the_spinning_of_wheel.pdf

8/11/2019 the_spinning_of_wheel.pdf

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act: case study

Birla is Chairperson of The

Aditya Birla Centre for

Community Initiatives and

Rural Development. the spinning of

the wheelS M A R T S U M M A R Y C S R i s n o t a W e s t e r n c o n s t r u c t . I t i s n o t a t e x t b o o k i d e a .

I n s p i t e o f t h i s i s s u e o f T h e S m a r t M a n a g e r , i t i s n o t e v e n a m a t t e r o f

i n t e n s e , m u l t i - p a r t y d e b a t e . W h e n t h e d u s t s e t t l e s , C S R i s a l l a b o u t g e t t i n g

y o u r s e l f - a n d y o u r p e o p l e - t o a c t , a n d a c t p u r p o s i v e l y . A c a s e s t u d y o n w h a t

t h i s t h r e e - l e t t e r g o s p e l r e a l l y m e a n s .

n the last two decades, India as a nation

has been successful in pulling up a

significant num be r of people fr om b elo w

the poverty line. Unfortunately, we stil l

have quite a large nu mb er of our people li vin g bel ow

the poverty linethat is less than US$1.25 a day. This is

a probl em. T he G ove rnm ent of India has an ambit ious

vision for inc lusive growth. There is the overwhelming

challenge to impr ove the lives of the poor. Ho we ve r

much it hurts, we have to reckon with the fact that we

have the largest con cent rati on of the poo r in the w o rl d .

Today more than ever it is necessary to look into societal

92 www.thesmartmanager.com The Smart Manager

rajashree birla

May-Jun 2011


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the spinning of the wheel

Apart fromcharities,GD Birla set upschools and templeseducation is agreatleveler, and temples a greatunifier.

issues, and it behoves corporates to proactively

partner with the government to see that inclusive

growth happens.

At our Group, caring for the underserved is a legacy

and an unwritten edict that has been followed by

generation after generation.

in the shadow of the Mahatma

Ours is a 120 years-old organization, rooted in history.

O u r roots go back to the early 1900s and the nation' s

struggle for freedom. I t was during this formative

period in history that the legendary Mr GD Birla,

my grandfather- in- law, worked shoulder to shoulder

w i t h M a h a t m a G a n d h i . W h i l e M a h a t m a G a n d h i w as

passionately engaged in the pol itic al fr eed om of ou r

nation, GD Birla worked with equal obsession for theeco nom ic l iberat ion of India. T he y were thus two sides

of the same coin . Fo r more tha n 25 years, he supp orte d

Gandhi j i 's nationalism with his f inancial s trength.

There developed a special bond between the twoa

bo nd that unite d them in the pursuit of a co m mo n

cause, India's freedom. Gandhi j i looked upon my

grandfather- in- law as his mentor and confidant. He

always used to come and stay at our house in N e w

Delhi. It was at the Birla House that on the 30th of

Ja nu ary 19 48, M a h a t m a G a n d h i was assassinat edby Nathuram Godse. Even though the void left by

Ga nd hi ji co ul d not be fill ed , the legacy of his trusteeship

concep t lived o n. T hi s meant that a part of yo ur profits

sh ou ld be p lou ghe d back for the larger goo d of society.

Apa rt f ro m ch arities su ch a s g ivi ng Rs 70,000 for the

Al ig a rh M u s l i m Un ive rs i ty to G and hi j i or Rs 20 0, 0 00

for the H ar ija ns , or Rs 26 lac to Sar dar Patel t o set up

Bir la V ishwak arm a Mahavidy alay a ( BV M, Baroda) ,

in 1946, GD Birla set up schools and temples. His

The Smart Manager

reasoning was that education is a great leveler, and

temples a great unifier.

the philosophy continues

My husba nd Aditya j i fostered this philosophy, tak ing i t

a step further and moving his lens to include sustainable

l ivel ihood. My son Kumar Mangalam has a zealous,

evangelical approach. He has made the philosophy of

car ing , g iv ing , deve loping and em pow er in g underserved

people as part of our Gr ou p's D N A . He feels we have a

tremendous responsibility to give back to society, and to

make a difference. This has raised the Aditya Birla name

to a unique brand that is trusted, respected and admired

by its multiple stakeholders.

institutionalizing the process: our structureOver 14 years ago, we institutionalized the process of

CSR, envisioned the road ahead and the way we wanted

to string our activities cohe sively as a gro up . A n d so

spawned The Adi ty a B i r la Centre for Com m uni ty

Init iat ives and Rural Development, which I am

privi lege d to lead. Mr Askar an Agarw ala, Dr Pragnya

Ram and I form the apex team. The Centre is anchored

by Dr Pragnya Ram, who is the Group Executive

P res ident , Corporate Com m unicat ions & CS R. The

C S R Head s of our major compan ies report to her.Be lo w the m is a team of 250 professionals sp annin g

all our Group companies . They are further supported

by a 2,500-strong field force operating at the village

level. Li ke ou r businesses, the conce pt of per form ance

managemen t is ingrained in our C S R projects and

measure ment metrics wov en i n the goals of al l the C S R

heads, alongside the audi tin g of ou r wo rk .

We have a clearly defined C S R policy . O u r Board of

Direc tors , o ur management, and al l of our employees

www.thesmartmanager.com 93

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subscribe to the phi los op hy of compassionate care and

to the upl if tm ent of ou r rural societies. We believe that

a structured approach with well-defined objectives,

timelines, milestones and assessment is fundamental,

given that it contributes to a razor-sharp focus and

gauging the distance traversed.

our CSR vision

Our articulated vision is: "To actively contribute to the

social and econom ic developm ent of the commu nit ie s

in which we operate. In so doing build a better,

sustainable w ay of life f or the weake r sections of society

and raise the hum an dev elop men t index of our coun try."

O u r focus areas in the 3,000 villages that we are

engaged in are education; healthcare and family welfare;

sustainable l ivel i hoo d encom passing agricultural and

watershed development and women empowermentprocesses; infrastructure support and espousing social

causes. O u r social vis ion is integrated into our business

vis io n. Wh il e we do not turn business into a cause,

we do 'social cause marketing'. We turn it into a lever,

where the Rol or return on investment lies in the

tra nsf orm ati on of a people's lives as they are no long er

mired in poverty.

In education, our endeavor is to spark the desire for

learning and knowledge at every stage through formal

schools, balwadis (nurseries) for elementary education,

qual i ty primary educat ion, Aditya Bal Vidya Mandirs,

girl child education and adult education programs.

In healthcare, our goal is to render quality

healthcare facilities to people living in the villages and

elsewhere through our hospitals; primary health care

centers; mother and child care projects; immunization

programs with a thrust on polio eradication; healthcare

for the visually impaired and physically challenged;

preventive health through awareness programs.

Under sustainable l ivel ihood, our programs aim

at providing livelihood in a locally appropriate and

environmental ly sustainable manner through formation

of se l f-help groups for wo me n emp ower ment ;

vocat ional t raining through Adity a Bir la Rura l

Technology Parks; agriculture development and better

farmer focus; watershed development; partnership with

Industrial Training Institutes.

In infrastructure development, we endeavor to set up

essential services that fo rm the fou nd ati on of sustainable

development through basic infrastructure facilities;

housing facilities; safe drinking water; sanitation and

hyg iene ; and ren ewab le sources o f energy.

To bring about social change, we advocate and

suppor t dow ry less marriage; wi d o w remarriage;

awareness programs on anti-social issues; de-addiction

campaigns and programs; and espousing basic

moral values.

setting measurable targets with timeframes and

performance management

Pri or to the com me nce me nt of projects, we carry out abaseline study of the villages. Th e stud y encompasses

various parameters such as health indicators; l iteracy

levels; sustainable livelihood processes; population

databoth below and above the poverty line; the

state of infrastru cture, a mo ng others. F ro m the data

generated, a 1-year plan and a 5-year rolling plan are

developed for the holistic and integrated development

of the marg ina liz ed . Th ese plans are present ed at the

annual pl ann ing and bud geti ng meet. A l l projects are

assessed under the agreed strategy and are monitored

every quarter, measured against targets and budgets.

Wherever necessary, midcourse corrections

are affected.

Let me give yo u a sense of ou r w or k. Let me first

focus on education. We run 42 Schools, where 45,000

chi ldr en are prov ide d quality educat ion. O f these,

18,000 children receive free education. We have enrolled

20,000 children at our balwadis. We reach out to more

than 29,000 people through our adult l iteracy and

bridge education programs. Over 8,000 students in the

villages are awarded merit scholarships. Nearly 20,000

students are enrolled at our vocational training centers.

O u r Centres of Technology Excel lence inc lude B ir la

Inst itute of Technolog y and Science (B ITS ), Pi l ani ;

We believe that astructuredapproach withwell-definedobjectives,

timelines,milestonesand assessment isfundamental.


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Waterhas been aperennialproblem in India'svillages,which are oftenplaguedbydroughts.

B I T S , D u b a i ; B I T S , G o a ; a n d B I T S , H y d e r a b a d . F r o m

BITS, which is a premier , global ly recognized inst i tute ,

we get some o f the best recruits for ou r comp anie s.

Over 10 years ago, to put Indian business success stories

as case studies for global leaders in the making, we set

up the Aditya Bir la India Centre at London Business

School . I t i s contr ibut ing not only to India 's image but

ours as we l l .

To provide healthcare to the people, every year we

conduct more than 3,500 medical camps, t reat ing over

5 mil l ion pat ients for various ai lments, such as AIDS,

T B , cancer diagnosis, cataract and c left - l ips , am on g

ot h e rs . We h av e h e lp e d i m mu n i z e 6 mi l l i o n c h i l dr e n

against polio in the last one year, sponsoring and

managing 23,000 booths. We have also organized polio

corrective surgery.

vishnu's story

Let me te l l you the story of Vi sh nu wh o l ives in Nag da

i n Ma dh ya Pr a de sh . Vi sh n u , n ow a l an ky, 2 2 -ye a r -ol d

girl , is a great farmhand. From sunrise to near sunset,

l ike a lark she sings in the field while helping her parents

on the ir two-a cre fa rm . Yo u can see shoots of wheat ,

a lmost golden in color , swaying in the wind. Vishnu

appears to be enjoying herself She says, "Once upon

a time, I was only three feet tall because I had to bend

over and grip my legs while dragging my feet which

were crippled. My parents were always praying that I

should walk again . And then a miracle happened as I

underwent pol io-correct ive surgery, persuaded by your

teams. After m onth s of physiotherapy, mu ch angu ish

and physical pain, now I can almost walk straight again."

Sure she does wa lk w el l . T he little l i mp that she has is

barely visible. We should not let any child get to this

stage in the first place.

The Smart Manager

In Vishnu's case, fortunately, we were able to turn

the cloc k back as we saw a lot of hope w he n the surgeo ns

reviewed her case. Reconstructive surgery in acute

cases is not even attempted. Then we try to rehabilitate

pol io vic t ims w ith the Ja ipur foot (art i fic ia l l imb ) w hi ch

accords them mobility to a large extent and reduces

their dependence on the family. In a way, it restores their

dig nit y and sense of self-est eem. F or almos t a decade,

polio eradication has been, and continues to be, a priority.

For the year 2010, we helped administer 6 million polio

drops, wo rk in g c losely wi th the government .

Besides this, we have mother-and-chi ld care projects

reaching out to w om en and chi l dre n. O u r 18 hospitals

all over the country cater to more than 5,00,000 poor

people alm ost free of cost. At the wo rld -cla ss Ad it ya

Bir l a M em o ri al H osp ital in Pun e, 15% of the beds are

earmarked for the poor . Through te lemedic ine fac i l i t ies,

we connect the rural poor to our hospitals as wel l .

water - the life force

Water, wh ic h is the life force of people regardless of

geography, has been a perennial problem in India's

villages, which are often plagued by droughts. We have

been providing water on a continual basis to the villagers

that are in proximity to our plants. But this is for their

basic needs.

N o w we have evolved a mu lt i - pro nge d strategy

based on an integrated development plan. Engaging

the influential people in the community at every stage,

we wor ke d wit h water as the pivotal factor : replac ing

tradit ional wel ls with bore wel ls dug 400 feet down the

belly of the earth to tap the natural und erg ro un d

water aquifers.

We have recharged underground water sources,

such as tube wel ls and open wel ls , through rainwater


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harvesting. We have helped construct check dams in

as many vil lages as possible : at Gind wa nia in N agd a

( M P ) , rainwater collected f ro m the roo f of the village

school is diverted to a water pipe. We have also installed

handpumps at intervals of 10-15 houses and provided

training for their maintenance and repair. For water

conservation at the community level, we have helped

harvest the excess ru no ff for catering to mi cr o needs, for

instance kitchen gardens and soak-pits.

shakuntala's story

Let me share with you another touching and

inspi ratio nal story, the story of Shaku ntala. Shaku ntala

l ives in the Du d hi B loc k of Renu koo t in Uttar Pradesh.

A mot her of five child ren , she along w it h other village

w om en wo ul d trudge 5km to fe tch four pots of water

for the family, and even that would barely suffice.Voic ing her opinion in t imid tones, she would say

that w o m en in the villages are ch ild ren o f a lesser

god, given the hardships faced by them. Our team

took this up as a challenge. Backed by our Group's

r e sou rc e s a n d U N I C E F , t he y i n sta l le d h a n d p u mp s a t

an inter val of every 10 houses in 110 villages, gi vin g

water to over a 100,000 people. No longer did women

have to spend ho urs on end coll ecti ng water. Th e

U N I C E F c ol la bor a t i on e n ta i le d th at t he h a n dp u mp s be

maintained by women. Shakuntala was the f i rst womanvolunteer. Today, she is a qualified handpump mechanic

earning US$650, in the summer months, when the

pumps need to be repaired.

Shakuntala has, in turn, trained another 80 women

a s h a n dp u mp me c h a n i c s . Th e se wome n , wh o c a n n ot

read or wr ite, earn a goo d deal of mo ne y by

rural standards.

Today, Shakuntala very proudly says that from being

a seeker of charit y, she is n o w a teacher. She says that the

Group has been a life changer not only for her but for

all the 110 villages who now have easy access to water

their l ife force. Another 45,000 women across India feel

empowered, working in 4 ,500 se l f-help groups set up by

our teams. They are making a l iv ing. Like Shakuntala ,

they believe that they are n o w in charge o f thei r

own destiny.

sustainable livelihood

To address the issue of pov erty alle via tio n effectively,

we have evolved a multipronged strategy. Its planks

are education and vocational training for self-help

groups among rural women. At our vocat ional t raining

institutes all over, we conduct certified, skill-oriented

programs for both the rural and the urban youth.

A l l of ou r projects are carried out in part nership w it h

the Government, and wherever necessary, with reputed

N G O s . Ju st t o g i ve you t wo e xa mp le s , a t U l t r a Te c h ' s

Vikram Cement , we are working in the publ ic pr ivate

partnership (PPP) Watershed Project which wil l go on

stream in the Ne em uc h Distr ic t of Ma dh ya Pradesh.

Our col laborators are the Raj iv Gandhi WatershedMission and the Water and Irr igat ion Department of

the Gove rnm ent of Ma dh ya Pradesh. I n a phase-wise

implementat ion, our col lect ive efforts w i l l b r i n g 5,000

hectares of land un der irrig atio n, direct ly bene fitin g

20,000 farmers and their families.

Likewise , we are working in partnership with the

CII/Th e E u r op e a n U n i on /B r i t i sh Cou n c i l /Ci t y a n d

Gu ide s ( U K ) , the technical supp ort partner, in a project

on vocat ional t raining for vulnerable and marginal ized

groups in Sirsa (Haryana) and Sitapur (UP); in severalp r oj ec ts wi t h N A B A R D for t he ru r a l p op u l a c e; wi t h

Habitat for Humanity, for homes for the homeless; and

wi th C A R E India , for maternal and new bor n heal thcare ,

a t Ja gdi sh p u r i n L u c k n ow . Th e PP P mode l , wh e r e i n

the government bodies play a vital role along with other

key associates, is arguably the best model, since pooling

of ou r collective resources lends en orm ou s depth and

breadth to projects.

broadening the base

In a far wider move in India, we have aligned with

F I C C I (Fe der a t ion of In di a n Ch a mbe r s of Co mm e r c e

& Industry) and set up the FI C C I - Adi tya Bir la C S R

Cent re for Excel lence . Th e vision of our Cen tre , the

The PPP model, wherein thegovernmentbodies play avital rolealong

with otherkey associates,isarguablythe best model.


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Today'syouthwant toensurethat thebenefitsofcapitalismpercolatedown. Like us, our talentbelievesthat wealth creation is anoble pursuit.

f i rst of i ts k in d in the w or ld , i s "To incubate, n urtu re

and accelerate a paradigm of sustainable and inc lusi ve

C S R i n Ind i a , thereby ra i s i ng the H u m a n Devel o pmen t

Index through poverty al leviation."

We have sponsored C ol umbi a Gl obal C entre ' s

Earth Insti tute in Mumbai , India. We bel ieve that the

Earth Insti tute wi l l go a long way in making sustainable

development in India a ground reality and help us in

poverty al leviation.

With a view to creating both employabi l i ty and

entrepreneurship, we are working on a major project

named N at i on Bui l d i ng i n S outh Ind i a . T he pro jec t

encompas ses a diverse range of disc ipline s that

will foster inclusive, sustainable growth, and create

employabi l i ty for the nation's youth.

At the heart of al l these inter vent ions, o ur prim ar y

goal is poverty alleviation and long-term sustainabil i ty.

the global focus

Besides India, we work in many other countries . In

Egypt, we have adopted 2 schools . The El Khal idin

School which is close to our plant, and the Kafr El

Sheikh School for vocational training, where universi ty

the students are taught by university professors. We

have set up a tai loring center for women, largely

divorcees and widows. We are reaching out to

children in two orphanages. We have also set up theintensive care unit at a cancer hospital for children in

co l l aborat i on wi th the Government .

In Thai land, we have establ ished the Aditya Birla

Knowledge Centre, a vocational training center for

the weaker sections of society. In Ph il i pp ine s, we have

helped hundr eds of physical ly chal lenged people wh o

were crippled to get back on their feet through the

Ja ip u r fo ot .

The Smart Manager

A t our C anad i an C ompany N ovel i s , head q uartered

in Atlanta, we have mounted a massive recycl ing

education program involving our people and the local

communities . Novel is i s the world 's largest recycler of

used beverage cans, to the tune of 35 m il l i on cans in

a year.

the Rol

Let me now move on to how our engagement with

underserved communities has prof i ted us. Prof i t not

in the no rm al sense of the term qu ant ified mo netar ily,

but going far beyo nd the bot tom -l ine mental i ty . We

know what we are doing is benefiting society. So our

mot i vat i on i s very d i f f erent . O u r C S R d epl oy ment has

translated into four distinct advantages.

Firstly, our activities provide us with a great

reputational lever that translates into a distinct values-

led-company image. This enables us to attract, retain

and en ergize talent. P rofessiona ls feel a sense of co mf or t

when they see how our Group transcends business and

is genuinely committed to social upl i f tment. Today 's

yo ut h wan t to ensure that the benefits of capit alism

percolate down. Like us, our talent believes that wealth

creation is a noble pursuit. They feel that wealth can

be best enhanced by distributing it. A new ethos of

generosity is surfacing. This is clearly seen in the

wi l l ingness to bui ld a society that works for everyone.They prefer to work for companies who are strong

i n C S R .

Our employees and potential employees think of

us as a Group that is cast in that mold, a Group that

mir ror s their perso nal values. O u r rew ard l ies in the fact

that we have been named 'The Best Employer in India

and among the top 20 i n A s i a ' , by the Hewi t t -Economi c

Tim es and Wa ll Street Jo ur na l Stud y in 2007. In 2009,


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May-Jun 2011


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we were ran ked 6th across the As ia Pacific Re gio n in

the 'Great Place for Leaders to Work' s tudy by Hewitt

and Fortune.

Secondly, our wo rk has created, and continu es to

create t rem endous g oo dwi l l am ong consum ers , far

in excess of the price tag . Co ns um er s loo k up on o urGroup and i ts companies as having a social conscience,

so there is a marked preference for our products and

services. In all the sectors that we operate incement,

aluminum, copper, viscose staple f ibre, carbon black

we are amon g the topm ost in industry . A n d these

undoubtedly are profi table businesses .

Th ird ly , mil l io ns of ou r shareholders and investors

are prou d of our Gr ou p . Th ey feel that this is a G ro up

that they w ou ld def initely l ike to suppo rt . In al l our

G r ou p com panies ' annual reports , we provide quant i f ied

evidence of ou r social and enviro nm ent perfor man ce.

I have seen at the annual general meetings, the special

pride that shareholders take in their involvement with

our companies on this score. Investors also flock to

our Group.

Fourthly, social projects are also a means of

sharing with the community the values that we as an

org ani zati on stand for. It is a wa y of tel lin g th em that we

care about you , that yo ur concern s are ours as we ll , and

that we are a prin cip led people le d by a mor al compass.

Mai ns t r eam ing C S R into our businesses anddeli ver ing societal value has given us trem endo us

profi ts , albeit of a different k i nd th e turn aro un d of

hu ma n l ives , l i ft ing tens of thousands of people ou t of

stark poverty . There is a newfound dignity among them.

What more can one ask for?

MainstreamingCSR into our businesses anddeliveringsocietal value has

given ustremendousprofits,albeitof adifferentkind.


by birla

May-Jun 2011

the_spinning_of_wheel.pdf

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