The rationale behind selecting Karjat for community development initiatives was that our company wanted to work with vulnerable groups. The Karjat endeavour began by constructing a community hall, which was a meeting place for the villagers and a way of reaching out to the village women. Later, many programmes, like medical assistance, grain bank, marketing artifacts, conducting certified vocational training courses, etc., were carried out. In the last 10 years, farmers in 21 villages of Karjat have managed to improve their life through our interventions. Eight villages are covered through BPCL’s projects in and around Washala. Washala, in Shahpur Taluka in Thane district, comprises a majority of tribal population. The various on-going activities include:

Farm Facts: For agricultural upliftment, we arrange training through Pune Agricultural University, and distribute seeds and fertilisers every year. Lectures are arranged on technical guidance, use of less water for farming, teaching newer methods of agriculture, etc. The volunteers also educate the farmers about fish farming and provide them with all the necessary information. We explain the methods of multiple cropping. Every year, farmers are given free fertilisers, and guided on issues such as buying of seeds. Bamboo cultivation is also promoted. Annually, 5000 Bamboo saplings are given to the villagers, who nurture them. Mango, chiku and guava saplings are also provided.

Cattle Care: At Karjat, we conduct exhibitions of cattle of various breeds; training sessions are arranged to improve the health of the available cattle. A vaccine programme is conducted on a regular basis for all pet animals. Competitions are also held among cattle and prizes are given to the best cattle. Once a year, there is a camp organised when veterinary doctors inspect all the cattle.

Education: For motivation of intelligent students, coaching is provided to the deserving. Balwadis are available for small children as pre-school intervention. Tree plantation programmes are regularly held in Adivasi ashram schools.
Health: A dispensary with a doctor is available and regular health camps are conducted. General health camps are organised twice a year to cater to the needs of the men, women, senior citizens, children, etc. To ensure proper eyesight, eye camps are conducted periodically. Many of the villagers have their sight back through this endeavour. There are camps held for pregnant women regarding guidance in pregnancy, with the emphasis on nutrition, etc.

Grain Bank: In the villages of Karjat, earlier farmers were dependent on moneylenders for money as well as seeds and grains and, thus, fell in the debt trap. The moneylenders would harass and exploit them. For every one quintal of grain borrowed, the farmer would have to return three quintals. To avoid such exploitation, IRCED came out with the grain bank scheme. The concept of grain bank was to make grains easily accessible to the farmers and protect them from the moneylenders. Grains are made available to the farmers without any advance and they do not have to return anything more than what they had taken. Through BPCL, there is also a small room allocated for the purpose of maintaining the grain bank in every village so that the grains do not rot.
 
Community Centre: We have provided a multipurpose Samaj Mandir at Pinglas, Karjat, as a meeting point for the villagers. The community centre here encompasses classes for villagers on tailoring, mehendi, beautician training, making bamboo articles, multi-skill training, etc. Classes for making products from cane weaving and bamboo are conducted regularly. Tailoring is helping the girls in income generation. An exhibition is being held in Mumbai for sale of the bamboo articles made in these villages.

Rainwater Harvesting: For available water during scarcity, work has just begun on a project on rainwater harvesting. As this is a hilly area, the problem of groundwater and land water continues. For provision of water, tube wells and small dams are being made for the villagers.

Infrastructure Development: We have constructed sheds for schools. The work carried out here includes repairing fans, replacing broken furniture, etc., building a jetty for fishermen so that they can rest in the night when they are not fishing. We have also constructed a public toilet. We are vigilant in keeping the surroundings clean. Timely garbage disposal is also taken care of. Tree plantation programmes are carried out on a regular basis.

Every Village: Sakhi Shejarni: In Karjat, a group of women felt the need to unite and save some money. They started meeting regularly, collectig savings and depositing it in the bank. This is a scheme whereby every village will have one woman leader, who is trained to manage a group of other women, take training sessions for them, conduct awareness programmes and also provide counseling and any other help. Such women leaders are called Sakhi, a friend in Marathi.
Thus, these groups serve a double purpose - that of starting a small-scale business and also learning through various sessions. These meetings help the women improve their quality of life.

Counselling
Initially, counseling began in BPCL to overcome the different problems of the employees at work. But now, we have come closer to the lives of the people. Now, counseling does not only aim at solving disputes at work but involves a whole gamut of issues ranging from employee’s overall growth to the development of their families. Thus, there is a shift from what used to exist earlier as our orientation towards prevention. Over time, recoveries and success stories started flowing in, resulting in the values of counseling being upheld as an important contribution for the employees’ well being. Thus, at the refinery, counseling is seen as a mission that aims at making people live fruitful lives. The help received through counseling is highly valued by most of our employees. As a continuation to individual help, we feel proud to say that we are one of very few companies who regularly visit the employees at their plant. This helps us to understand our employees better and plan interventions accordingly. Plant interactions have made a positive effect in the minds of the employees, as they believe that the company is really interested in their concerns.

Addiction – The Slow Poison: Alcohol and drug abuse is extremely common in today’s world. In spite of the awareness of the ill effects of these substances, people continue to become addicts. Abuse and addictions result in malfunctioning of an individual in major spheres of his or her life. Addictions lead to poor work performances, disrupted relationships and adjustment problems. In the face of rising awareness about employee welfare and raising the quality of work, various companies today are making efforts to reduce addictions in their workforce.
We have been one of the first companies to engage in continuous endeavours to help our addicted employees overcome their problems. We have successfully partnered with Kripa Foundation’s De-addiction Centre for sustainable efforts in this direction. Kripa Foundation is one of the largest NGOs in India, helping people suffering from chemical dependency and HIV infection. Kripa offers a non-discriminating, supportive community living, helping people introspect and bring about a change in their lifestyle.

Our Success - Strength of Sobriety: Although difficult to believe, the success ratio is 60% at the refinery level, whereas the addiction improvement rate worldwide is 45.50%. Through counseling, employees who have recovered from alcohol addiction and resulting personal problems became our biggest strength in extending our chain of human help. These peer educators are very efficient at work and they aid our CSR activity by being of help to the other addict employees as also the community.

The Pune Centre: At Pune, a de-addiction centre has been set up by the Kripa Foundation for both men and women addicts from all over Maharashtra. We are supporting Kripa and helping them in their endeavours.

Family Well - being: Through employee assistance programmes, prominence is given to the family as a system. It is a known fact that the family is one of the most closely knit systems that needs to be enriched in order to cope with the stresses and strain of life. Thus, when an employee comes to us with a problem, joint counseling sessions are conducted to include his family members so that the problem can be solved amicably.
Grooming Children as Caretakers of the Next Generation: Children are tomorrow’s future, and when it comes to our own employee’s children, we ensure their development through various activities like career guidance, aptitude tests, etc.

Parenting: During trainings or workshops, one of the main topics covered is parenting. This is important because in today’s competitive world, it is very difficult to manage both work and house. Thus, to ensure that the children are being cared for, parenting sessions are conducted on emotional problems and the troubles encountered by children at different stages, puberty issues, etc.

Women Empowerment: In women lie nature’s best qualities of motherhood, compassion, humanity and love. Because they have been blessed with the capacity for giving and nurturing life, women also have the capacity for a deep commitment for preserving and nourishing not only their own offspring, but of the entire planet as well. BPCL is also blessed with efficient and enthusiastic women staff who have come forward to help others. Women power in the true sense is seen when women meet regularly and discuss varied issues and the stands that they take on the same. It is normally said that a woman is a woman’s worst enemy. But at the refinery, the bond between the women is exceptionally charged, making a difference to their personal as well as work life.

Safety Ambassadors: This is a new activity at the refinery. Some women employees are made safety ambassadors to ensure safety in the plant. These women co-ordinate with the safety observers at the plant level and ensure that their co-employees take adequate safety measures. It is process to help the employees help themselves for their own safety as also that of the others

HIV/ AIDS Care and Prevention

AIDS is a major concern worldwide. It has spread across nations, caste, creed and racial boundaries. The UN AIDS has estimated 5.3 million sero positive people housed in India alone in 2004. The growing number of sero positive people in the productive age group affects the economy in the long run. BPCL too encountered the presence of sero positive employees. However, the comprehensive health policy of the company protects the employees and their family. Considering the significance of interventions in this area, the Social Welfare department initiated plant talks on ‘Family Life Education’ and ‘Health and Well being’. Various awareness programmes were conducted in the refinery on HIV/AIDS.

Avert Society, a triplicate body of USAID, NACO and Government of Maharashtra noticed the efforts of BPCL and invited BPCL for long-term partnership for an AIDS Intervention Project in the refinery and the adjacent community. The project identifies three major areas of intervention, viz., workplace intervention (including around 30,000 workers), Mahul and 25 villages from Karjat. The activities under this project include one - to - one intervention at the village level, counseling at workplace, behaviour change communication, street plays and folk media to spread awareness about the same.

‘Generation Next’

BPCL is passionate about the ‘Generation Next’, and also supports various education initiatives at every levels. This involves granting aid to schools, acknowledging and rewarding meritorious students and an initiative called BPCL scholars.
BPCL scholars are a group of approximately 100 Indian students who annually seek full study assistance from BPCL in pursuing post graduation, both in India and abroad. We support these students, the fuel of tomorrow’s growth, with all humility and passion.

Our Success Mantra: What Is It That Actually Worked?

We were able to bring people together for a common cause, the cause being the well being of all. We were blessed with a committed staff who also took the initiative to work towords their own good. Our employees also sustained their enthusiasm and motivation throughout, which added to our strength.

Non-biased Attitude: May it be a worker or an engineer or a driver or any administration staff, we give equal treatment to all. Never do employees feel that some are favoured over others.

Trust: Employees have trust in whatever the department does. The department has helped them help themselves, leaving a long - lasting effect on their minds. This trust made it possible for them to keep participating in all the activities.

Transparency: The department has been totally transparent regarding all its activities. Employees were made equal partners in conducting any activity. As a result, there was no point where the employees felt left out.

Need-based Activities: We at BPCL have never arranged activities for the sake of doing so. We have conducted activities as and when the people demanded, be it our own employees or people from the community. Thus, we have indirectly given onus to the people to decide when, why and which activity they need to involve with.

Involvement of All: We have been successful in involving people of all cadres at the refinery level, right from the managers to the workers, and from the various departments to the different unions. This helped us to get everyone’s’ opinions and contributions. At the community level, all the people are involved right from the planning level. People take decisions along with us.

Human Stories of Revival: Our numerous success stories of our employees have constantly motivated us to work harder. The recovered addicts are our strength. They help us to help others in similar situations.

The arms of social welfare have touched the lives of many, including the beneficiaries, the employees, families of the employees, the management, families of management staff, etc. This people power gave rise to a snowball effect; year after year, the department started improving and today, its work has been recognised and appreciated. Leveraging India’s title for the second largest oil major, we are making every effort spent in social commitment count far more. BPCL believes in sustainable efforts and not sporadic attempts at community development. It goes beyond charity to capacity building. This is reflected from the change in the lives of people whom we have touched through our various programmes and activities. Corporate commitment is the beacon that guides our community development activities. Through various interventions in community development, we strive towards reinforcing the brand image of ‘Energising lives’.

At BPCL, we believe that it is equally important to return to society. Which is why we believe some of our finest achievements are not those found in our balance sheets but those in small towns and villages spread across India. Our involvement in sharing this wider responsibility dates way back to 1984 when, in pursuance with our philosophy ‘to give back to the society/community our best’, we aimed to help the people enrich their lives. Our range encompasses our employees and their families, further extending the scope of definition to those whom we saw beyond our glass cabins in these rustic surroundings. Thus began our romance. Today, we term them our extended family, i.e., our villagers from rural areas. q 
 

Source:
www.bharatpetroleum.com

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