The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
BHUBANESWAR, DEC 13, 2022
Leading steelmaker Jindal Steel & Power (JSP) has been honoured with FICCI CSR Special Commendation Award for its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda presented the prestigious award to JSP President & Head (Group CSR) Prashanta Kumar Hota during the FICCI CSR Summit and Awards held in New Delhi on Monday in the presence of FICCI CSR Chairperson Rajashree Birla.
JSP, under the leadership of its Chairman Naveen Jindal, was among the few organisations in India to take up multidimensional initiatives, supporting the community and government to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Through its CSR arm, JSP Foundation, led by Shallu Jindal, the steelmaker started a series of on-the-ground services to ease the suffering of the poor and vulnerable immediately following the pandemic’s onset in India.
Congratulating the team, JSP Foundation Chairperson Shallu Jindal said, “COVID-19 pandemic affected the society, the economy and the health infrastructure of the entire nation. The poor and vulnerable were the worst affected. As a responsible corporate citizen, Jindal Steel & Power and JSP Foundation joined the Government and the community by building hospital facilities, providing liquid medical oxygen, feeding the hungry and protecting the livelihood of the vulnerable community during the lockdown to fight the pandemic”.
She thanked the jury members and FICCI for this coveted award based upon a multi-level rigorous selection process.
Immediately after the announcement of the lockdown to fight COVID-19, JSP launched a special initiative ‘Mission Zero Hunger’ in three states — Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand — to feed truck drivers, stranded migrant labourers and the poor. This initiative was later extended to Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, delivering more than 2 million meals.
During the second wave of the pandemic, the steelmaker supplied more than 5,000 tonnes of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) by road and Indian Railways’ Oxygen Express to 13 states. It also provided two cryogenic tankers to the Odisha Government for LMO transportation.
For health care services during the pandemic, JSP designated 700 Oxygen beds in its Fortis OP Jindal Hospital & Research Centre in Raigarh and Tamnar, Chhattisgarh; and specialised COVID Care Centre at Angul, supported by ICUs, ventilators, and other capabilities. Besides, the Foundation also distributed lakhs of face masks and thousands of litres of sanitisers amongst the community and the frontline COVID-19 warriors. Multiple buyback arrangements by the Foundation also protected the livelihood of farmers and SHG women. To nourish the COVID-19 orphaned children, two children homes, separately for boys and girls, have been set up permanently in Tamnar in Chhattisgarh.
