Hindustan Zinc is committed to improving the educational standards of local schools and communities. Through this initiative, Hindustan Zinc’s DAV, Zawar recently did the bhoomipoojan and ground breaking ceremony of the ground where a new pre-primary wing will be constructed.
The ground breaking was done by Mr. Kishore Kumar, SBU Director, Zawar. It is noteworthy that the pre-primary wing will have 3 classrooms – 1 each for pre-nursery, Lower Kindergarten (LKG) and Upper Kindergarten (UKG) with a capacity of around 40 students in each class. Hindustan Zinc’s DAV Zawar is a CBSE affiliated senior secondary school and was founded in the year 2014. Prior to that it was run by Hindustan Zinc in partnership with Kendriya Vidyalaya. The school’s 500+ students come from a radius of 5-6 kms around the school. Students from science and humanities streams get a hands on learning experience in the senior secondary classes there. Education is the biggest focus area and portfolio among Hindustan Zinc’s CSR initiatives. Through the company’s educational interventions, Hindustan Zinc touches the lives of more than 1.8 lac children across Rajasthan and thereby enables them to have a brighter future.
In true Aatmanirbhar’ spirit, the paver blocks used at Kaladwas, Rajasthan road were manufactured locally at Hindustan Zinc’s paver block unit, Hindustan Zinc launched a unique business model that effectively repurposes process waste to wealth, Paver block unit has an all-woman workforce, offering a unique livelihood opportunity and a right market linkage to the tribal women from Karget village Udaipur : Good infrastructure is one of the building blocks of a nation’s progress. India has a thriving construction industry, and 25% of the construction workforce is now comprised of women.Hindustan Zinc, reiterating its commitment to developing the rural and tribal areas took up the initiative to construct a 600 meter road from the main link road in Kaladwas village in Rajasthan to the cremation yard. This Paver Block manufacturing unit has the capacity to manufacture 3,000 high quality Paver Blocks per day and it is being operated by Sakhi women.
The Paver Block Making Microenterprise Unit at Debari is completely run and managed by tribal women from Karget, a tribal village at Debari. This paver block-making unit set up by Hindustan Zinc utilises process waste and other materials and converts them to paver blocks using technology patented by Hindustan Zinc. The objective of establishing this unit is to financially empower rural women. Since the inception of the unit, these Sakhis have already made more than 55,000 Paver Blocks, from which sale of about 6.5 lakhs have earned an income of 1,50,000. Hema Gameti (28 years), Karget Village, Udaipur, JagoSakhi Village Organizationsaid, “It is a feeling of great pride that I am a part of the paver block making unit at Karget. Working in a microenterprise that is run completely by women is not something we would have ever imagined for construction industry and getting to work here is like a dream come true. For someone like me who has not completed her formal education, it is often difficult to find a source of livelihood that provides us with a decent income as well as a sense of dignity. Hindustan Zinc’s paver block making unit has not just skilled us, but also provided us with a platform where we can feel safe and also connected with our fellow women workers.” Udi Bai (34 years), Karget Village, Udaipur, JagoSakhi Village Organizationcommented, “Living in a tribal village, it is difficult to find a sustainable source of livelihood. We usually have to travel far away to do daily wage jobs. This paver block making unit has not just provided us with an opportunity to work very close to home, it has also connected us with fellow women from our communities. We can proudly say we are running our own completely women led microenterprise, that too in a construction industry, which is usually a male dominated industry. We are setting a precedent and this will set an example for many other women to have bigger aspirations, because dreams do come true!” Present at the marquee event, Chief GuestMr. Gulab Chand Kataria – MLA Udaipurappreciated the efforts made by Hindustan Zinc in uplifting the standard of living of their local communities and said “Hindustan Zinc has worked on community development in different areas in Udaipur. They have done wonderful work of constructing this road with paver blocks made by SakhiSelf Help Group women. I highly appreciate it and would recommend that you make even more self-help groups so that women can have a better market linkage and earn a better livelihood.” The new road has made life very convenient forcommunity members living in and around the village. Previously, there was no road in this part of the village, and community members used to face a lot of issues during the monsoon because of flooding of the road. Hindustan Zinc along with constructing the road also designed drainages keeping in mind the convenience of villagers and even cattle. This road is a high-quality road, constructed using paver blocks where half of these blocks are made by the SakhiPrerna Paver Block manufacturing unit at Debari. Mr. Arun Misra, CEO, Hindustan Zinc said, “We at Hindustan Zinc have taken another step towards evolving infrastructure at the grassroots level. We have fostered the women of tribal communities as a part of our paver blocks units at Debari. Sturdy infrastructure is imperative for sustainable livelihood and is one of the fundamental requirements. The paver brick road in Kaladwas is a necessity for the community, especially in the monsoon. In addition, our paver blocks units will give the Sakhis a tangible sense of achievement, as the fruits of their labor will be enjoyed by their own community. We aim to provide them with an equal employment opportunity without any gender bias.“ The rural economy has been facing challenges the most during times of COVID, and setting up a microenterprise like a paver block manufacturing unit has been a boost to the income of such rural households. After agriculture, construction is the second largest industry in India, contributing significantly to the overall GDP of the nation. Predominantly women have been entering this industry in recent times. Recognition of the role of women in the construction industry is important not only for achieving higher growth, but for attaining an overall social development in our country.Hindustan Zinc’s women-run paver block manufacturing units play a crucial role in helping women in the construction workforce get the recognition they deserve in an equalitarian society. The other dignitaries like Mr.Arjun Lal Meena– MP, Udaipur; Mr.Phool Singh ji Meena – MLA, Udaipur Rural; Ms. Mamta Kunwar, District Pramukh; Mr. Leeladhar Patidar – SBU Director, HZL Debari; Mr. V. Jayaraman – Head Corporate Services and Ms Anupam Nidhi – Head CSR, HZL were also present at the event.
Small Industry Day is recognisedeach year on 30th August. This day is celebrated nationally with the aim of promoting the second largest employment generating sector – the Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. Small industries have a critical role in the economic development of a country like India. With around 36.1 million units, it has been reported that MSMEs contribute around 6.11 per cent of the manufacturing GDP and 24.63 per cent of the GDP from service activities. MSME industries employee120 million peopleand further has the potential to enhance its contribution to GDP up to 50 per cent by 2025.
Standing true to their commitment towards nation building, Hindustan Zinc under its Micro Enterprise initiative – SakhiUtpadan Samiti, aims to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities to rural and tribal women in five districts of Rajasthan – Ajmer, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand & Udaipur and Pantnagar in Uttarakhand. Keeping ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ as their core principle, Hindustan Zinc’s SakhiUtpadan Samiti runs 4 Agri-businesses and 2 Textile units that employs 130+ Sakhi women and sources high quality, chemical-free produce from rural women farmers. They offer a fine range of agricultural and textile products for sale across India. Sakhi Self Help Group program are in alignment with the government’s efforts on financial inclusion of women to encourage women entrepreneurship.
‘Katori’ and ‘Upaya’ – Sakhi’s marketing entities that bridge the gap between rural women and the end consumer work in tandem with women’s collectives to aid in their evolution into independent and sustainable businesses. Mr. Arun Misra, CEO, Hindustan Zinc says on the program, “Our core philosophy of being ‘Vocal for Local’ promotes the growth of small industries, especially in our local communities. We believe in empowering our local communities with the power of entrepreneurship and skill development to move towards becoming an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. Our Sakhis are the catalysts of social change in our local communities and through collective microenterprises of our SakhiUtpadan Samiti, we have skilled them, supported them and provided them with a platform to mainstream the social and financial inclusion of women in an equalitarian society.” Gudiya Kanwar and Jamna Khatik are living proof of Mr. Arun Misra’s vision of creating a platform to make promote women entrepreneurs has been successfully taking shape. Gudiya, who works in the Pickle Unit in Kayad Village, Ajmer, Rajasthan, speaks about her experience, “Joining the picking unit has changed my life. Today, I am single handedly supporting my son’s education and financing the construction of our new home. I hope to see our little unit transform into a pickle factory someday”. Gudiya who is the sole breadwinner of her family now earns between Rs. 4,000 to 5,000 per month. Jamna Khatik, who works at the Textile unit in Bhilwara’s Agucha Village, Rajasthan recalls, “I have learnt a lot at the unit. I was lagging when I joined but I didn’t give up and over time, my speed in stitching has improved from 50 to 500 marks per day. My dream is to create my own stitching centre where I can give employment and teach other Sakhis, allowing them to enhance their social position in society.” Jamna began her journey with a monthly salary of Rs. 4000 – Rs.5000 now earns over Rs. 25,000. With her earnings, she was able to make a Fixed Deposit to secure her children’s higher education. Hindustan Zinc along with their Business Partners Manjari Foundation and Saheli Sameti have empowered women like Gudiya and Jamna from remote and marginalized sections by mobilizing and organizing them into Self-Help Groups and associated tiers. Over time, these SHGs are developed into credit-worthy financial vehicles that provide opportunities to its members to save and access credit through micro-finance for enterprise development. More importantly, there is a viable model that can be replicated for other women who now have the opportunity to pull themselves out of poverty and become financially and socially independent. Hindustan Zinc has been running women empowerment interventions in local communities since 2006 and will continue to push the boundaries on this front. The project involves 194 functional village organisations (VOs) and 5 federations with 27,000+ women across seven locations. Sakhi addresses socio-economic challenges faced by women by developing their capacities in leadership, skill development, finance management and entrepreneurship. It is just one of the many interventions the company undertakes for the community that is one of the primary pillars of their operational ethos.
Best HR Practices in Inclusion and Social Impact, Company had 15% female diversity in the executive workforce Udaipur : Hindustan Zinc (HZL) the leading producer of Zinc, Lead, and Silver in India, has won ‘5th CII National HR Circle Competition 2021’ under the category of ‘Best HR Practices in Inclusion and Social Impact’. As a people-first organization, the company firmly believes that people are their biggest assets and are committed to making a diverse, inclusive, and digitally advanced workplace.
The CII jury panel examined the participant organizations on several criteria, inclusive of – policy and practices to promote diversity and inclusiveness to achieve competitive business advantage; HR practices concerning the social impact in the current scenario; employee involvement in socially impactful initiatives and leveraging diversity and inclusiveness to build employee brand. Commenting on the achievement, Mr. Arun Misra, CEO, Hindustan Zinc said, “As part of our core philosophy, we at Hindustan Zinc believe that inclusivity strengthens our commitment towards empowering and engaging work culture, instilled with a value system on collective growth. Our people development initiatives reinforce a culture where everyone feels valued and respected by providing equal opportunities to one and all. This is a proud moment that our company has won the ‘5th CII National HR Circle Competition 2021’ under the category of ‘Best HR Practices in Inclusion and Social Impact’ that motivates us to continue our efforts to enable stronger and more inclusive growth.” Hindustan Zinc is a firm believer in the people-first aspect. The company has always been curating various initiatives to serve its employees and workers. The women employees at Hindustan Zinc have always been breaking barriers and stereotypical norms. Company’s two women employees went from breaking grounds to breaking barriers during the year. Sandhya Rasakatla became India’s first woman mine manager and Yogeshwari Rane became India’s first woman to win a first-class certificate in both restricted and unrestricted categories.The company also has 15% female diversity in the executive workforce and further has formed various Women Councils intending to engage, collaborate, unleash potential and develop future leaders among these female powerhouses. Hindustan Zinc, as a responsible corporate has always been committed to the cause of promoting diversity and inclusion within the organization and also among their business associations. The aim is to achieve equality across all levels, beginning from their Board. The company’s vision is to eventually create an everlasting workplace culture where teams of mixed gender, ethnicity, regional affiliations, physical ability, age, color, marital status, nationality, race, religion and sexual orientation are representative of a variety of perspectives and experiences. One of their Sustainability Goal 2025 is to achieve 30% Diversity in an inclusive workplace. The company has always been coming up with various initiatives to serve this vision and this, has led the company win the Best HR Practices in Inclusion and Social Impact award.
with the message of hope & unity titled Hum Hindustani!, Supported by Anil Agarwal Foundation, Vedanta Group Dhamaka Records, a music label helmed by the dynamic young minds, Priyaank Sharma and Paras Mehta and their first track titled Hum Hindustani has gone onto to become an anthem within the first day of it’s release! The anthem which releases today ringing in the Independence Day weekend, is a beautiful amalgamation of soulful lyrics, a melodious tune and is sung by 15 legendary personalities from the Indian film fraternity and beyond, a feat that has been taken on for the first time ever!
The song carries the much required message in today’s trying times, of the country uniting as one and spreading hope for a better tomorrow and faith via the powerful platform of music. With 15 industry stalwarts uniting to lend their voice to the song, Hum Hindustani promises to resonate with every Indian across the globe! Right from Ms Lata Mangeshkar to Amitabh Bachchan, Padmini Kolhapure, Anil Agarwal, Sonu Nigam, Kailash Kher, Alka Yagnik, Shabbir Kumar, Shraddha Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Shruti Hassan, Tara Sutaria, Ankit Tiwari, Siddhanth Kapoor & Jannat Zubair, these phenomenal artists, musicians and industry stalwarts have crooned to the debut song of Dhamaka Records with aplomb along with Anil Agarwal, a philanthropist who was touched by the rendition. “The resilience of our people is truly amazing. While the pandemic impacted all of us, I have no doubt that we will come out of it much stronger. The anthem– Hum Hindustani – resonates with my core belief that we are destined to win. I felt inspired to sing the song, which carries the message of hope and togetherness, along with some of our greatest legends. It came straight from the heart of a proud Indian.” Commented Anil Agarwal, Chairman Vedanta Resources. The song is supported by the Anil Agarwal foundation of the Vedanta Group. They are committed towards empowering communities, transforming lives and facilitating nation building through sustainable and inclusive growth and have been ranked among the 5 top philanthropists in the country. Hum Hindustani, the name says it all. The song promotes unity, a sense of patriotism, hope and faith and it is the first time ever that such legendary personalities have collaborated ! Dhamaka Records has surely taken the ante up a notch with this outstanding track as their debut song which is star studded like never before. Speaking on the fabulous song launch, Padmini Kolhapure, the co-founder of Dhamaka Records says “It gives me immense pleasure that my son Priyaank along with Paras Mehta is taking the Kolhapure music legacy forward through Dhamaka Records with his first track dedicated to all the frontline warriors across the world in these most trying and challenging times! All the legends from Ms. Lata Mangeshkar, to superstars like Amitabh Bachchan and today’s gen-next super stars have come forward to support the first track! We are very excited for it !” Adding to this, Priyaank Sharma quotes “I have no words to express the deep gratitude I have and I can’t thank God enough for making this happen for my label Dhamaka Records. I am sure I am going to make my grand father, Pandit PandharinathKolhapure proud for taking his music legacy forward! I am truly blessed to have the support and love from great superstars and legends like Ms Lata Mangeshkar, Amitabh Bachchan Sir and other stalwarts from the music fraternity including today’s young stars for my first track which is dedicated to our front line warriors! I hope this track motivates, encourages hope and instills unity amongst everyone across the globe. I thank everyone associated with this track in making it what it is!” “It’s a momentous occasion and an extremely big opportunity for me” says Paras Mehta. “This project holds a special place in my heart and it was an absolute honour to have such legendary personalities like Lataji, Amitabhji and Padminiji feature in our first video under Dhamaka Records! The aim of launching the song on the Independence Day weekend is to promote the much needed message of hope, strength and solidarity to combat these difficult times together, uniting as one.” Directed by Mr. & Mrs. Films, Hum Hindustani’s music director is Dilshaad Shabbir Shaikh, lyricist and composer Kashish Kumar and Music Arranger Mohit beatlab. The Dhamaka Records song supported by Anil Agarwal foundation of Vedanta Group, ‘Hum Hindustani’ the Independence Day anthem for every Indian releases today!
