Tata Motors' CSR drive makes a difference to over 700,000 people in FY2019

More smiles per mile. That's what Tata Motors' Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of being socially accountable — to itself, its stakeholders, and the public — has seen the company touch the lives of over 700,000 in the country over 12 months in FY2019. Nearly 40% of them belong to the SC and ST communities.

With an emphasis on the four pillars of Health, Education, Employability and the Environment, the company is clearly making a difference.

Health: In FY2019, 380,000 people benefitted from the 'Arogya' healthcare programme which saw over 90 percent of malnourished children being treated and who are now healthy. The focus in this programme has been on eradicating malnutrition in children under five year age and providing safe drinking water especially in drought-prone tribal hamlets/habitations.

Education: Under the 'Vidyadhanam' programme, which aims to improve the primary education system, Tata Motors engaged with 140,000 students; the pass percentage improved from 55% in FY2015 to 80% in FY2019. Forty-four percent of class 10 students secured first-class marks

Vidyadhanam is engineered to improve the academic performance of secondary/college going students through targeted approach by instituting need-based financial support, special coaching classes. Tata Motors says it is the first corporate in India to support IIT Bombay under Affirmative Action (AA) for Financial Aid Programme (FAP) program.

Employability: The 'Kaushalya' programme for enhancing employability focuses on training unemployed youth in three segments - auto trades, non-auto trades and agriculture and allied activities. On receiving NSDC certification, students find employment opportunities in open market (including Tata Motors' ecosystem). The company also engages with community based groups of women and farmers and helps them earn supplementary income through agriculture and allied programs.

In Pune, Tata Motors ran an exclusive driver training batches of 50 women in partnership with Ambika Motors. Currently, Tata Motors in collaboration with Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) is training another batch of 50 SC women.

The overall impact in FY2019 has been that it helped skill over 100,000 youth and farmers; 56% have found employment in selected trades after training; 4% of the trained youth started their own enterprise; and there ha been an increase in the annual income by Rs 100,000. 

Environment: Under the 'Vasundhara' programme aimed at nurturing sustainability through environmental programmes, Tata Motors planted 11 lakh saplings (of indigenous varieties) and ensured 85 percent survival rate. 90% plants are indigenous. Over 89,000 people (mostly young children) were sensitised about the cause. Also, there was a 27% reduction in wood demand due to adoption of fuel efficient cooking stove.

Inclusive, equitable and holistic development of society through ‘Aadhar’: To promote inclusivity, Tata Motors has institutionalised Tata Affirmative Action Programme (TAAP) known as 'Aadhar' that practices positive discrimination for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) in case of Employment and & Entrepreneurship and higher coverage in CSR led programmes.

Under the concept of Integrated Village Development, which focuses on holistic development of a tribal village/hamlet, Tthe company collaborated with Sahabhag (the CSR cell of government of Maharashtra). This pilot project saw improvement in the quality of 3000 tribal lives of Pathardi gram panchayat in Jawhar block of Palghar district where 70% of the resources for village development came from the government.

Volunteering: 10,500 or 40 percent of total employees invested 60,000 volunteering hours for development. This saw 95 'Fast Trackers' under ‘Leadership One’ engage in CSR projects for 8 weeks, and 106 managers signed up for Pro-Engage, dedicating 6 months to address social causes.

Tata Motors' CSR drive is indeed laudatory, touching as it does scores of lives across the country, in line with the vision of Jamsetji Tata, founder of the Tata Group founder. Jamsetji Tata's vision galvanised the steel and power industries in India, set the foundation for technical education, and helped the country leapfrog into the ranks of industrialised nations.

Given the expansiveness of Tata Motors' CSR drive and the Tata Group's brand connect with India,  it wouldn't be wrong if the company had a tag line: 'We also make cars and commercial vehicles'. 

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