annual-report-FY2020

76 COMPANY OVERVIEW BOARD’S REPORT MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS CORPORATE GOVERNANCE BUSINESS RESPONSIBILITY REPORT STANDALONE ACCOUNTS CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS M. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Your Company continues to focus its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives to drive positive and sustainable change in building resilient communities. Resilience was tested at the end of the Financial Year 2020 marked by the COVID-19 crisis. The crisis is testing the world’s capability to respond to a pandemic at a time when the world is already grappling with acute inequalities based on gender, class, access to livelihood opportunities, amongst others. With the socio economic impacts of the pandemic hitting vulnerable and marginalised groups particularly hard, there was a need for businesses to step up to support communities in need. Swiftly responding to this, your Company extended its support to the efforts of the Government machinery by responding to the crying need for products required to fight the COVID crisis. Accordingly, a decision was taken to use the Company’s manufacturing facilities to make personal protection equipment e.g. low-cost innovative ventilators, face masks and face shields. Further, your Company set up a COVID-19 relief fund under the aegis of Mahindra Foundation, to provide relief to those most severely affected by the pandemic e.g. small businesses and traders, workers in the supply chain, and daily wage labourers. Your Company also contributed Rs. 20 crores to the ‘Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund’ (PM CARES FUND). Through these initiatives, your Company has not only provided support to the Government agencies but has reached out to a large section of the poor and vulnerable by providing immediate relief. While continuing work towards addressing the COVID-19 crisis, in the next Financial Year, your Company will in accordance with its CSR vision, focus its support on the constituencies of girls, youth and farmers. This will be done through its ongoing CSR programs in the domains of education, public health and environment. Below are some of the ongoing CSR programs that your Company focused on during the Financial Year 2020 and will continue supporting the following: – Project Nanhi Kali supported the education of over 1,74,681 underprivileged girls across India. Of these, 78,437 girls at secondary school level were provided access to digital tablets preloaded with educational content. The Mahindra Group supported the education of 67,337 Nanhi Kalis of which 14,462 were supported by your Company. – The Mahindra Pride Schools, trained 6,045 youth from socially and economically disadvantaged communities across 9 locations and 100% of them were placed in lucrative jobs. Your Company supported the Mahindra Pride Schools in Chandigarh, Srinagar, Varanasi, Hyderabad and two in Chennai which trained 3,641 youth in Financial Year 2020. Further, the Mahindra Pride Classrooms (MPC) provided training to 1,01,391 youth from 856 ITIs, Polytechnics, Arts and Science Colleges across 16 states through the Mahindra Pride Classrooms module. Your Company supported the training of 71,248 MPC students. – Over 3,383 students benefitted through a variety of Scholarship Programs. These ranged from providing opportunities to youth from low income group families to undergo diploma courses at vocational education institutes, to enabling meritorious students to pursue their post graduate studies at reputed universities overseas, to allowing meritorious and deserving students to study at the Mahindra United World College in Pune. – Through Mahindra Hariyali, the Mahindra Group planted 1.52 million trees, which contributed to building green cover and protecting biodiversity in the country. Of these, 1.13 million trees were planted in the Araku valley, which besides greening the environment also provided livelihood support to tribal farmers growing coffee and fruit bearing trees in this region. Of the 1.52 million, the plantation of 1.32 million trees was done by your Company. The average survival rate of trees planted was 96% in the Araku Valley and above 80% for other locations. – The Integrated Water Management Program (IWMP) is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) with Government of Madhya Pradesh at Bhopal and with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) at Hatta. In Financial Year 2020, the project benefitted 38,447 people in 48 villages, as increased water availability led to improved agricultural productivity and increased farmer income. – Through the Wardha Farmer Family Project and Krishi Mitra Project your Company continued to support small and marginal farmers by training them in effective farming practices including soil health, crop planning, creating model farms with bio- dynamic farming practices, and increasing the water table with a view to increasing crop productivity.