Press Releases

Vedanta Aluminium launches ‘Vidya Graha’ e-learning program for students

Jharsuguda, Odisha; 29^th March 2022: Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium, has launched ‘Vidya Graha’, an e-learning program, to provide recorded lectures and online career counselling to students from classes 8^th-10^th, thus augmenting classroom learning in government schools of Jharsuguda. The project was inaugurated by Ms. Pushpa Minz, District Education Officer, Jharsuguda and Mr. Pradipta Kumar Sa, Additional District Education Officer, Jharsuguda. It will be implemented in association with Sarthak-Sustainable Development Foundation.

Conceived to address the learning gaps created by the pandemic over the past two years, the first phase of Vidya Graha will cover more than 1000 students in Jharsuguda. The learning sessions will be uploaded on a cloud server and delivered digitally through a Learning App and Management Platform. They will be available to students on a progressive web app-based platform. The program also ensures that students’ performance is mapped and monitored through the portal, to highlight improvement areas for subsequent action. To further support students, employees of Vedanta will volunteer for recording the lectures and conduct offline coaching classes at various learning centres across Jharsuguda.

Speaking on the launch of the Vidya Graha e-learning program, Mr. Sunil Gupta, CEO, Vedanta Ltd., Jharsuguda said, “Vedanta’s focus on harnessing innovation and technology to create business solutions was the spark that conceived our ‘Vidhya Graha’ Project to address social needs. It aims to bridge the digital divide and expand opportunities for students to access quality education anywhere, anytime. Our education interventions in the community strive to ensure that students hailing from rural communities do not miss out on robust and holistic primary education, which is fundamental to shaping a bright future.”

Appreciating Vedanta’s contribution towards providing quality education in the community, Mrs. Pushpa Minz, District Educational Officer, said, “The Vidya Graha project is a very good platform for students to maximize their learning potential, which is the need of the hour, due to the gaps created by the pandemic. This initiative, which comprises both digital as well as offline learning, will ensure that every student has access to quality education. I thank Vedanta Jharsuguda for coming up with this unique learning platform, which I believe will reach out to more schools and students in the coming years.”

Vedanta’s educational interventions have nurtured and supported 6,400 children in the region. Some of the company’s notable educational initiatives include:

• Infrastructure development in government schools at Jharsuguda under ‘Mo School Abhiyaan’, an initiative by the Government of Odisha, benefiting more than 1000 students
• Vedanta Mini Science Centres, which provide innovative models, experiments, and instruments to more than 1.200 students to enhance their aptitude and skills in learning science and mathematics in effective and interesting ways
• Vedanta Computer Literacy Programme (VCLP), which imparts basic computer literacy and training to those who do not have access to proper training on using computers
• Vedanta-DAV Education Support Program which supports the education of meritorious students from peripheral communities at DAV Public School, Jharsuguda
• Artificial Intelligence Education Project which has introduced Artificial (AI) programs in schools of Jharsuguda to impart knowledge on the basics of AI and build AI-based solutions for real-world problems

These programmes have been a key enabler in the rise in literacy levels of Jharsuguda, which is reflected in higher matriculation/higher secondary passing percentage in the region. Vedanta’s social interventions in the domains of sustainable livelihood, quality education, women empowerment, health, water and sanitation, bio-investment and community infrastructure reach out to over 70 villages in Jharsuguda and nearby areas, benefiting nearly 80,000 people in a year. It empowers more than 4000 women from over 339 SHGs, provides doorstep healthcare services to about 32,000 people annually, gives educational support to more than 6400 students, has planted more than 1.48 lakh trees in partnership with locals at the community level.

Vedanta is India’s largest producer of the green metal, aluminium, operating a world-class 1.6 MTPA aluminium smelter and 3615 MW thermal power generation facility in Jharsuguda, Odisha. The only Indian smelter in the global ‘1 Million Tonne’ production and export club, Vedanta Jharsuguda is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications across core industries. With its state-of-the-art facilities, unparalleled engineering prowess, R&D and innovation abilities, Vedanta Jharsuguda is working towards a sustainable and greener future for all by spurring emerging applications of aluminium, the ‘Metal of the Future’.