Ambuja Cement Foundation’s Dadri team recognised for their contributions towards water conservation, sanitation and hygiene
Ambuja Cement Foundation (ACF) team in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh was felicitated by the Rotary Club for their outstanding contributions towards water, sanitation and hygiene initiatives over the years.
Ambuja Cement Foundation (ACF) is the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of Ambuja Cements Limited. Over the last 15 years, the team at Dadri has been working in the areas of agro-based livelihood, education, women empowerment along with sanitation and hygiene.
Under Water and Sanitation, ACF has been working on creating awareness on the WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) model in core villages of this area as well as in schools. Awareness campaigns are organized in the communities on saving water, encouraging water testing practices, installation of hand pumps and building toilets.
As a part of these efforts, 3 hand pumps were installed benefitting over 700 community members, 350 women were inculcated hand washing practices and 5 core villages are now “Open Defecation Free”. At a school level, ACF has also distributed IEC materials and sanitary napkins to adolescent girls and women. In addition, ACF has also repaired and improved infrastructure in two government schools which has benefitted over 3,500 children till date.
Mr Neeraj Akhoury, MD & CEO, Ambuja Cements Ltd. said, “Our CSR efforts are focused on enabling progress of our rural communities. A healthy and prosperous rural India bodes well for the entire nation.”
Despite the pandemic, ACF’s health workers (Sakhis) have been working rigorously to reach out to maximum persons. This transformation is already being seen with community members making efforts towards water, sanitation and hygiene. ACF also harnessed the flipbook platform to spread awareness messages about COVID-19 via WhatsApp and post the lockdown, personally went door to door in communities to engage with people.
Ms Pearl Tiwari, Director & CEO, Ambuja Cement Foundation said, “Rotary has been one of our long-standing partners and we are humbled by this recognition provided to ACF’s team in Dadri. This is a testament to the untiring efforts of our teams, the total participation from our communities and the constant need to improve on our own targets.”
Under the WASH initiative across locations, ACF also conducts gap analysis across schools and communities to ensure 100% availability of safe drinking water and functional toilet facilities. It also initiates hygiene education for children and adults including proper hand washing to prevent diseases. Such interventions are playing a vital role in reaching the ‘SDG 6 Goal- Clean Water and Sanitation.
About Ambuja Cement:
Ambuja Cements Ltd. is a member of Holcim, the global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions. Among the leading cement companies in India with a capacity of 29.65 million tonnes, Ambuja Cement has five integrated cement manufacturing plants and eight cement grinding units across the country. Ambuja Cement has provided hassle-free, home-building solutions with its unique sustainable development projects and environment-friendly practices since it started operations. The Company has many firsts to its credit – a captive port with four terminals that has facilitated timely, cost-effective, cleaner shipments of bulk cement to its customers. To further add value to customers, the Company has launched innovative products like Ambuja Kawach, Ambuja Roof Special, Ambuja Compocem and Ambuja Cool Walls, under the umbrella of Ambuja Certified Technology, which help in significantly reducing carbon footprints. Its sustainable operations and initiatives help advance the Company’s philosophy of contributing to societal well-being.
