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SAIL Honored with Skoch Award for Financial Inclusion

01/11/2012 - Steel Authority of India Limited was recently awarded the Skoch award for Financial Inclusion under the category of 'Women Empowerment', in recognition of various initiatives in the area of inclusive growth and poverty alleviation.

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) was recently awarded the Skoch award for Financial Inclusion under the category of 'Women Empowerment', in recognition of its multifold initiatives in the area of inclusive growth and poverty alleviation.
 
SAIL was selected for the award by an eminent jury comprising industry leaders, domain experts, economists and academicians. "It is heartening to note that SAIL's role in building the socio-economic prosperity of its peripheral regions is being recognized at the national level,” said SAIL Chairman Mr. C.S. Verma on receiving the prestigious award from distinguished economist and former RBI Governer Mr. C. Rangarajn
 
SAIL received the award in recognition of three of the company’s special initiatives that have yielded significant benefits at the local level: Project Kishori at Rourkela, Project Swayamsiddha at Bhilai and Project Multi-Skilled Garment Technician Training at Salem.
 
Project Kishori at Rourkela — Initiated in March 2010, Project Kishori was undertaken by SAIL's Rourkela Steel Plant to bring about empowerment of adolescent girls and women in the peripheral villages of Rourkela in the areas of science and technology, and to enhance the ability of women to influence the direction of social change.
 
Project Swayamsiddha of Bhilai — Commenced in July 2007, this project was developed with the objective to build capacity and improve the financial literacy of underprivileged women through formation of self-help groups. The scope of the project included awareness creation, formation of self-help groups, imparting of skill, installation of units with basic infrastructural support from SAIL's Bhilai Steel Plant, forward and backward linkages for the unit, followed by gradual withdrawal and handing over the project to the self-help group. Under both the projects, women were trained in skills in different occupations such as food processing, mushroom cultivation, food adulteration test, vermi composting, soil testing, land and water management, artificial jewelry making, handicrafts, stitching, box making, candle making, e-learning, and basic adolescent health and woman's rights. SAIL’s Bhilai Steel Plant also introduced an all-expenses-paid adoption scheme for tribal girls from naxal affected Baster region to train them in B.Sc. Nursing course in a reputed institute at Bhilai. So far 10 girls have been adopted under the scheme.
 
Multi-Skilled Garment Technician Training Project — Started in March 2010, this project at SAIL's Salem Steel Plant was developed to empower women by training them in tailoring. As part of the program, village women and girls were initially trained in basic skill development and garment making. At the next level, 105 rural women were enrolled in a professional course and provided training in industrial garment making and surface ornamentation.
 
Guided by the company’s motto of “making a meaningful difference in people's lives”, SAIL has established 53 Primary Health Centers, seven Reproductive and Child Health Centers, 18 Hospitals and seven Super-Specialty Hospitals providing specialized healthcare to almost 31 million people. The company has also opened over 139 schools in steel townships that provide modern education to about 63,000 children. Besides adopting and providing free education and facilities to tribal children, SAIL is supporting over 254 schools. While an ITI has been started at Gua Mines in Jharkhand, the process for setting up an ITI at Jagdishpur in UP has been initiated.