The Business Bytes
Vedanta Aluminium Jharsuguda recognised as Ni-kshay Mitra partner
TBB BUREAU
Jharsuguda, APR 17, 2023
Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium, recently concluded a series of awareness drives on tuberculosis (TB) in Jharsuguda, reaching out to more than 3,500 residents across 13 villages.
Organised in observance of World Tuberculosis Day, under the theme ‘Yes, we can end TB’, the company’s Mobile Health Units (MHUs) conducted informative sessions on TB, such as causative pathogens, testing, medication and treatment, diet plans, and government facilities available to those affected. The team also distributed Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) materials as a ready reckoner for the local communities on TB and its treatment.
Responding to the Prime Minister’s clarion call for a ‘TB Mukt Bharat’, the company has also pledged its support towards the Ni-kshay Mitra program in Jharsuguda. The Ni-kshay Mitra program is a Government of India initiative to eliminate TB from the country by 2025. It focuses on reducing the stigma around tuberculosis by urging citizens to engage with and support tuberculosis patients. Vedanta has pledged to provide nutritional and treatment support to over 350 TB patients in the district, from December 2022 to May 2023.
Speaking on the occasion, Vedanta Jharsuguda CEO Sunil Gupta said, “Through this week-long program, we aim to maximise community awareness and dispel the stigma associated with tuberculosis. Community health is an important pillar of our social endeavours, and we have deployed initiatives such as Mobile Health Units for door-to-door service, health camps,and an upcoming Pathology Lab & Diagnostic Centre, to help improve the quality of life in the region.Beyond health, we are also working in the areas of sustainable livelihood, quality education, skill development, women’s empowerment and community infrastructure, to bring about socio-economic transformation in the lives of local communities.”
Bhujraj Patel, an attendee at the company’s awareness program in Jharsuguda said, “We had always assumed that TB was an incurable disease, with the treatment being prohibitively expensive. Through the awareness program, we got to learn that timely intervention and proper care can help cure this disease completely. I thank Vedanta for conducting the program in our village.”
Vedanta Aluminium provides a wide spectrum of basic and specialized health services in and around its areas of operations, including Mobile Health Units, Health camps, Nand Ghars, and Sanitation drives.
Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing more than half of India’s aluminium i.e., 2.29 million tonnes in FY23. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. Vedanta Aluminium ranks 2nd in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) 2022 world rankings for aluminium industry, a reflection of its sustainable development practices. With its world-class aluminium smelters, alumina refinery and power plants in India, the company fulfils its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.
