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  • Lava deploys 20,941 MDM-enabled smartphones for anganwadi digital empowerment in UP

    Lava deploys 20,941 MDM-enabled smartphones for anganwadi digital empowerment in UP

    Lava International Limited has partnered with the Government of Uttar Pradesh to deliver Lava smartphones to 20,941 Anganwadi workers statewide, a transforming rollout under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) framework aimed at replacing manual record-keeping with real-time, data-driven service delivery at the grassroots level.

    The handover ceremony was held at Lok Bhavan, Lucknow in March 2026, under the theme “Suposhit Uttar Pradesh, Sashakt Bharat” — Nourished Uttar Pradesh, Empowered India.

    UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath presided over the event alongside Women’s Welfare Minister Baby Rani Maurya, Additional Chief Secretary Leena Johri, and WCD Director Sarneet Kaur Broca. Approximately 1,000 Anganwadi workers attended in person.

    Lava supplied handsets from its Storm Play series, factory-configured for field deployment with Mobile Device Management (MDM) capabilities, a supervisor monitoring application, and state-specific interface integrations aligned to WCD and ICDS digital systems.

    The Anganwadi digital empowerment initiative enables workers to record maternal and child health data in real time, track attendance digitally, monitor nutrition distribution for newborns and lactating mothers, and feed information directly into centralised dashboards.

    “Digital transformation at the grassroots is not just about access to devices, but about building systems that work reliably at scale for those delivering essential services on a day-to-day basis. This initiative is a testament of our ability to design and deliver technology solutions tailored for real-world public sector needs,” said Llyod D’souza, Chief Business Officer, Enterprise Business, Lava International Limited.

    The deployment directly addresses longstanding bottlenecks in welfare delivery. Supervisors can now remotely monitor field activity, track stock availability of food packets for at-risk households, and receive early alerts on potential health and nutrition risks — capabilities previously dependent on paper-based reporting cycles.

    Officials said the initiative supports the UP government’s broader ambition to bridge the digital divide through scalable, technology-led interventions and strengthen last-mile delivery of public welfare programmes.

    For Lava, the contract extends a record of enterprise public-sector deployments as the company positions itself as a domestic alternative in India’s government mobility procurement market.

  • Toyota Kirloskar’s CSR hygiene programme did what Swachh Bharat couldn’t

    Toyota Kirloskar’s CSR hygiene programme did what Swachh Bharat couldn’t

    When Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) built toilets in Karnataka village schools nearly a decade ago, it discovered a problem it had not anticipated: nobody was using them.

    Root cause analysis revealed why communities held a deeply ingrained belief that an in-compound toilet was unclean. Going outdoors, they maintained, was the healthier option.

    The finding prompted TKM to stop further construction and redirect its corporate social responsibility effort toward behavioural change, launching what would become the ABCD — A Behavioural Change Demonstration — programme in 2015-16.

    The initiative has since reached 6,69,322 students, teachers and community members across 1,300 government schools in Karnataka and drawn recognition from Harvard Business School, which has featured it as a case study.

    The programme’s early breakthrough came from an unexpected quarter, TKM Country Head and Executive Vice President (corporate affairs and governance) Vikram Gulati told PTI.

    In one Ramanagara village, two girls aged approximately 11 and 12 organised a classmate hunger strike, refusing to eat until their families built home toilets. The strike succeeded.

    “This actually led to the first breakthrough,” Gulati said.

    The programme trained children in handwashing technique, toilet use and personal hygiene, positioning them as agents of behavioural change within their households and wider communities. Schools competed on hygiene standards. Children carried lessons home. The ripple effect — by design — travelled from classroom to household to community.

    When the programme expanded to Raichur, one of India’s government-designated Aspirational Districts, the company said a baseline survey across 500 schools in December 2023 exposed how deep the crisis ran.

    Only 48 per cent of required toilets existed. Of those, just 20 per cent were usable. Twelve per cent of schools lacked a single functional handwashing unit. Ninety per cent of students depended on open tap water. One in four children still practised open defecation.

    At home, the picture was no better: 44 per cent of students had no toilet at all.

    India’s Swachh Bharat, or Clean India, Mission has constructed tens of millions of toilets since its launch in 2014 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Independent researchers and government field assessments have repeatedly flagged the gap between construction targets and actual usage, citing behavioural barriers, poor maintenance and water scarcity as persistent obstacles.

    Over two years of implementation in Raichur and neighbouring Lingasuguru, toilet usage among students rose from 76 per cent to 95 per cent, according to TKM data.

    Handwashing compliance increased from 20.5 per cent to 100 per cent.

    Seventy-five toilets and 30 urinals were constructed. Fifty-eight handwash taps were installed or repaired. Twenty-eight schools received safe drinking water access. Menstrual hygiene sessions were conducted for 3,546 adolescent girls.

    At the community level, 1,382 parents were motivated to construct home toilets during the programme period; 38 completed construction.

    Harvard Business School has recognised ABCD as a case study. The Ivey Business School has published it — rare international acknowledgment for a sanitation initiative rooted in rural India, the TKM Said.

    The ABCD programme sits within a broader corporate social responsibility architecture that TKM has been expanding rapidly.

    Since 2001, the company’s CSR work has spanned education, health, environment, skill development, road safety and disaster management, guided by what it describes as a “Child to Community” approach. TKM spent Rs. 104.7 crore on CSR activities in FY 2025-26, reflecting the scale of its social investment commitments.

    In the 2025-26 financial year, TKM significantly widened its geographic footprint, extending its reach from communities around its manufacturing base to 12 states — among them Uttarakhand, Nagaland, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Odisha.

    The company plans to expand further to 22 states in 2026-27, framing the ambition under a stated vision of “Grow India, Grow with India.”

    “TKM is strengthening health infrastructure through preventive and curative interventions, enhancing the quality of education, and improving employability,” Gulati said, describing the overall mission as creating “Mass Happiness for All.”

    The Raichur intervention is ongoing. The earlier Ramanagara phase has stabilised, he added.

    Source: PTI

  • EBG Foundation launches Sambhav Hai to build carbon-neutral villages across India

    EBG Foundation launches Sambhav Hai to build carbon-neutral villages across India

    EBG Foundation launched Sambhav Hai on Earth Day, a nationwide rural sustainability programme spearheaded by EBG Group Founder and Chairman Dr Irfan Khan, targeting carbon-neutral villages across India through a phased, data-driven framework that begins with the adoption of Charla Thanda village in Telangana’s Nalgonda district.

    The initiative marks one of the most ambitious grassroots climate programmes announced in India this year, with a Rs 30 crore allocation for its first phase covering 50 villages, expanding to 150 villages in Year 2 and scaling to 750 villages in Year 3 with government institutional support. The programme aims to reduce carbon emissions by 10 to 20 percent within the first year, progressing toward full carbon neutrality within three years.

    “Real change cannot come from isolated interventions. With Sambhav Hai, we are building a model where environmental sustainability, economic progress, and community ownership go hand in hand. Our aim is to empower villages with the tools, data, and accountability systems they need to lead their own transformation and contribute meaningfully to India’s climate goals,” said Dr Irfan Khan, Founder and Chairman, EBG Group

    At Charla Thanda, on-ground interventions have already begun with household-level data mapping to establish a comprehensive climate and resource baseline. The programme will focus on improving access to safe drinking water, strengthening groundwater recharge systems and implementing structured waste segregation and composting solutions. Afforestation drives and regenerative land practices will run in parallel, with local volunteers trained to sustain efforts over the long term.

    The village is being developed as a live demonstration of the Foundation’s Minus One Village model — a replicable blueprint designed to be scaled across regions and geographies.

    “Sambhav Hai’s success will be tracked through a robust framework that integrates water, energy, waste, food and land systems, along with carbon footprint metrics under the Minus One Village model. This ensures that the impact is measurable, accountable, and scalable across geographies.” — Suresh Goyal, Additional Director, EBG Foundation

    “What began as a simple idea has evolved into a powerful movement for large-scale transformation. By placing villages at the centre of climate action and bridging the gap between policy and on-ground implementation, Sambhav Hai creates a pathway for communities to actively lead India’s journey towards environmental resilience.” — Ranjitha M, Additional Director, EBG Foundation

    In parallel with its phased village rollout, the Foundation said it would initiate work across multiple states as part of a broader national expansion, extending the programme’s footprint beyond Telangana into a pan-India rural sustainability movement.

  • Bharti Real Estate launches Abhigyan to bridge industry-academia gap

    Bharti Real Estate launches Abhigyan to bridge industry-academia gap

    Bharti Real Estate, the property arm of Bharti Enterprises, has launched Abhigyan, a structured industry-academia engagement programme designed to give engineering students hands-on exposure to large-scale real estate and infrastructure development, as the sector grows in scale and complexity across India’s urban centres.

    The initiative kicked off with its first field visit, hosting civil engineering undergraduates from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi at Worldmark, Aerocity — a sprawling commercial development adjacent to Indira Gandhi International Airport that is being positioned as one of India’s most ambitious global business districts.

    “Abhigyan reflects our commitment to fostering industry understanding and nurturing future talent through real-world exposure. As infrastructure and real estate continue to evolve in scale and complexity, it is important for young professionals to understand how such developments are brought to life beyond textbooks.” — S. K. Sayal, MD & CEO, Bharti Real Estate

    During the immersive walkthrough, students gained first-hand insight into integrated design, construction management, project planning and the execution challenges inherent in delivering premium commercial developments at scale.

    The session concluded with an interactive discussion with Sayal and senior leadership, including Vice President of Operations Kamal Kumar Dua, Project Leaders Amit Tyagi and Ajay Kalia, Chief Marketing Officer Cherryn Dogra and Projects Planning Lead Pankaj Garg. Industry consultants Raja Raja Menon of Arcop and Amrit Pal of TPCL also participated in the engagement.

    “Bharti Real Estate has provided the undergraduate students of Civil and Environmental Engineering IIT Delhi with a valuable opportunity to explore various aspects of planning, construction, on-site execution and ground coordination.

    Such hands-on experiences play a crucial role in inspiring and shaping the next generation of engineers in the country.” — Prof. Allan L Marbaniang, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, IIT Delhi

    Bharti Real Estate said Abhigyan is envisioned as an ongoing platform, with curated field visits and expert-led discussions planned across leading academic institutions nationwide. The company described the programme as a direct response to the widening gap between classroom learning and the realities of executing world-class, large-scale development projects.

    Worldmark, the company’s flagship portfolio at Aerocity, spans approximately 17 million square feet across multiple phases. Worldmark 1.0 is fully operational and home to multinational corporations, global financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies.

    Worldmark 2.0, currently under advanced development, covers around 7 million square feet including nearly 3 million square feet of premium office space already holding an occupancy certificate, and close to 3 million square feet of destination retail targeted for operationalisation in 2027–28. Worldmark 3.0 and 4.0 will add a further 5 million-plus square feet to the district in subsequent phases.

  • HDFC Bank Parivartan builds 15,289 water assets, boosts rural India

    HDFC Bank Parivartan builds 15,289 water assets, boosts rural India

    HDFC Bank Parivartan has built and restored over 15,289 water structures across more than 10,430 villages, delivering a powerful boost to rural water security and benefiting 14.92 lakh households.

    The flagship CSR programme has also provided access to safe drinking water in over 950 villages through community purification systems using UV, RO, and multi-stage filtration technology, supported by dedicated water tanks, tap connections, and regular quality monitoring.

    From farm ponds and check dams to jal minars, rainwater harvesting systems, lift irrigation, and recharge wells, HDFC Bank Parivartan has created diverse water assets tailored to local needs, especially helping tribal farming communities in Central India.

    Powering long-term impact, the bank combines every water structure with agricultural support including micro irrigation systems, shade net houses, Bio-Input Resource Centres, and multilayer farming. These integrated efforts have significantly increased irrigated area, reduced dependence on erratic rainfall, and improved crop yields for smallholder farmers.

    Community ownership remains central to the programme’s success. Women’s Self-Help Groups and Water User Associations actively participate in Village Action Plans, while GIS-based planning and convergence with government schemes like MGNREGA ensure precision and sustainability. Trained water user groups focus on water budgeting and judicious usage to keep assets productive for years.

    “At HDFC Bank Parivartan, we meet communities where they are — whether building ice stupas in the mountains or installing purification plants in villages that never had clean tap water,” said Ms. Nusrat Pathan, Head of CSR, HDFC Bank.

    “Through Parivartan, our work spans watershed development, rainwater harvesting, rejuvenation of water bodies, last-mile irrigation infrastructure, and climate-smart agricultural practices. Over 15,000 water structures and safe drinking water for nearly a thousand villages is a major milestone, but the real success lies in fields now yielding a second crop and children no longer falling ill from contaminated water. We remain committed to building a water-secure India,” she added.

    Natural Resource Management was introduced as a dedicated focus area under Parivartan in FY 2024-25, integrating water conservation with afforestation, soil health, and solar energy. The programme supports Sustainable Development Goal 6 (clean water and sanitation) and SDG 13 (climate action).

    HDFC Bank Parivartan operates across six key pillars — Rural Development, Education, Skill Development & Livelihood Enhancement, Healthcare & Hygiene, Financial Literacy & Inclusion, and Natural Resource Management. As of March 2025, it has positively impacted over 10.56 crore lives across 28 states and 8 Union Territories. In FY 2024-25, HDFC Bank spent Rs. 1,068.03 crore on CSR activities under the Parivartan umbrella.

  • Syngenta India sponsors 650 motorised tricycles to empower specially abled citizens in Madhya Pradesh

    Syngenta India sponsors 650 motorised tricycles to empower specially abled citizens in Madhya Pradesh

    Agro-innovation company Syngenta India has launched what it called a first-of-its-kind corporate social responsibility initiative, committing to sponsor 650 motorised tricycles for specially abled individuals in Madhya Pradesh, in a move that links agricultural enterprise with disability inclusion.

    The first batch of vehicles was handed over on Sunday by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the Unnat Krishi Mahotsav 2026, an agriculture exhibition and conference held in Raisen, Madhya Pradesh, on April 12.

    “Empowering them with mobility is a critical step towards ensuring dignity, inclusion, and self-reliance,” Chouhan said, adding that the government remained committed to addressing the needs of marginalised communities, including the Divyangjan — a Hindi term for persons with disabilities. He singled out the Vidisha region, his parliamentary constituency, as a focus area for broader mobility initiatives.

    Chouhan framed the distribution of motorised tricycles not merely as a mobility intervention but as a pathway to economic participation, saying recipients could use the vehicles as livelihood tools and engage in local rural economies.

    Vivek Sharma, officiating Managing Director and Head of Marketing at Syngenta India, said the initiative was anchored in the company’s sustainability priorities, integrating social inclusion with agricultural advancement. He said the programme aimed to support last-mile connectivity, on-farm engagement and participation in rural enterprises across the agricultural value chain.

    Sharma said Syngenta planned to complement the mobility support with skill development and improved market access, with the stated aim of enabling “long-term transformation at the grassroots.”

    Syngenta India has operated in Madhya Pradesh through several community development programmes, including I RISE, a rural skilling initiative; I CLEAN, a market-access and hygiene awareness programme; and I SAFE, which promotes responsible use of agricultural inputs. At the Raisen exhibition, the company showcased new products and technologies for farmers.

  • Signify Khel Jyoti illuminates Haryana’s sports future

    Signify Khel Jyoti illuminates Haryana’s sports future

    Signify, the world leader in lighting, has illuminated four Kabaddi and Kho-Kho training centers across rural Haryana under its flagship CSR initiative, Signify Khel Jyoti, in a move designed to transform grassroots sports development across one of India’s most sports-rich states.

    The intervention, timed ahead of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, deploys industry-leading energy-efficient LED sports lighting to extend usable training hours beyond sunset, improve athlete safety, and drive inclusive participation — particularly among women and youth.

    “Sport has the power to bring communities together and create opportunities for young talent, especially in underserved regions,” said Nikhil Gupta, Head of Strategy & Marketing, Signify, Greater India.

    “Through Signify Khel Jyoti, we are enabling access to safe and inclusive sporting spaces by improving infrastructure at the grassroots level.”

    The centers were identified through a structured selection process in partnership with JSW Sports and Haryana Steelers, prioritizing active training ecosystems, coaching support, and long-term community impact. Ground-level execution was managed by Pro Sport Development.

    Divyanshu Singh, CEO of JSW Sports and Haryana Steelers, said the initiative unlocks significant potential at the grassroots level. “In a state like Haryana, where Kabaddi is part of everyday life, extending training hours and improving safety can directly influence participation and performance,” he said.

    The newly illuminated centers have historically produced athletes who have gone on to represent India at the highest levels, including the Pro Kabaddi League. Officials report increased enrollment across age groups, with a notable early rise in girls’ participation.

    The Haryana project forms part of a broader national effort: Signify Khel Jyoti has now illuminated over 200 grassroots sports centers across India, reinforcing the company’s commitment to building an inclusive and sustainable sports ecosystem through the power of light.

  • Beyond One-Time Plantations: Why CSR Must Invest in Living Forests

    Beyond One-Time Plantations: Why CSR Must Invest in Living Forests

    By Kapil Sharma and Deokant Payasi

    Every monsoon, plantation drives sweep across India. Corporate volunteers gather, saplings are planted, photographs are taken, and annual CSR reports celebrate impressive numbers.

    But after the cameras leave, the real question begins: how many of those saplings will survive five years later? Programs such as those implemented by SayTrees Environmental Trust demonstrate this shift, with over 9 million saplings planted across 20,000+ hectares of farmland supporting more than 25,000 farmers through agroforestry systems, capturing over 120,000–160,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually while improving soil health and farm resilience.

    Planting a tree is the easiest part of the process. Protecting it, nurturing it, and allowing it to become part of a thriving ecosystem is the real work. And that work does not end with a plantation event, it begins there. Such agroforestry landscapes can capture over 120,000–160,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually while improving soil health and farm resilience.

    India’s climate ambitions demand more than symbolic greening. They demand ecological integrity.

    India has committed to creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent by 2030 through increased forest and tree cover. Achieving this target cannot depend on plantation numbers alone, it requires ecosystems that survive and mature.

    Recent debates around commercial plantations and forest leasing have renewed an old question: what qualifies as a forest? A plantation, especially one driven by short-term economic returns, is not automatically a forest. Forests are living systems composed of native species, layered canopies, soil microbiology, water cycles, and biodiversity networks that evolve over decades.

    When restoration is reduced to numbers, ecological complexity is lost.

    Across the country, survival rates of plantation drives often drop sharply after the first few years due to inadequate maintenance, poor species selection, water stress, grazing pressures, and lack of community engagement. Reviews of afforestation efforts by institutions such as the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) have pointed to gaps between plantation targets and long-term ecological outcomes. A sapling in the soil is only the first step in a 20-year ecological journey. Without protection and monitoring, it rarely becomes a mature canopy.

    True climate resilience lies in diversity.

    Fast-growing monocultures may deliver quick carbon metrics, but ecological research from the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) and global assessments by FAO show that biodiverse, mixed-species forests provide greater long-term resilience, better soil stability, and stronger ecosystem services than single-species plantations.

    A living forest, particularly in urban and peri-urban landscapes, performs multiple functions simultaneously. According to research by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) and studies by institutions such as IISc Bengaluru, dense native tree cover can help moderate urban heat, reduce runoff during heavy rainfall, stabilise soil, and improve air quality. As Indian cities experience rising temperatures and more intense rainfall events, these ecological services are no longer optional, they are essential infrastructure.

    But these benefits emerge only through thoughtful ecological design: native species diversity, multi-layered canopy planning, soil restoration, and long-term stewardship.

    Equally critical is community partnership. Restoration efforts that exclude local communities rarely endure. Evidence from Joint Forest Management initiatives across India shows that when local communities participate in protection and monitoring, survival and regeneration outcomes improve significantly.

    Ecological restoration is not merely a technical exercise; it is a long-term social commitment.

    CSR in India has the potential to support meaningful ecological regeneration, but only if it shifts from annual plantation targets to multi-year restoration commitments. This means budgeting not only for saplings, but for maintenance, monitoring, and biodiversity support over five to ten years.

    Climate action cannot be reduced to a photo opportunity.

    India does not need more one-day plantation drives. It needs living forests, biodiverse, climate-resilient ecosystems that are designed to thrive long after the CSR cycle ends.

    If corporate responsibility is to truly serve climate resilience in 2026 and beyond, the shift is clear: from planting trees to growing forests with life. Planting is an act. Growing is a commitment. And the future of India’s climate leadership depends on choosing the latter.

    The writers are founder and co-founder of Bengaluru-based NGO SayTrees Environmental Trust.

  • HCLFoundation expands My Clean City program to Agra, donates Sanitation fleet to Nagar Nigam

    HCLFoundation expands My Clean City program to Agra, donates Sanitation fleet to Nagar Nigam

    HCLFoundation, which drives the corporate social responsibility agenda of HCLTech in India, announced on Monday the expansion of its My Clean City program to Agra, Uttar Pradesh — the first city outside the Noida–Greater Noida belt to receive the initiative since its 2019 launch.

    As part of the rollout, the foundation donated 10 e-drain carts, two e-street sweeping machines and one HomoSep robot — a mechanised septic tank cleaning device — to Agra Nagar Nigam, the city’s municipal body. The equipment is intended to reduce hazardous manual work while improving the scale and consistency of urban waste management.

    The HomoSep robot, already deployed in Gautam Buddha Nagar, has cleared more than 100,000 litres of sludge across 452 manholes and sewer sites — removing sanitation workers from direct exposure to toxic conditions. The device represents a broader pivot within the program toward mechanisation as a tool for worker safety.

    Since its launch, My Clean City has engaged nearly 750,000 citizens through behavioural sensitisation drives and trained more than 61,000 stakeholders on waste management practices. The program has managed over 17,000 tonnes of waste in Noida and Greater Noida, and runs a Waste Champions Club involving more than 2,400 school students.

    The initiative also carries a social welfare component. Under its Social Inclusion of Sanitation Workers program, 200 sanitation worker families in Gautam Buddha Nagar receive support across health, education, financial literacy and skill development — a recognition that sustainable sanitation reform extends beyond infrastructure.

    Five biogas plants, each processing between 1,500 and 1,800 kg of cow dung daily, have been established in the region as part of complementary clean energy efforts, generating fuel from waste material.

    HCLFoundation said the Agra expansion reflects a strategy of replicating proven urban sanitation models in new municipal geographies. The foundation, which reported having positively impacted over 7.5 million lives to date, focuses thematically on education, health and sanitation, skill development, environment, and disaster risk reduction.

  • RBL Bank’s UMEED empowers 800 Delhi girls with bicycles in CSR Initiative to curb school dropouts

    RBL Bank’s UMEED empowers 800 Delhi girls with bicycles in CSR Initiative to curb school dropouts

    RBL Bank, one of India’s leading private sector banks, distributed 800 bicycles and school kits to underprivileged girl students in New Delhi on March 26, under its corporate social responsibility programme UMEED — a bold move to empower vulnerable communities through accessible education.

    The girl student bicycles CSR initiative was held at Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, Pitampura, and attended by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Education Minister Ashish Sood, and senior officials from the bank. The event marks one of the largest single-day bicycle donation drives by a private bank in the national capital.

    Long distances between homes and schools remain one of the primary drivers of dropout rates among girls from low-income households in India. RBL Bank said the initiative directly targets that barrier by providing reliable, sustainable transportation — reducing travel time and safety concerns that often lead families to keep girls out of school.

    “Education is the cornerstone of a bright future. By providing bicycles and school kits, we aim to empower young girls to overcome obstacles and pursue their dreams.” — R. Subramaniakumar, MD & CEO, RBL Bank

    The UMEED programme, which focuses on enabling education and widening opportunity for marginalised communities across India, continues to scale its outreach. Officials said the CSR initiative is designed to offer not just immediate support but a sustainable, environmentally friendly solution to a systemic problem.

    No financial details of the programme were disclosed.