Arvind Sustainability Report 2014-16

TO IMPACT POSITIVELY, THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF PEOPLE,

THROUGH INITIATIVES OF SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, HEALTH, EDUCATIONAL, INFRASTRUCTURAL, ENVIRONMENTAL & CULTURAL ADVANCEMENT.

Our approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is based on our conviction that corporations and society are interdependent. Social responsibility thus permeates all business functions creating a 'corporate social integration'.

We are committed to put in place a strategy to ensure financial sustainability to all our CSR initiatives. We plan to achieve this through creation of a large corpus fund over a period of time.

In August 2015, we incorporated Arvind Foundation as a Section 8 Company to act as the umbrella organisation to all our CSR efforts.

Training and development programmes at Arvind are formulated to help employees acquire new skills, sharpen existing ones, and evolve as professionals, enhanced performance and productivity, boost employee satisfaction, which in turn increases retention.

Gyanda Programme

Gyanda has been specially designed to supplement the education of children studying in Municipal Schools and support them to complete the school and college education.

The Gyanda programme is unique because no other supplementary education model tracks the performance of all its students while maintaining direct contact with the parents for the entire schooling journey of 6-8 years and beyond for higher education.

Intervention	Students
Primary School Programme	1,000
Admission Facilitation & Financial Support	+ 380
Scholarships to Pursue Professional Degrees	405
Scholarships to Pursue Professional Degrees	39

Impacts

In 2016, Gyanda completed a decade of public service, and we undertook an extensive study to gauge the impact of the programme on the lives
of the students and the community they come from.

There was a 70% drop-out rate amongst peers not exposed to Gyanda.

The Gyanda students who continued their education are on their way to become Engineers, Teachers, Accountants, Psychological Counsellors, in the field of IT and similar careers in the organised sector.

Gyanda girls, have continued their study and intend to marry at an appropriate age of 23-24.

SHARDA Trust has signed a MoU with Swasth Foundation to set up Arvind Clinics which will provide a one-stop solution for all primary medical needs of people in urban slums of Ahmedabad.

As per our calculations, the model will cost a patient about INR 100 with diagnosis and three days' worth of medicines - which is about one-third of what they are spending now.

In all, 10 such centres have been envisaged for the city. Each centre is expected to serve about 40 patients per day - thereby serving 10,000 - 12,000 patients every year.

These clinics will provide following services at highly affordable charges:

	Doctor (consultation)
	Dental Care
	Diagnosis (Pathological Tests)
	Drug (Strip Packed Quality Medicines)
	Daytime care

Our Youth Advancement Programme, one of our newer initiatives, aims to provide the youth of Ahmedabad a learning platform to acquire knowledge and skills. It is carried forward in four phases:

IMPART KNOWLEDGE | DEVELOP SKILLS
INCULCATE VALUES | MEASURE PERFORMANCE

To begin with, we are spearheading programmes like:
Basic English | Computer Familiarisation | Musical Instrument Training