Small and Medium Enterprises Day is observed on August 30 every year. The day is celebrated across the country with an aim to promote the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector, which is the second largest sector in employment generation. Small and Medium Enterprises play a vital role in the economic development of a country like India. With around 36.1 million units, MSMEs are reported to contribute around 6.11% of the manufacturing GDP and 24.63% of the services GDP. The MSME industry employs 120 million people and has the potential to increase its contribution to GDP up to 50% by 2025.
Staying true to its nation-building commitment, Hindustan Zinc aims to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities to rural and tribal women in five districts of Rajasthan – Ajmer, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand & Udaipur and Pantnagar in Uttarakhand – under its micro-enterprise initiative, Sakiutpadan Samiti.
With “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” as its guiding principle, SakhiUtpadan Samiti of Hindustan Zinc runs four agri-business ventures and two textile units, employs over 130 Sakhi women and procures high-quality pesticide-free agricultural produce from rural women farmers. It offers a wide range of superior agricultural and textile products for sale across India. The Sakhi Self Help Group program is in line with government initiatives on women financial inclusion to encourage women entrepreneurship.
“Khatri” and “Upaya” – Bridging the gap between rural women and the end consumer, Sakhi’s marketing organisation works with women collectives to help them evolve into independent and sustainable businesses. Commenting on the programme, Arun Misra, CEO, Hindustan Zinc said, “Our guiding principle of ‘Voice for local’ encourages the growth of small scale industries, especially in local communities. We believe in empowering local communities with the power of entrepreneurship and skill development to move towards an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. Our Sakhi are catalysts for social change in local communities and through the collective micro enterprises of Sakhi Utpadan Samiti, we have provided them with a platform to skill, empower and mainstream social and economic inclusion of women in an equal society.”
Gudiya Kanwar and Jamuna Khatik are living proof that Arun Misra’s vision of creating a platform to support women entrepreneurs is taking shape. Gudiya, a pickle factory worker from Kayad village in Ajmer, Rajasthan, talks about her experience: “Joining the pickle factory changed my life. Now, I am singlehandedly supporting my son’s education and raising funds to build a new house. I hope to see our small factory converted into a pickle factory one day.” As the sole breadwinner of her family, Gudiya currently earns between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000 a month.
Jamuna Khatik, a textile worker in Agucha village, Bhilwara, Rajasthan, recalls, “I learnt a lot at the factory. I was slow when I joined but I didn’t give up and over time, my sewing speed improved from 50 marks to 500 marks a day. My dream is to set up my own sewing centre to provide employment to other Sakhi people, educate them and improve their social status.” Jamuna started the job with a monthly salary of Rs 4,000-5,000 but now earns more than Rs 25,000. With the money she has earned, she has been able to make fixed deposits to ensure her children’s higher education.
Hindustan Zinc, along with its business partners Manjari Foundation and Saheli Sameti, have empowered women from remote and marginalized areas like Gudiya and Jamna by mobilizing and organizing them into self-help groups and related classes. Over time, these self-help groups have evolved into creditworthy financial vehicles, providing members with savings opportunities and access to microfinance credit for enterprise development. More importantly, there is a viable model that can be replicated for other women who now have the opportunity to rise out of poverty and become financially and socially independent.
Hindustan Zinc has been working on women empowerment in the community since 2006 and continues to push the boundaries in this field. The project involves 194 Functional Village Organizations (VOs) and 5 federations across 7 locations, engaging over 27,000 women. Sakhi addresses socio-economic challenges faced by women by developing their competencies in leadership, skill development, financial management and entrepreneurship. This is just one of the many activities the company does for the community, which is one of the key pillars of its business philosophy.
About Hindustan Zinc Limited
Hindustan Zinc, a Vedanta Group company, is the world’s largest and India’s only integrated producer of zinc, lead and silver. Headquartered in Udaipur, Rajasthan, the company owns zinc and lead mines and a smelter. Hindustan Zinc is self-sufficient in electricity with its captive thermal power plants and is also venturing into green energy with the installation of wind power plants. The company is ranked number one in Asia Pacific and number seven globally among mining and metals companies in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index 2020. Hindustan Zinc is a certified Water Positive Company, a member of the FTSE4Good Index and has an ‘A’ rating from CDP for climate change.
Being a people-first company, Hindustan Zinc believes in instilling values of trust and excellence and fostering a high-performance culture among its employees. The company prides itself on its best-in-class HR practices and employee-centric initiatives, which has resulted in Hindustan Zinc being recognised as one of the “Best Companies to Work For 2021”, “Companies with Great Managers 2020” (People Business magazine) and with the PeopleFirst HR Excellence Award.
As a socially responsible company, Hindustan Zinc works tirelessly to improve the lives of rural and tribal people living near its operations. The company is among the top 15 CSR spenders in India and currently reaches half a million people across 184 major villages in Rajasthan and five villages in Uttarakhand. As the market leader, Hindustan Zinc accounts for around 77% of India’s growing zinc market.
To know more about Hindustan Zinc, please visit: https://www.hzlindia.com/home/ and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates.
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