The Asian Institute of Management Centre (AIM) for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has conferred the much coveted and highly prestigious Asian Corporate Social Responsibility Award on Hindalco, for its Integrated Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme. An honour of the highest kind on this side of the universe, the Asian CSR Award is Asia's Premier Awards Programme on corporate social responsibility.

For all of us in the Group and more so for those of us who are so involved in the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development, led by Mrs. Rajashree Birla, this has been an overwhelmingly proud moment. One was thrilled having penned this project and having witnessed the transformation it brought about in the villages. It is a recognition par-excellence and rightly so, Hindalco has worked wonders for the community. Since the last four decades, under Mr. A.K. Agarwala, Hindalco's community projects set new benchmarks and gradually evolved into 'benchmark' projects for the whole of Asia, backed by the unstinted support and commitment of Mrs. Rajashree Birla. It was an honour to receive this award along with Mr. Ahmer Sultan of Hindalco, at the hands of His Excellency Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra, the Prime Minister of Thailand, at a glittering award ceremony in Thailand held on 19 September, 2003. The other distinguished members linked with this award, who congratulated our team included Mr. Ramon del Rosario Jr., Chairman of the Board of Advisors, Mr. Ramon V. del Rosario, Sr. AIM Centre for Corporate Responsibility, Senator Mechai Viravaidya, Founder and Board Chairman of Population and Community Development Association and Mr. Roberto de Ocampo, President of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM). Our Thai contingent led by Mr. D. Mittal, Mr. Srinivasan, Mr. N.K. Dalan, Mr. Prakash Hardikar and Mr. Kaveeshwar came in full force as our celebration team.

The Asian CSR Awards Programme recognises and honours Asian companies for outstanding, innovative and world-class projects and programmes implemented during the year 2002-2003. These projects needed to demonstrate the company's leadership, sincerity and ongoing commitment in incorporating ethical values, compliance with legal requirements, and respect for individuals, communities and the environment into the way they run their business.

The jury was led by the Asian Institute of Management's Centre for Corporate Responsibility. A distinguished panel chaired by Mr. Khunying Jada Wattanasiritham of Asian Business Coalition on AIDS, supported by Ms. Gina Velasco of Synergos Institute, Mr. Prida Tiasuwan of Social Venture Network Thailand and Mr. Alex Carrasco of the United Nations Development Programme endorsed our work as "path-breaking".

In the words of this distinguished panel — "Yours is an outstanding achievement. With 142 projects from 80 organisations in 11 countries competing for the CSR Awards, selecting the winning entries was without doubt a challenge for our judges." The ury was touched by the transformation that our teams have been able to bring about in 71 villages, in proximity to Renukoot, Renusagar, Lohardaga, Samri and Silvassa. In their view we have been able to alleviate a down-trodden people's sub-human conditions of existence and restore an element of dignity in their lives, overcoming several impediments. That as a result of our work the difference in these villages was perceptible.

About the award forum
The award is instituted by the Asian Institute of Management under the aegis of the Ramon Ve del Rosario, Sr AIM Centre for Corporate Responsibility. The latter partners with Population and Development Association and the Ford Foundation.

The Ramon del Rosario, Sr. Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility is a research and programme centre within the Asian Institute of Management (AIM). Cognizant of its mission in developing professional, entrepreneurial, and socially responsible leaders and managers, the AIM-RVR Centre is committed to social excellence. It is the centre's belief that only when Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be structured as a business model and regarded as fundamental to strategy and general management can CSR be sustainable. They were impressed with the fact that our social vision forms part of the business vision.

Population and Community Development Association, founded in 1974 is one of Thailand's most well-established and diverse non-government organisations.

The Ford Foundation provides grants and loans to projects that strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. Up until now the Ford Foundation has provided grants and loans in excess of US$ 10 billion.

The way we steer our projects — taking cognizance of the larger picture
Even as we in India have made a mark on the globe as a reservoir of intellectual capital, as a nation we are grappling with 'quality of life' challenges. More so, in the hinterland, where poverty is a ground reality. Where the sound of silence, muted expressions and places which reflect squalid conditions, of hunger, of disease, and of impoverishment can wrench your gut.

Today, nearly 26 crores of people live below the poverty line — in some 6,40,000 villages across India. Ten years ago, the numbers were even more shocking. Seized of this issue in several villages, some state governments have gone out on a limb to change the scenario. Some have done well while many are still dragging their feet. On an encouraging note, the Human Development Report (2001) has remarked that India is on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving the income poverty by 2015. Simply put, this implies that 13 crore people will subsist on less than a dollar a day.

Under the stewardship of Mrs. Rajashree Birla, and guidance from Mr. A.K. Agarwala, our 150 strong team across 36 units, slogs with missionary zeal to raise a large populace from below the poverty line to decent subsistence levels.

We work in 3,700 villages, in close collaboration with the district authorities and government bodies, apart from other like-minded bodies and NGOs. Over a year ago, we decided that developing model villages in a phased manner should underpin our strategy. So each of our major companies was advised to work towards the total transformation of a select number of villages, which are close to our plants.

Making of a model village entails ensuring self-reliance in all aspects — education, health care, family welfare, infrastructure, agriculture and watershed development and working towards sustainable livelihood patterns. This is an attempt fundamentally to ensure that village development reaches a stage wherein communities take over the complete responsibility and we can withdraw from these villages and replicate the project in other villages.

Consequently, as a Group we have zeroed in on 200 villages across the country through 37 of our plants, from the stable of Hindalco, Grasim, Indian Rayon, Indo Gulf, Tanfac, Essel Mining and Bihar Caustic and Chemicals, among others.

Zooming in on Hindalco
Hindalco has zeroed in on 71 villages where our Integrated Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme will run for four years.

Establishing a baseline
To get a fix on the state of the rural people before we stepped in was critical for impact measurement at regular intervals. A baseline study between January to March 2002 revealed that, families existed on a US$ 222 income per annum, self employment was practically non-existent. Inadequate nutrition, no productive work, lack of control over fertility, lack of access to basic amenities such as water, sanitation and health care, were death drivers. Literacy levels were at its lowest. Over a three month period, we worked to garner the support of the villagers, and get them to own the project recoursing to the participatory rural appraisal process. A simple tool, it is all-inclusive. To do so we squat with the villagers, influentials, the panchayatis and their ilk and get them to prioritise their needs, mapping the areas of work, the time-lines and their role in taking it forward. Subsequently, with their involvement we came up with an integrated approach. It encompassed sustainable livelihood programmes, training in skill sets, watershed management, best agricultural practices, women empowerment processes, setting up of 20 primary education and 44 non-formal education centres. We impacted these 71 villages in every which way. Imagine we could help them:

• bring 23,148 acres of land under irrigation, benefiting 9,875 families.
• raise land productivity by 20 per cent.
• up the literacy rate by 26 per cent.
• lower the maternal and child mortality rate by 3 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.
  enhance the income of 4,558 families to US$ 556 from US$ 222. In effect, exterminating their
• below the poverty line (BPL) status.

Integrated rural poverty alleviation programme — its geographic reach
The Integrated Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme has been based on a tripartite partnership between Hindalco, the Gram Panchayat (village elders) and the community. A Three-Year Rolling Plan extending to 2002-2005 has been prepared consensually for the 71 villages.

In the first year of our project, our goal was to reach out to 3,108 families, out of a total of 12,437 families in the villages short-listed for the first phase in the first year of our project.

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