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TRANSFORMING TRANSFORMING TRANSFORMING
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT FY 2023 COMMUNITIES THE PLANET THE WORKPLACE
Aim 2 Aim 3
Empowering over 2.5 million families Uplifting over 100 million women and children through
with enhanced skillsets education, nutrition, healthcare and welfare
Key Material Issues
Community Engagement & Development Women Empowerment
Project Nayi Kiran - Menstrual Health Management
In the four years since its launch, BALCO has spent
At Vedanta, we believe that the well-being of the close to INR 170 million and the project has now
communities where we do business is crucial for the reached over 48,000 individuals, including women,
long-term prosperity of our company. Communities give us men, adolescent girls, and boys. The project has
the social licence to operate and are therefore a top Menstrual health and hygiene play a significant role in indeed proven to be a ray of hope, as its name
priority in our efforts to strengthen our bonds and gain womens’ health and wellbeing and in safeguarding promises, spreading awareness and dispelling myths
about menstruation and truly ‘Transforming Together’
trust and support. Building and maintaining a social license their dignity, privacy and self-worth. However, as it has been overwhelmingly embraced by the
menstrual health has often been a subject of social
to operate is essential for the long-term sustainability of stigma, particularly in rural India, leading to low community across 45 neighboring communities at
our operations; which, in turn, provide employment awareness, poor access to menstrual hygiene BALCO, covering all the 5 blocks of Korba district viz.
opportunities, stimulate local economies, and contribute to products and lack of support and understanding from Korba, Podi Uproda, Kartala, Pali and Katghora. The
local development through various community other family members. success of the project lies in its multi-level outreach
development initiatives at the site level. and its use of powerful local influencers like SHG
BALCO realized the gravity of this issue, and its ability women, health workers and adolescent youth leaders
to limit the potential of young women. To address this to drive the message home.
problem, the company partnered with Sarthak Jan
Vikas Sansthan (SJVS) to launch Project Nayi Kiran in The project’s success has been driven by certain key
2019. The project objectives were developed on the levers:
recommendations of the need assessment study
conducted by TARU Leading Edge and sought to: Use of multiple modes of communication
• Raise awareness about menstruation, hygienic The primary project objective was to demystify all the
practices and product choices among women and misinformation around menstruation and highlight its
In FY 2023, we young adolescents and important stakeholders biological and health-related role for women, so that it
allocated `4,460 and community members would be viewed as a natural bodily process requiring
million to various appropriate attention. The change which was sought
community • Build capacity, so that awareness initiatives could required both attitudinal and behavioural change, and
programmes, multiply and penetrate deeper to reach
positively impacting marginalized and less accessible groups like the means of outreach were thus diverse, with the
the lives of 44 differently abled girls and women intent of communicating strongly and repeatedly.
million people. Over From door-to-door campaigns to nukkad nataks;
the past five years, • Foster leadership among women, adolescent girls school awareness sessions to gram sabhas – the
we have spent and even young men to spread the message far message was communicated to people across
`17.5 billion for this and wide. genders and age.
same purpose.
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