Vedanta HZL CSR Udaipur

SAYS COMPANY IS AN INSPIRATION FOR INDIA INC.
-Initiative to bring healthcare to the doorstep on Rural India
-Leveraging technology to connect rural communities with doctors
March 10, 2021: On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Union Minister Women and Child Development & Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani inaugurated Vedanta Nand Ghar’s telemedicine programme – an empowering initiative that will bring healthcare to the doorstep of rural India.

The telemedicine health model will connect MBBS doctors, and specialists including paediatricians and gynaecologists, with community members through extensive use of technology and innovation, as the Government puts the focus on health and well-being in the post-Covid times.
The telemedicine programme will roll out pan-India across the 2,000-plus Nand Ghars over the next 3-4 weeks and offer free medication to community members, providing last-mile connectivity for quality healthcare.
Addressing the company’s employees and partners, Union Minister Smriti Zubin Irani complimented Vedanta for leading change at the grassroots level. “I would like to express my support and gratitude to Vedanta for the CSR activities which are dedicated to the cause of women and children,” Smt. Irani said.
“The fact that Vedanta is dedicating its efforts towards telemedicine today speaks volumes of not only the efforts undertaken thus far in Nand Ghar in terms of conditional infrastructure or educational support given within Anganwadi systems, but also to address the healthcare needs of women and children and communities,” she added.
According to the telemedicine model, envisioned by Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal, each Nand Ghar will hold health camps every fortnight and focus on creating awareness among community members about preventions and change in behaviour to stay healthy. DocOnline, Centre for Health Research and Innovation (CHRI) and Dhanush will partner Vedanta in this project.
“Grassroot challenges that seek immediate solutions have become the mainstay of the Vedanta philosophy, and this is an inspiration to many in the corporate sector. The fact that it is ably led by a gentleman who has supported women in the Vedanta family gives us enough cause for celebration as I believe that if we truly want to empower women, it is important to enable them towards a better future.” Smt. Irani added.
Elaborating on Prime Minister’s flagship programmes including Swachh Bharat, Jal Jeevan Mission, Ayushman Bharat Yojana, the Union Minister said: “The Prime Minister has spoken of a New India and, and it is a healthy India that you contribute towards, for which you have my compliments and gratitude.”
Speaking about her own challenges, Smt. Irani said: “When you have no money in your pocket, you have no option but to succeed. We need to educate women to be more competent in their careers. It is equally important that we recognise the efforts of women who choose to be at home to support their families.”
Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal said: “Once women are convinced that they are doing the right thing, they can bring about phenomenal productivity. Nand Ghar is focusing a lot on technology and innovation. I am sure that with your support, we will be able to bring 2 crore women to the mainstream.”
“We are fortunate to have a minister like you who speaks her mind. Your presence has been felt all over the world with your focus on empowering women and children. We are fortunate that you have made us a partner so that we can fulfil your vision,” Mr Agarwal said.
According to Priya Agarwal, Director, Vedanta: “It is an honour for the entire Vedanta family to welcome Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani on International Women’s Day, an occasion when the world is celebrating equality. The Vedanta family is ever grateful for your constant support and guidance towards the Nand Ghar project. It was with your guidance that we have been able to reach 2,000 Nand Ghars. We are driving positive change in our villages and are contributing for better outcomes for women and children across the country.”
The Nand Ghar journey began in 2015 with a vision to transform the lives of 8.5 crore children and 2 crore women across 13.7 lakh anganwadis. A dream project of Vedanta Chairman, Shri Anil Agarwal, Nand Ghar is a network of model anganwadis where the thrust is on inclusive development of children, women and local communities. The Nand Ghars are set up in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Women & Child Development.
With more than 2000 centres, the Nand Ghar project is now spread across 10 states – Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Punjab, Assam, Himanchal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The project aims to touch the lives of 4 million community members while directly impacting around 2 lakh children and 1.8 lakh women on an annual basis.
Nand Ghars are equipped with solar panels to ensure 24 x 7 electricity, water purifiers, clean toilets and smart television sets, and have become a model resource centre for the local communities. Pre-school education is provided to children in the age group of 3-6 years. Nutritious meals and take-home rations are being provided for children, pregnant and lactating women. Access to quality primary healthcare services are rendered to the Nand Ghar doorstep and women are empowered through skilling, credit linkage and enterprise development.

Focus on increasing women participation in operations to 50% from current 22%
Mumbai : Women are the ‘sutradhar’ that keeps the one lakh-strong Vedanta family together, Chairman Anil Agarwal said while addressing a virtual town hall meeting with employees and their families to celebrate International Women‘s Day.

“If a woman is convinced and she puts her mind into a task, she can deliver 110% results,” the Vedanta chairman said, while urging women to believe in themselves.
‘Choose an idea and put your heart and mind into it. Do something only when you are convinced about it, not because you have to do it or you have been asked to do it,” he said.
Mr Agarwal encouraged women to pick up an activity outside their daily lives, be it a full-time or a part-time engagement and contribute to society. “There is nothing a woman cannot do. You only have to develop a mindset of being able to achieve it,” he added. There are nearly two crore women in India who can contribute to the society in a significant way, provided they get the right opportunity, he pointed out.
Mr Agarwal was joined by Priya Agarwal Hebbar, a director on the company’s board, who felt the biggest challenge women In India face is in developing their mindset. She also felt women need to embody the values they set to inculcate in their children. She also sought Mr Agarwal’s views on how women can achieve and maintain a fine balance between tradition and their newer, more demanding professional roles.
Vedanta is ranked among the top global companies where women feel comfortable to work and the company takes a lot of pride in it, Mr Agarwal said adding that the company will increase women representation in operational roles to 50 per cent from 22 per cent currently.
Appreciating women professionals’contribution at Vedanta’s diversified business units, he also thanked the women across the Vedanta family who have always stood by their husbands and supported them allowing the latter to concentrate fully on work.
His hour- long interaction drew a lot of questions. Responding to a query from the audience, he also encouraged wives of Vedanta employees to channelise their energy and entrepreneurial spirit to contribute to Vedanta in some meaningful way – be it through technology enablementor services.

Udaipur : Hindustan Zinc as an “Equal Opportunity Employer” is committed towards building a culture of inclusivity & diversity and ensuring the progress of women. On International Women’s Day, the company for itswomen employees, spouses of employees, female relatives, female contract workers as well as local community women from Hindustan Zinc’s CSR project Sakhi.

The highlight of the day was a live session with Mrs. Kiran Agarwal, Chairman of Hindustan Zinc virtually engagedhundreds of Sakhiwomen virtually and had a wonderful interactive session with them. While addressing them, she said, “Women empowerment is the key to ensure the overall development of not just families but also communities. I would like to congratulate each of you for the immense contribution and hard work you showcased during these challenging times. Each one of you has an inspiring journey and your efforts have taken the Sakhi program to the next level.”
During the session,the community women members shared their stories of the journey to empowerment through the Sakhi program by Hindustan Zinc achievements and thoughts and what role company has played in their overall development. Mrs. Agarwal appreciated their efforts and motivated them to continue developing their society and themselves with the same passion and vigor.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Arun Misra, CEO Hindustan Zinc said, “Empowering women not only improves the economic condition of the family but also enhance the progress and prosperity of the entire country. At Hindustan Zinc, we always focus our efforts on providing employment opportunities to women and encouraging enterprising mind-set to making them self-reliant. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, I extend my warm greetings and good wishes to all the women and would thank them for their valuable contribution in the success of the company”.
In addition to the session, throughout the day, series of initiatives were organized across operational units. An awareness session on Women Wellness was conducted by Mr. Hemant Pareek, celebrity fitness trainer, for all women employees of Hindustan Zinc. Activities such as showcasing a movie on the life of a woman leader, inauguration of an open office workplace by a women leader were organized at Kayad & Ajmer unit. The team at Chanderiya organized a self-defence training session for women. Large Scale celebration on International Women’s Day were held at Kayad, Agucha and Pantnagar at village level with the local community women.
Hindustan Zinc believes in empowerment through skill enhancement and providing a supportive management framework to the women to enable them to become strong, independent and capable leaders within the organization and in larger communities the company partners with. The company’s policies related to recruitment, talent management, reward and recognition are aligned to its goal of equal opportunity employer and a diverse representation of women in workplace at all levels including decision making has fostered creativity and innovation among women employees. The Women Councils across all locations of Hindustan Zinc are showing exemplary rigor and are driving the high impact initiatives to ensure inclusive and women friendly workplaces.
Around 26,000 Sakhi women related to the company’s CSR communities challenge stereotypes everyday by breaking gender norms, taking up leadership roles, adopting technology and being a part of sustainable development to better their lives.

celebrates 50th National Safety Day
Udaipur : Safety and wellbeing of employees and local communities is one of the core values of Hindustan Zinc. The company is committed towards smart, safe and sustainable mining operations. Onthe occasion of50th National Safety Day, the company spearheaded various activities like roadshows, trainings, campaigns, etc. for its employees and communities to create awareness about safety.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Arun Misra, CEO Hindustan Zinc said, “In Hindustan Zinc, the cornerstone of our operations and management is Health, Safety and Environment (HSE). Working towards achieving zero harm to employees at work is a goal deeply entrenched in the way we operate across all functions.We are committed to adopting global practices,focus on skill development of employees & ensure engineering design to eliminate safety hazards. We have empowered our employees by giving them the right to even stop work if they find something is unsafe and are proud that people are exercising this power responsibly. This has now developed into a safety culture at our company where each one of us takes responsibility for our safety as well as that of people around us”.

He further added, “I believe that as a CEO, I have tremendous responsibility and ownership to provide resources and right management to ensure that safety and safety review is always priority across all functions”.
On this occasion, the company organized roadshows across its locations to spread awareness on road safety rules such as traffic lights, speed limits, pedestrian rules to name a few.
Hindustan Zinc also focused on spreading the message of safety through multiple initiatives in the local communities around its operational areas. The teams comprised Hindustan Zinc employees as well as Sakhiwomen and children to spread awareness on importance of personal safety, fire safety and road safety through role play, interactive sessions, Roko Toko campaign at roads, street plays and skits. These efforts were carried out across all the locations in the state:Zawar, Debari, Dariba, Chanderiya, Agucha and Kayad targeting various school students, youth, community women, elderly as well as bike riders.
Reinforcing its commitment to safe mining operations, the company recently developed India’s first underground First Aid & Ambulance centre at its Rampura Agucha Mine which is equipped with a fresh airbase dedicatedly and a rescue team along with a medical practitioner has been appointed under charge of a qualified Medical Professional & Rescue Head.
Health and safety of its employees is the top priority at HZL and continuous efforts are being made to make the workplace free of fatalities, injuries, or occupational diseases. As a safety initiative for underground mines, HZL has installed a Refuge chamber which provides a place of safe refuge (protection) and fresh air, in case of emergency situations like fire, rock fall and blockage of escape routes etc. The company has also installed Simulators at its Rampura Agucha UG Mine &SKM which enable to test operators on specific equipment without using actual mobile equipment or exposing the people to unnecessary hazards.
In order to ensure smart mining operations, the company has already undertaken various initiatives such as ‘Drishti’-Connected Mines: Real-time, ‘North Star’- Connected Workforce: Smart, Quick, Core, ‘Sarathi’- Connected Logistics etc. Also, endeavours such as turbine enclosure in all locations, wagon wheel clamper to reduce man-machine interaction, proximity switch in coal yard vehicle and locomotives to reduce man-machine and machine-machine interactions have been undertaken.

Recognised in The Sustainability Yearbook – 2021 by Dow Jones Sustainability Index, CDP score improves from C to B- pointing to greater environmental disclosure, Collaborating with TCFD to develop global standards for transparency.

Mumbai/Delhi : Vedanta has been at the forefront of sustainable practices and is leveraging new technologies to safeguard the environment and communities. Guided by the philosophy of Zero Harm, Zero Waste and Zero Discharge’ across all its operations. We are currently on the journey towards achieving the vision through steps in asset optimization, industrial symbiosis, improved community relations and strategic Carbon agenda. Our practices within operations are aligned to SDG-12 on sustainable consumption and production. We are committed to doing business in the most sustainable way and it is wonderful that our efforts are being recognised globally.”
Manjit Jus, Global Head of ESG Research, S&P Global said: “We congratulate Vedanta Ltd and Hindustan Zinc for achieving a place in The Sustainability Yearbook 2021, which showcases the best performing companies among industry peers and in terms of financially material ESG metrics. With over 7,000 companies assessed, an inclusion in the yearbook is a true statement of corporate sustainability excellence.”
According to the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) ranking in the metals and mining sector, Vedanta is placed among the top 12 companies globally in 2020. The company’s sustainability ranking shows a three-year trend of continuous improvement. Hindustan Zinc and Vedanta have topped the DJSI rankings in the Asia Pacific region.
Vedanta is committed to substantially decarbonize its operations by 2050.The company is supportive of the Paris Agreement and has taken on carbon reduction goals in line with GOI’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). The company has signed the Private Sector Declaration on Climate Change by voluntarily pledging to move towards carbon-neutrality.
Vedanta integrates sustainability principles into the operational structures of each of its businesses, which are aligned with global best practices to protect the environment, employees and communities at large. The company aims to deliver growth and long-term value while upholding sustainable development through its diversified portfolio of large, long-life and low-cost assets. The sustainable development agenda is built on four pillars – Responsible Stewardship, Building Strong Relationships, Adding and Sharing Value, and Strategic Communications – which are developed in line with UNGC’s 10 principles, United Nation’s SDGs and standards set by International Finance Corporation (IFC), ICMM and OECD.