Rohan Mathawan
Vardhman Group, as a responsible corporate citizen has positively impacted society at large by undertaking several CSR project in the field of Education, Healthcare, Environment and Rural Development primarily in the state of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujrat where their manufacturing units are located. More than 300 million, women and girls in India do not have access to safe menstrual hygiene products, risking their health, decreasing their education and putting their livelihoods at risk. At least 23 percent of girls in India leave school when they start menstruating and the rest miss an average of five days during each monthly menstrual period between the ages of 12 and 18 years.
Ms. Suchita Jain, a woman of grit and determination, is the Vice Chairman and Joint Managing Director of Vardhman Textiles. A professional par-excellence, she spearheaded the setting up of the woven fabric division of the Vardhman Group in 1990. The division is the growth engine for the entire group today! With deep understanding of the fashion market and industry dynamics, Ms Jain has led from the front to take the woven fabric division to dizzying heights and exporting to all nooks and corners of the world. Education as a subject has been close to Ms. Jain’s heart and she has made it as one of the core activity of CSR initiatives of the Vardhman Group. She is not only contributing through the Group for the schools but she also ensures that all the spends bear fruits and is invested in a manner that results in true upliftment of the standards at the schools. Ms. Jain has also been instrumental in not only the construction of classrooms but also improved the sanitary hygiene along with installation of water purifiers and computer labs in various schools like Government Senior Secondary School (Ludhiana), Sri Aurobindo Public School (Baddi In Himachal Pradesh), Government Primary School (Giaspura in Ludhiana) and many others.
Suchita actively participates across different functions and departments, and engages herself in various CSR initiatives. She has been instrumental in the group adopting a number of environment-friendly practices in manufacturing as well. Education as a subject has also been close to Ms. Jain’s heart and she has made it as one of the core activity of CSR initiatives of the Vardhman Group. She has also been instrumental in not only the construction of classrooms but also improved the sanitary hygiene along with installation of water purifiers and computer labs in various schools.
Vardhman Group is going to launch a new CSR program project called “NANDINI”, an initiative to help break the silence on menstrual hygiene and health for the promotion of the same among adolescent girls in school and rural women. This program will be targeted at adolescent girls in the age group of 10-19 years, residing in rural areas or schools, to ensure that they have adequate knowledge and information about the use of sanitary napkins, that high quality safe products are made available to them, and that environmentally safe disposal mechanisms are readily accessible.
Objectives of the project NANDINI:
1.) To educate and create awareness of use of Sanitary Napkins and provide easy access to Sanitary Napkins by installation Simple Vending Machines with replenishment program in Rural Schools so that Girls/Women get habituated to use this Sanitary Napkins for their better health care.
2.) Secondly, to solve the problem of sanitary napkin disposal by installing incinerators which shall reduce spread of infection due to unhygienic disposal of sanitary napkins, reduce environmental pollution due to no biodegradable sanitary napkins and reduce clogging of public drainage system due to spongy nature of napkins.
Besides these contributions, Suchita is currently been deeply involved in the projects for women empowerment and learning. She believes intensely in the power of women education and true literacy. She has also made tremendous efforts to bring International platforms and learning modules for several Vardhman units, wherein they have made a tremendous difference in the life of young men and women. Under her guidance and leadership, young women from villages, working at Vardhman, have gone ahead and won awards at international forums post intense guidance and training.