Vedanta Aluminium observes World Menstrual Hygiene Day at Lanjigarh, Odisha
2nd June 2022
- Sensitizes women and girls from local communities on menstrual health & hygiene
Lanjigarh, Kalahandi, Odisha; 2nd June, 2022: Vedanta Limited, Lanjigarh unit, India’s premier producer of metallurgical grade alumina, organized awareness programs on World Menstrual Hygiene Day with women and girls hailing from local communities in Kalahandi district, Odisha. The objective of these sessions was to build community awareness on period poverty, communicate the importance of managing health and hygiene during menstruation, prevent social discrimination against menstruating women, and debunk prevalent myths and taboos.
Despite being a natural bodily process, menstruation, and conversations around it continue to be viewed as a social taboo in many quarters. This affects the ease with which women in India can access safe hygiene products, restricting their personal freedoms and affecting their wellbeing, especially in rural India. Held year on year, the company’s menstrual health awareness campaign brings together members of government, medical professionals, Anganwadi and ASHA workers, as well as community leaders to sensitize the menstruators on these issues. Mrs. Jyotsna Rani Mishra, Lady Supervisor – ICDS and Dr. Charubala Sahoo, Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialist at Vedanta Hospital in Lanjigarh, shared their experiences and knowledge with the participants of the awareness session along with frontline health workers. Comics in Odia language, containing comprehensive information about menstruation were distributed to the women and adolescent girls, along with free sanitary pads. The participants were also provided information on the safe disposal of used sanitary pads to avoid the spread of any communicable diseases.
Speaking about the company’s health interventions, Mr. GG Pal, Dy. CEO, Vedanta Limited – Lanjigarh said, “It is essential that discussing menstruation stops being viewed as a taboo and accepted as a normal biological process that has an important bearing on a woman’s health and wellbeing. Through targeted interventions on women’s health, Vedanta Aluminium is playing a significant role in helping rural women make healthier and safer choices. Ensuring the health and wellbeing of local communities is an important pillar in our community development endeavours, and we have a multitude of initiatives to this end including the Vedanta Hospital, Mobile Health Units, Health Camps and more.”
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Charubala Sahoo, Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialist, Vedanta Hospital, said “Menstruation is an important aspect of a woman’s development and directly influences her physical and mental wellbeing. It is therefore a concern that taboos surrounding menstruation continue to exist even today. As a society we have a collective responsibility to tackle the misconceptions that prevail as only then can we call ourselves a truly developed nation. This campaign has been an effort towards this goal.” The Vedanta Hospital is a state-of-the-art multispecialty facility at Lanjigarh (Kalahandi), provides medical care to 60,000 residents from nearby villages.
Vedanta Aluminium Business, a division of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest manufacturer of aluminium, producing half of India’s aluminium i.e., 2.26 million tonnes in FY22. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. The company operates a 2 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) capacity alumina refinery in Lanjigarh (Kalahandi district, Odisha), India since 2007 and an associated 90 MW captive power plant. With its world-class aluminium smelters, alumina refinery and power plants in India, the company fulfils its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.
About Vedanta Limited:
Vedanta Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, is one of the world’s leading Oil & Gas and Metals company with significant operations in Oil & Gas, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Copper, Iron Ore, Steel, and Aluminium & Power across India, South Africa and Namibia. For two decades, Vedanta has been contributing significantly to nation building. Governance and sustainable development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety, and environment. Vedanta has put in place a comprehensive framework to be the ESG leader in the natural resources sector. Vedanta is committed to reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2050 or sooner and has pledged $5 billion over the next 10 years to accelerate the transition to net zero operations. Giving back is in the DNA of Vedanta, which is focused on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company’s flagship social impact program, Nand Ghars, have been set up as model anganwadis focused on eradicating child malnutrition, providing education, healthcare, and empowering women with skill development. Under the aegis of the Anil Agarwal Foundation, the umbrella entity for Vedanta’s social initiatives, the Vedanta group has pledged Rs 5000 crore over the next five years on social impact programmes with a thrust on nutrition, women & child development, healthcare, animal welfare, and grass-root level sports. Vedanta and the group companies have been featured in Dow Jones Sustainability Index, and was conferred Frost & Sullivan Sustainability Awards 2020, Golden Peacock Award for excellence in Corporate Governance 2022 and certified as a Great Place to Work 2022. Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange.
For more information, please visit www.vedantalimited.com
About Vedanta Aluminium Business:
Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing more than half of India’s aluminium i.e., 2.29 million tonnes in FY23. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. Vedanta Aluminium ranks 1st in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment 2023 world rankings for the aluminium industry, a reflection of its leading sustainable development practices. With its world-class aluminium smelters, alumina refinery and power plants in India, the company fulfils its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.
For more information, please log on to www.vedantaaluminium.com
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