Private Sector Engagement in Livelihoods and Corporate Social Responsibility
161
from this, some of the corporates collaborate
directlywith government programmes aimed
at improving and stabilising livelihoods.
Further, we have described the interven-
tions carried out by a few large corporates in
the sphere of livelihoods to get a flavour of
what corporates can do. The Adani group
invests in promotion and nurturance of
SHGs and also the village development
committees which plan, implement and
monitor the activities. The Adani Foundation
also works on programmes for enhancing
employability of youth. Basically the type of
courses that are offered in skill development
relate to the manpower requirements at the
Mundra Port (where Adani is operating the
port), motor vehicle repairing and train-
ing in English speaking skills. The Adani
Foundation (AF) has set up an Adani Skills
Development Centre and it supports the ITIs
in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Further skill
development training for traditional occupa-
tions is carried out in technologies relating to
micro irrigation and drip irrigation systems,
innovative farming with efficient use of
water, land and energy, training in garment
making, beautician courses, bag making for
women especially and training in masonry
and mobile repairing. The foundation also
provides a one-time economic support for
marginalised groups such as persons with
disabilities and widows in the form of seed
money so that they can initiate income
generated activity. The support ranges up to
`
10,000 per person and it can be given either
to an individual or in groups in case there
are viable group income activities.
The AF
also reports that it supports traditional arti-
sans in Kuchh in weaving, dyeing, printing,
bandhani, embroidery, leather work, pottery,
metal work and wood work.
This support
is mainly to ensure that their traditional
crafts which are on the decline are sustained
and improved upon. There are a number of
other activities in the real sector relating to
organic agriculture, social forestry, pulping
of mangoes and improved animal husbandry
which are being supported by the foundation.
The Aditya Birla Foundation covers
about 5,000 villages with a population of
7.5 million people. The annual expenditure
of the group is about
`
2.5 billion. In sus-
tainable livelihoods the Aditya Birla Group
carries out its projects under Aditya Birla
Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural
Development. It focuses on SHGs to facili-
tate micro finance for farmers and women,
integrated agricultural development, inte-
grated livestock development, watershed
management, micro enterprise development
and skill development through vocational
training. It has a number of partners from
among the NGO sector for implementing
its various livelihood related programmes.
The Lupin Foundation has been a significant
CSR focussed institution set up by Lupin
Laboratories. Apart from Lupin Foundation,
the group also has set up a Desh Bandhu and
Manju Gupta Foundation (DBMGF) which
operates in Dhule district of Maharashtra.
Their field operations were visited as part of
the ground work for preparation of this report.
The foundation has the target of reaching
130,000 families in the district. The focus of
their intervention in the field is on women
and youth farmers especially the poor. The
objective of the project is to lift these poor
families above the poverty line. Starting in
2010–11, so far the project has covered 95,000
households. The project intervention covers
economic development activities under agricul-
ture, animal husbandry and non-farm sectors,
natural resource management in both land and
water and social development aspects in health,
education and women empowerment. Some of
the innovations introduced have been in health
where mobile medical diagnostic unit visits the
villages and carries out pathological testing as
Box 8.1:
Comprehensive and end-to-end solutions in poorly endowed areas: Lupin group
story
