VEDANTA KHUSHI - VEDANTA READIES RS 400-CR FUNDING FACELIFT FOR ANGANWADIS

The Vedanta Foundation, the philanthropic arm of metal and mining major Vedanta, will revamp 4,000 anganwadi centres across India by equipping them with TVs, solar panels and toilets.

The foundation will fund the modernisation drive with over Rs 400 crore, for which it has partnered with the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD), it said in a statement.

The first model Anganwadi, Nand Ghar, was inaugurated by Union Minister for WCD Maneka Gandhi today, along with Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agarwal, at Hasanpur village in Sonipat district of Haryana.

Inaugurating the centre, Gandhi said: "This Nand Ghar model will provide targeted delivery of supplementary nutrition services, along with related healthcare services for both mother and child, including skill training for women."

The Minister hailed Vedanta's efforts in this regard.

"The Ministry of WCD and the Vedanta Group have come together to construct 4,000 Anganwadi buildings in different parts of the country. Nand Ghar is an extension to the existing anganwadi initiative and will be Vedanta Group's endeavour to provide better environment to children of India," said Agarwal.

Vedanta's Nand Ghar project aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision and commitment to providing quality education for children and skill development for women in the entire country, he added.

The Vedanta Foundation has already collaborated with over 3,000 anganwadi centres in Rajasthan and Odisha by supplementing the services of the government and addressing the nutrition as well as the educational needs of over 1 lakh children. 

Vedanta Khushi : I Can – My Father Can’t

(a heart touching story)

This incident is a little old. Dharmendra, a small farmer from Amara, Uttar Pradesh, has a small piece of land on which he cultivates seasonal crops, sometimes vegetables. His family has 4 people, his wife and 2 children, elder girl Radha is aged 12 and the son Cheeku is of 7 years. As the land is small he is comfortable cultivating himself and if required his wife helps him out.

The village is quite remote and children are not encouraged to go to school. This is the reason that he and his wife, both remained illiterate. The land holders took away almost half of Dharmendra’s land by forging documents.

But children are children, as they play together they also mingle for seeing pictures in the books of children who were going to school, though very few in number. This interaction helped both his children learn few alphabets and few words. Their interest in education was quite evident. But both the children never told about this to their parents.

After heavy rains, the village had a number of cases of viral fever. It was spreading in almost every house. Dharmendra was worried as his wife and son had caught viral fever too. The village doctor visited almost every house and gave medicines, with dose and frequency written on a slip. Dharmendra had arranged these medicines in such a way that it became easy to identify through positioning as he could not read a word, neither anyone within the family.

But destiny is destiny. In the night heavy showers and wind mixed packets of medicine. It was not possible to check with doctor because of heavy rains. Taking a chance, he asked his daughter Radha to get water to give medicine to the mother and son. The over-dose of medicines reacted and soon the mother and son started vomiting. Their condition became serious. Dharmendra ran to the house of doctor and brought him on his cycle.

As the doctor saw the condition and medicine he became very angry and slapped Dharmendra.

Whole family being illiterate had almost costed 2 lives.

Radha also started crying.

With great difficulty doctor was able to make both mother and son stable.

Dharmendra was ashamed of what had happened and could have happened.

He decided to break the rules set by his ancestors on education and very same moment decided to send his both children to village school. As the rains stopped and the viral retracted, he got his both children admitted to school.

Radha, though should have been in class 8th if she had gone to school regularly, is now in class 4 and his son Cheeku is in class 2nd.

When Dharmendra goes to school to meet teachers, he puts his thumb-impression, but when it comes to Radha and Cheeku, they both sign their names.

Radha is simple and humble, but Cheeku naughty and teases, look “I Can but My Father Can’t” sign.

**Not necessary we have to give importance to education only when we face drastic circumstances. Education is not just learning, it also silently teaches moral values.

VEDANTA KHUSHI - HINDUSTAN ZINC ADOPTS 152 RURAL SCHOOLS IN RAJASTHAN TO IMPROVE INFRASTRUCTURE

112 schools were adopted earlier and the work is in progress, MoU for additional 40 schools signed today

To improve the infrastructure in government run rural schools Hindustan Zinc today signed the MoU with the District Education Department, Government of Rajasthan to adopt another 40 Government schools, including Girls’ Schools in Udaipur District, covering Udaipur City(10), Zawar(12), Maton(8) and Debari(10) areas.  The company had recently adopted 112 government schools in Bhilwara(72), Chittorgarh(20) and Rajsamand(20) to improve infrastructure facilities in these schools. 

The infrastructure work in these schools is already in progress.With signing of MoU to improve infrastructure in 40 schools in Udaipur, Hindustan Zinc shall be improving infrastructure in 152 schools with a cost of over Rs. 5 crore.

Many studies have pointed out that in order to improve the enrollment in government run schools, there is a dire need to improve the infrastructure, which includes not only repairs of the building but also sitting facilities, black-boards, electricity fittings and teaching aids. 

Through this project, Hindustan Zinc is providing basic infrastructure facilities like construction of boundary wall, class rooms, labs, installation of hand pumps, ceiling fans, coolers, construction of toilets, playground and furniture. Besides, scholarships to meritorious students will also be given and to keep up the green belt in schools, special plantation drives would be conducted.

UNICEF report has also stated that in rural Rajasthan, the female literacy is about 42 per cent. The sharp drop in secondary school attendance, particularly among girls is because of no drinking water facilities, lack of separate toilets for girls, no proper teachers, improper infrastructure etc. which is a matter of concern and requires immediate action.The company had two years back launched a social media campaign "Khushi" which brought out the issue of infrastructure improvement in schools in several on line debates and discussions. 

Taking the campaign forward, Hindustan Zinc decided to improve the infrastructure and give better facilities to students and improve their education quality."Hindustan Zinc is quite pleased with the progress of the work already initiated in 112 schools and looking forward to complete the work at the earliest. This project under the PPP model is expected to improve the quality of education in these schools", said Pavan Kaushik, Head of Corporate Communication.

To ensure the smooth running of project, a committee has been formed comprising members from HZL and members to be proposed by the District Collector. Based on the need of the school authority and the budget allotted, the project will be executed by Hindustan Zinc, Pavan Kaushik informed further.

Mrs. Krishna Chauhan - DEO(Secondary) thanked Hindustan Zinc for their support in bringing quality education in the government school by way of taking up the project towards improving the infrastructure. Ms. Sushma Sharma - Head CSR, HZL briefed all about the CSR initiatives being undertaken by Hindustan Zinc.  Mr. CSR Mehta - Head Corporate Relations spoke about the necessity to improve the infrastructure in the schools but also emphasized that the project should also monitored by Principals to ensure timely execution. Mr. Bhupendra Jain - DEO(Elementary) spoke about how Hindustan Zinc initiative is improving health and education in schools and has helped these children.

The MoU was signed today by Ms. Sushma Sharma, CSR Head on behalf of Hindustan Zinc and from Education Department by Mrs. Krishna Chauhan, District Education Officer (Secondary) and Mr.  Bhupendra Jain, District Education Officer (Elementary).  Also present on the occasion were Mr. CSR Mehta - Head Corporate Relations, Mr. Pavan Kaushik - Head Corporate Communication, Dr. S.S. Jamrani - Additional Director (Mines), Mrs. Hemlata Manaria - ADEO (Secondary), Dr. Suyesh Chaturvedi - Principal GSSS Gudli, Mrs. Nirja Rodgers - Principal GGSSS Bhupalpura and Mrs. Gauri Jamrani - Principal Ambamata Girls School.

VEDANTA KHUSHI: TIMES OF INDIA: RAJSAMAND KIDS’ LEARNING LEVEL HITS NEW LOW

Survey Also Highlights Increasing Drop-Out In Schools, Widening Teacher-Student Ratio

Rajsamand: The marble town Rajsamand which produces 90% of India's white marble has registered lowest basic learning levels among students in Rajasthan in the last five years. The percentage of students of classes III to V who can do subtraction has reduced from 41.3% in 2009 to 27.8% in 2013. The percentage of students who are out of schools has increased from 2.6% in 2009 to 5.2% in 2013.

As per the Annual Status of Education Report, widening pupil-teacher ratio, poor quality of mid-day meals and no water facility are prevalent in majority of schools. But so far no political party has shown concern to make these issues their poll plank.

Both BJP and Congress candidates are riding on issues like Pakistan, terrorism, Gujarat model, inflation, jobs, opening of new schools and hospitals. Manju Khatik, a social activists based in Rajsamand, said, “Three schools in two gram panchayats Bhatoli and Maduri were closed by the government this year. This decision caused 200 students to forcibly drop out. We have adopted 40 students and are teaching them at our NGO Jatan sansthan. The rest of the students are either working or have left the city in search of work,” said Khatik. She added that ignoring these issues has highlighted the indifference of political parties towards the city.

TOI asked the BJP national vice president and MLA Rajsamand Kiran Maheshwari to explain the reasons behind the decline in learning levels. She passed the buck on the Gehlot government for ignoring the education sector leaving a gross imbalance in the pupil-teacher ratio. “The district had faced government indifference for last five years. Here 130 schools don't have a single teacher leading to drastic fall in the learning levels,” said Maheshwari.

She assured that once the code of conduct is over, BJP government will begin the hiring of teachers to put the education system on track. Sitting Congress MP Gopal Singh Shekawat is promising complete implementation of Right to Education Act here. “Our party enacted this act and we are serious about providing free and compulsory education,” said Shekawat.

Hindustan Zinc Adopts 112 Rural Government Schools in Rajasthan

A momentous step in decreasing the rate of drop-outs in Rajasthan

Vedanta Hindustan Zinc has joined hands with Rajasthan Government by adopting about 112 rural Government Schools to provide improved educational and infrastructural facilities in the adopted schools. The company has already started the work in 72 schools at Bhilwara and 20 in Chittorgarh and a MoU to adopt 20 Government schools for 3 years has been signed recently in Rajsamand where the work will start soon.

UNICEF report claims that in Rajasthan, school attendance has been very low among girls and tribal children with female literacy as low as 40 per cent in the state. Also, the sharp drop in secondary school attendance, particularly among girls because of no drinking water facilities, lack of separate toilet for girls, no teacher, and improper infrastructure etc poses a big challenge and requires immediate attention.

"Hindustan Zinc is executing this project in 3 districts of Rajasthan – Bhilwara, Chittorgarh and Rajsamand", informed Pavan Kaushik, Head of Corporate Communication.

The Company is providing basic infrastructure facilities viz. Construction of boundary wall, class rooms & labs, installation of hand pumps, ceiling fans, coolers, construction of toilets & playground, furniture, to name a few in all the schools. The project is also providing scholarships to meritorious students. The company even encourages plantation drive to develop green belt in schools.

Also, for the smooth running of the project, a committee has been formed comprising 2 members from HZL, 2 from school and 1 member from District Magistrate. Based on the need of the school authority and assigned budget, the project will be executed by Hindustan Zinc.

Hindustan Zinc, a Vedanta group company in Zinc-Lead-Silver business has been working towards providing quality education with installation of 1000 computers and training in 682 government schools with remedial classes through its various educational programs in Rajasthan.

VEDANTA KHUSHI : 92 RURAL SCHOOLS IN RAJASTHAN TO BE ADOPTED BY VEDANTA

Educational Facilities in Government Schools to Improve - Company to spend Rs. 3.35 Crore under PPP Project.

Increasing slums, mammoth number of street children and lack of facilities in government schools is leading to a situation where even if the child wants to study, the facilities are not there, particularly in rural schools.

The situation is becoming worse as the literacy rate amongst girls is decreasing in rural India. A country that houses the largest number of children in the world, much more than China, needs to develop quality infrastructure facilities, particularly in rural schools. There needs to be a 360 degree approach in addressing this problem. Not just quality education, children also need nutrition, as for complete care in respect of their health and education is essential in the interest of future of India.

As per UNICEF report , school attendance is very low among girls in Rajasthan. Female literacy is as low as 40 per cent in the State. Further, sharp drop in secondary school attendance poses a big challenge and requires immediate intervention. Lack of drinking water facilities, separate toilet for girls, teachers, and lack of infrastructure etc. are only leading to increase in dropouts.

Vedanta's group company, Hindustan Zinc has taken a major step in improving the facilities in rural government schools under the Public Private Partnership model with Rajasthan Government. Under this model, Vedanta Hindustan Zinc has signed an MoU with the Government to adopt 92 Government Schools in phases in Chittorgrah and Bhilwara District of Rajasthan.

Ultimate aim is adopt 92 schools, 72 Government schools in Bhilwara for 5 years and 20 schools in Chittorgarh for 3 years. The company would spend about Rs. 3.35 Crore on this project.

This project would provide basic infrastructure facilities like Construction of class rooms, boundary walls of the school, installation of hand pumps, ceiling fans, coolers, construction of toilets, playgrounds, furniture for the children etc. The project will also provide scholarships to meritorious students. The company also plans to encourage plantation drive to develop green belt in schools.

To monitor the success of the project, a committee of 5 members has been formed which would have 2 members from Vedanta Hindustan Zinc, 2 from school and 1 member nominated by District Magistrate. Based on the need of the school authority and assigned budget, the project will be executed by Vedanta Hindustan Zinc. This would also ensure optimum utilization of funds.

Earlier Vedanta Hindustan Zinc had provided 1000 computers to 200 government schools in rural areas and e-subject software support to about 500 schools. The company is providing daily mid-day meal to over 180,000 students in 2000 government schools in Rajasthan to ensure nutrition support to students. Most of these children are from poor family and need regular nutrition support.

 VEDANTA KHUSHI SPREADS ITS WINGS