The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
JHARSUGUDA, AUG 20, 2021
As part of its sustainable livelihood project ‘Jeevika Samriddhi’, the Jharsuguda Unit of Vedanta Aluminium distributed agricultural resources like seeds of various cash crops and vermicompost units to local farmers in Jharsuguda, helping them restart their livelihood post COVID-19 second wave.
Vedanta also organized a training and consultation visit by Surendra Delki, Assistant Horticulture Officer of Kolabira Block, to facilitate farmers’ access to expert advice on crop management. Besides sensitizing farmers on the advantages of organic farming and seed treatment, he spoke about various government schemes on agriculture that the farmers can benefit from.
Speaking on Vedanta’s interventions in sustainable livelihood, Deepak Prasad, Deputy CEO – Vedanta Ltd., Jharsuguda, said, “Sustainable livelihood is a key focus area in our community development agenda, and we have several high-impact projects on skill development, women’s empowerment, agriculture, entrepreneurship, etc. running at Jharsuguda. With the local communities recovering from the impacts of COVID-19, we are extending our support on various fronts to help them restart their livelihood.”
Lauding Vedanta’s initiative, Surendra Delki said, “Vedanta has always been at the forefront when it comes to contributing towards the development of Jharsuguda. The Jeevika Samridhhi project has benefited a lot of farmers in the region by introducing them to better and more efficient farming practices. I thank Vedanta for positively impacting more than 250 farming households till date, by introducing them to advanced agricultural practices as well as to the best practices in land and water management.”
Launched in 2017, Jeevika Samridhhi, is a joint initiative by Vedanta and SEWA (Social Education for Women’s Awareness), Jharsuguda. It is currently being implemented in Gudigaon, Keldamal and Siriapali villages, involving more than 250 farming households.
The key pillars of the project are development of agriculture production cluster and formation of Farmer Producer Organizations, development of irrigation infrastructure in collaboration with government schemes, promotion of cash crops with advanced agricultural practices, technology integration to enhance productivity, post-harvest management and marketing of produce, mobilisation of government schemes through convergence, and trainings for farmers to augment their skills.
Vedanta’s social interventions in the domains of sustainable livelihood, quality education, women empowerment, health, water and sanitation, bio-investment and community infrastructure reach out to a total of 72 villages in Jharsuguda and nearby areas, benefiting nearly 80,000 people in a year. It empowers more than 4000 women from over 339 SHGs, provides doorstep healthcare services to about 32,000 people annually, gives educational support to more than 6400 students, has planted more than 1.48 lakh trees in partnership with locals at the community level.
Vedanta is India’s largest producer of the green metal, aluminium, operating a world-class 1.6 MTPA aluminium smelter and 3615 MW thermal power generation facility in Jharsuguda, Odisha. The only Indian smelter in the global ‘1 Million Tonne’ production and export club, Vedanta Jharsuguda is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications across core industries. With one of the largest technically qualified and diverse workforces in the country, the company is working towards a sustainable and greener future for all by spurring emerging applications of aluminium, the ‘Metal of the Future’
