Aditya Birla Group is a global conglomerate, which operates in 35 countries with more than 120,000 employees worldwide. Their subsidiaries include Ultratech Cement, Pantaloons Fashion and Retail, Vodafone Idea Limited, and many more. They are renowned for participating in Corporate Social Responsibilities activities through the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development. They focus on rural development, education, healthcare, and sanitation. The Aditya Birla Group has always inspired me with their CSR activities and Sustainability vision.
Almost 30 years ago, Mr. Aditya Birla set up a home for destitute children in Mumbai - the Aditya Birla Centre for the Welfare of Children. So far, nearly 3000 orphans have been trained there in vocational skills, and almost 90% of them are employed. In 1988, there were 200,000 polio-afflicted in India. Aditya Birla Group began a collaboration with Rotary International in 2001, which had launched a global polio eradication drive. By 2011, India was a polio-free country.
The Aditya Birla Group Sustainability Cell has the goal of supporting and facilitating the achievement of their Sustainability Vision. They have developed a three-step Sustainability model to adjust the performance to meet the ever-tightening demands of a sustainable planet and society. The first step is “Responsible Stewardship”, which creates a framework for moving towards international standards, which helps them to manage their operations most responsibly. The second step is “Stakeholder Engagement”, which allows them to gain knowledge to understand how fast external factors will change and when disruptions will occur. The third step is “Future Proofing”, which modifies their strategic business plan to include additional mitigation and adaption to changes in external factors.
The vision of Aditya Birla Group is to actively contribute to the social and economic development of the communities and build a sustainable way of life for the weaker sections of society and raise the country’s human development index. The contribution of Aditya Birla Group in education, healthcare, sustainable livelihood, and infrastructure development has always inspired youth like me and helped us to become a better person. In education, they endeavour to spark the desire for learning and knowledge at every stage through elementary education, quality primary education and girl child education. In healthcare, their goal is to render quality health care facilities to people living in the villages and elsewhere through their hospitals, primary health care centres, mother and childcare projects, immunization programs with a thrust on polio eradication, health care for physically challenged and preventive health through awareness programs. In sustainable Livelihood, their programs aim at providing livelihood in a locally appropriate and environmentally sustainable manner through the formation of self-help groups for women empowerment, vocational training through Aditya Birla Rural Technology Parks and Agriculture development and better farmer focus. In infrastructure development, they endeavour to set up essential services that form the foundation of sustainable development through necessary infrastructure facilities, safe drinking water, sanitation & hygiene, and renewable sources of energy. In this way, Aditya Birla Group has been inspiring generations with their generosity and philanthropy.