supplying envelopes to the local grocery shops in their village. The project is at a nascent stage presently, since the income generated from this initiative is still too small to supplement the household income of each member. But with the anti-plastic drive catching up on a big scale, the demand for paper bags is expected to shoot up.

7. A doorway to the beyond... A new dawn for Suruja

8. A new dawn From the days of despondence and obscurantism to a life of contentment and progress, Suruja Behera has traversed a long and arduous journey. Suruja Behera’s story is yet another saga of a woman’s struggle to keep her family afloat during times of drastic change. Suruja Behera and her husband Bideshi Behera come from an agricultural family. After resettlement, agriculture seized to be the prime livelihood source for Suruja’s family and she realized that she would have to hunt for new possibilities. JSPL’s CSR team was looking out for budding micro-entrepreneurs to encourage and help them face the new economic challenges. There was a subtle but strong desire in Suruja to become self-reliant and contribute to the family income. Soon, Suruja became a part of 10-member Maa Durga Mahila Samiti, one of the first self help groups in the locality. She started off by cultivating the mushrooms in her backyard. A team would regularly visit all farms in the locality and advise. They were also guided on market linkages. “It felt so good when the mushrooms I cultivated were sold off in the markets and I made money out of it. I could make about Rs.500 per week during season time,” she remembers. Suruja’s family has now settled in New Panpur of R&R colony. She, her husband and their son live independently in a two-bedroom house in the R&R Colony. “I had never done anything outside home. I used to wonder what creative activity, apart from taking care of the family, a woman like me could be exposed to. I am presently engaged at the Ssodashi Sanitary Napkin manufacturing unit. As you start earning, you begin realizing your own worth” says Suruja, her smile giving away the newly discovered sense of self-worth in herself.

9. Inter village Cricket tournament : engaging 700 youth from 28 villages Mr. D. K. Saraogi, Executive Director, JSPL Angul, & Mr. Prashant Kr. Hota, VP CSR & CC with the youth

10. Inter village Cricket tournament A16-day-long sporting extravaganza that began on the 6th of April 29, 2013 was one of the most engaging community events organized by the CSR team of JSPL, Angul at the onset of the new financial year. 28 teams from Banarpal and Chhendipada blocks participated in the inter-village cricket match. The initiative can be seen as a small endeavour on part of JSPL to tap the potential of youth and rejuvenate that power through sports and games. The community’s eager participation in such tourneys is a mark of the acceptance the company has amongst one of its most important stakeholders- the village community.  The initiative was organized in partnership with the Angul District Sports Association.

11. Career Counseling 600 participants from 12 Vernacular Medium Schools in one of the sessions of Career Counseling at O.P.Jindal school Mr. Rakesh Kumar, President(F & C) addressing the mass at the valedictory function of Career Counseling

12. Rallying for young minds… Career Counseling Classes, joint initiative of the team CSR and OP Jindal School, Angul,for High Schools was conceived with the visionary thinking of our Higher Management to enhance the quality of Education among our vernacular medium students of periphery villages. The focus was on issues such as career exploration, personal career development and other career related issues. Senior academicians with expertise in the field were invited as key resource persons; they interacted with the village students in a workshop module. The program spread over 6 sessions covered around 600 students from 12 vernacular medium high schools of our periphery. The main focus of the program was to equip rural students with information on career guidance and help them make informed career choices.

13. Media speaks Dr. Damodara Rout, Minister for Health & Family Welfare and MSME, Mr Rajani Kant Singh, Minister for Steel & Mines, Odisha Government, accompanied by Mr Khageswar Behera, MLA, Chhendipada, Mr Nagendra Nath Pradhan, Chairman, Odisha State Khadi and Village Industries Board; Nirakar Mishra, GM, DIC and Dr Gokulananda Behera, CDMO, Angul at JSPL plant & Jan Jeevika Kendra, Nisha On the auspicious occasion of ‘Akshaya Tritiya’, JSPLfelicitated Mr. Biranchi Narayan Samant, President, Angul District Krushak Club Federation, with Akshaya Tritiya Krushak Samman for his exemplary contribution to agriculture, at Sri Kashi Baidyanath temple of Majhika.

14. With the people in times of distress Calamities due to thunderstorm, heat wave and house fire claim the maximum number of affects in the State. As a Corporate we go beyond our responsibilities to cater to such calamities and shape up their lives. Our fire fighters have stood by such victims in the past month at places like, Nayakpada (Kiyakatta of Athamallik Block), Purushmaal of Kishornagar Block, Ganjara (Antuliya),Koshala etc. Local representative of Hon'ble MLA of Athamalik ,Shri.Sanjib Sahu giving away aid to the people affected by fire at Nayakpada (Kiyakatta) Fire relief for the project displaced families of Raijharan

15. Achievements in the New Financial Year • Reaching out to 1433 number of adolescent girls through the unique flagship project of controlling adolescent anaemia & ensuring safe motherhood, the Kishori Express. • Coverage of 2027 number of individuals through Mobile Health campsin the periphery villages • Support to 84 Community teachersbenefiting 2500 students from Vernacular Medium Schools to bridge the gap of student-teacher ratio and ensuring quality education • Coaching Classes and Career Counseling sessions covering 600 beneficiaries across vernacular medium schools in the periphery villages • Formation of 4 Farmer’s club involving 60 farmers for promoting advanced technology in agricultural practices in the farm sector. • Inter-village cricket tournament was organised engaging 700 youth across 28 villages.

16. “Unshakeable strength lies in understanding, acceptance and trust - in ourselves, our world and the process of Life.” Thank you! -Team CSR *For your valuable comments & suggestion write to sahana.sen27@angul.jspl.com