Vedanta adopts 400 Anganwadis

The Pioneer, May 10, 2008
Pioneer News Service | Bhubaneswar

As part of its ongoing Corporate Social Responsibility exercise, Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL), Lanjigarh, has adopted all the 400 Anganwadis in six blocks of Kalahandi district under a project, Bal Chetna, in association with Sterlite Foundation and Government of Orissa through private-public partnership.

The project was inaugurated at a well-attended ceremony at Bandhpari Anganwadi centre, Lanjigarh, by Collector of Kalahandi Pramod Chandra Pattnaik and local MLA Balabhadra Majhi on Wednesday. Among others, Lanjigarh block chairperson Srimati Majhi, head of Sterlite Foundation Chamundi Devi, senior officials of Vedanta Aluminium and the district administration were present. The function was attended by 500 people from Bandhpari and nearby villages.

The people were quite happy and enthusiastic about the new project, Bal Chetna, which will take care of their children's health, nutrition and early education. Vedanta has already earned a good name for successfully operating 32 Child Care Centres with 1,139 children in the 18 peripheral villages at Lanjigarh. With free uniforms, nutritious midday meals, afternoon snacks and proper grooming, these centres have already laid a solid foundation for nurturing the future generation.

People are sure that children of areas beyond the peripheral villages and those of the entire district will now have access to similar facilities that can ensure a better future for them. The Collector said the Bal Chetna project would not only ensure a bright future for children but also open direct and indirect growth opportunities for the local youth. VAL vice-president Dr Mukesh Kumar said the company's objective of taking up the project is to significantly upgrade the Anganwadi services under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).

Vedanta intends to bring in visible improvement in the quality of education of the children, especially, the underprivileged, in the age group 0-5 years, by providing five-fold services that include play way method of learning, nutritious food, improvement in health status with focus on anaemia reduction and logistic support like education materials.