We are firmly committed to improving the quality of life of local communities through a number of progressive educational initiatives. These include elementary education for children, renovation of schools, computer literacy programmes, scholarships for meritorious students and centralized kitchen to reduce dropout rates and enhance nutritional standards. We have also partnered with various civil society groups and NGOs to strengthen educational infrastructure in rural areas.
Nand Ghar
Nand Ghars, Vedanta’s flagship community development project, are set up in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Women & Child Development to modernise anganwadis in rural India. Through this initiative, we are doing significant work for improving child health and nutrition, providing education to children below the age of six, and socio-economic empowerment of women. The Nand Ghar Project creates state-of-art facilities equipped with televisions for e-learning, solar panels for reliable power, safe drinking water and hygienic toilets in an ultra-modern structure. Fresh nutritious food is provided to children, pregnant and lactating mothers. Primary healthcare services are rendered through mobile health vans and women are empowered through skilling, credit linkage, and enterprise development. Skill up-gradation training workshops are also organized for the empowerment of women. Currently, Project Nand Ghar runs 50 such centres in Kalahandi and Rayagada districts of Odisha, of which 3 Nand Ghars and 2 Anganwadi Centres have been certified with ISO 9001:2015. This year, we are working towards creating over 200 such facilities in Odisha, and 100 in Chhattisgarh
DAV Vedanta International School, Lanjigarh
Vedanta established Lanjigarh’s first English medium school – the DAV Vedanta International School, well-equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities like smart classrooms, modern computer, science and maths labs, multimedia room, a well-stocked library, etc. to fuel the inquisitiveness of growing children. More than 1200 students study in the school today, a majority of whom are from local communities. This school has created an aspiration for quality education among local communities, which is reflected in the rise in literacy levels in Kalahandi from 38.4% in 2001 to 50.9% in 2011. Vedanta Limited, Lanjigarh, is the patron of the school and it is being managed by the DAV College Managing Committee, New Delhi.
Partnership with Government of Odisha for Mo School Abhiyaan
Vedanta is supporting four government schools in the Jharsuguda district through ‘Mo School Abhiyaan’, an initiative by the Government of Odisha under its School & Mass Education Department. We are investing in revamping P.S. High School, Kolabira, C.D.B. Nodal High School, Parmanpur, B.D. High School, Baghmara and G.P. Nodal High School, Samasingha located in the Kolabira Block, and building infrastructures like smart classrooms, e-libraries, Information and Communication Technology Labs, playing ground, garden etc.
Vedanta Vidyarthi Vikas Yojana (VVVY)
Vedanta Vidyarthi Vikas Yojana aims to improve the quality of education in secondary school (classes 8-10). Students are provided with supplementary and remedial tutorial assistance for greater proficiency in critical subjects like Math, Science and English, through innovative teaching methods. We have also formed watch committees comprising community representatives and employee volunteers at each center to closely monitor program execution and quality of education.
Project Connect
To address the community’s need for quality education, BALCO runs the Vedanta Study Centre, where our employees provide tutorial assistance to underprivileged students hailing from peripheral communities, who do not have access to good supplementary education. Our employees take regular classes in English, Math and Science (Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics) for these students.
Vedanta Mini Science Centre
Developed in partnership with STEM Learning, a specialist in the field of education interventions, the Vedanta Mini Science Centres house innovative models, experiments and instruments to enhance aptitude and skills of students in learning science and mathematics in effective and interesting ways. We conceived this project with the aim to lessen the gap between contextual and rote-based learning, and replace it with a practical approach, which will equip children with the skills needed to get lucrative opportunities in their fields of interest. Each of the five centres houses 75 models of scientific learning that are aligned with the school curriculum (Odisha State Board).
Shiksha Sambal
This is a coaching program for under-privileged students of the local community who are studying in government and government-aided schools. Supplementary tutorial assistance in English, Math and Science is being provided to high school and senior secondary students to improve their academic performance. We are particularly proud of the fact that this program has played a significant role in encouraging wider adoption of higher education among the first-generation learners of the region.
Vedanta Computer Literacy Program (VCLP)
The Vedanta Computer Literacy Program, a digital literacy initiative by the Vedanta Foundation, aims at imparting basic computer literacy and training to young students hailing from rural background, who do not have access to proper training on using computers. The centre runs basic computer literacy program in 2 government schools at Jharsuguda, Odisha, and also a certificate program for young girls in the community. The six-month intensive program for girls has a specialized course curriculum which has been designed for students with the provision of certification after completion of the full course.
Vedanta-DAV Academic Support Programme
In partnership with DAV Public School, Jharsuguda, our Academic Support Programme aims at giving children from peripheral villages access to quality education in a premiere institution. Till date, the program has benefited over 200 such children, making them the first generation in their families to avail education in an English medium school.
Partnership with IIT Delhi’s start-up ‘CyranAI’ for BUDDHI Artificial Intelligence Kits
Vedanta has introduced BUDDHI (Build, Understand, Design and Deploy human-like Intelligence) Artificial Intelligence (AI) kits in Jharsuguda’s schools to help students bridge the gap between theoretical and practical aspects of AI. This will help students develop an intuitive understanding of the subject, and explore applications of AI in any existing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEAM) projects. BUDDHI Kits hev been developed by IIT Delhi’s start-up CyranAI Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
