Increasing focus on skill-development of the local youths and women, Bokaro Steel re-oriented its CSR interventions and integrated model village development, said Anutosh Maitra CEO Bokaro Steel Plant (BSl).
Infrastructure was created and a specialised training module on Silk Yarn Reeling for rural women was launched in association with ‘JHARCRAFT’, he said while interacting with the mediapersons at Bokaro Niwas.
In another initiative towards self-employment, a batch of rural youth has been trained on steel fabrication in association with INSDAG, and they are being guided through the steps of securing bank loan and setting up fabrication units, Matira said. Highlighting the annual CSR activities CEO said, Bokaro Pvt ITI has been scaled up to its envisaged capacity of 200 seats. It has set aside 20 percent of the seats for local youth, whose academic expenses towards the course will be sponsored by BSl. Nine Birhor children adopted under the Gyan Jyoti Yojana are also doing their ITI course with full sponsorship from BSl.
All the students from the first batch of Bokaro Steel Balika Vidyalaya passed their Class-X board examinations, five of them with 9.5+ cgpa, and are set to pursue their +2 studies in different BSl schools with all the facilities provided earlier. The collaboration of Bokaro Steel with Asha lata Vikaland Vikas Kendra continued to enrich the lives of the differently abled children of the district, he said.
Health continued to be a focus area. Eighteen mega medical camps were organised in the peripheral areas, screening over 9000 patients and offering further treatment to around 350 of them. Focused screening camps were organised on World Kidney Day and World TB Day. A special weekly clinic based on the Pontesi technique for treatment of Club Foot, a congenital but correctible foot deformity in children, was started in association with M/s Cure International India Trust. Only the second centre in the State, this clinic has already treated 29 of the 40 registered children and has been declared a model centre by Cure International.
Twenty of the less developed villages in the periphery are earmarked for phased development as model villages. BSl undertook road repairs at Tupkadih and Kurmidih, installed 28 fresh hand-pumps, maintained around 350 of the existing hand-pumps and is renovating a pond at Ranipokhar. BSl continued with its unique initiatives like promotion of rural sports. A special drive in the fiftieth year saw the plantation of around 30,000 saplings in 68 peripheral villages in collaboration with Vanvasi Kalyan Kendra.
Closer home, road repairs through Microsurfacing technology and installation of Octagonal Street lights have changed the look of the township. The power distribution systems have been upgraded to cater to the continuously increasing requirements, he said.