Birlasoft receives SABERA 2020 Award for its community-benefiting Initiative – Project Shodhan
NOIDA, PUNE, India: Birlasoft Ltd, part of the USD 2.4 billion diversified, The CK Birla Group was awarded for the third consecutive year by the Social and Business Enterprise Responsible Awards (SABERA) for its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of crop residue management titled ‘Shodhan’ (meaning ‘purity’ in Hindi) under the category of Paryavaran & Upbhog (Environment and Consumption).
Project Shodhan was set up in 2017 with the aim of achieving zero crop residue burning in the villages of Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. In four years, the initiative has covered 61 villages and 53,000 acres of agricultural land in these “wheat bowl states.” Last year, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Foundation and Birlasoft had signed an MoU towards the third phase of Shodhan, focused on introducing alternate solutions to manage crop residue and create awareness on the ills of stubble burning.
On winning the award, Arun Rao, Chief People Officer, Birlasoft, said, “We are honored to serve the community that we operate in, and do our bit in solving the major environmental issue of stubble burning. The recognition by SABERA is testament of the efforts that our volunteer teams have put in to devise sustainable farming solutions. Through Shodhan, we hope to be a catalyst towards improving Air Quality Index (AQI) across the Delhi-NCR region, by bringing in behavioral change among farmers and promoting sustainable agricultural methods. I would like to thank CII for their partnership towards helping us reach many milestones in this community-benefiting project.
Through Project Shodhan, Birlasoft also created awareness among the farming communities through various action-oriented modes of street plays, one-to-one sessions, and behavioral communication campaigns. Demonstration sessions and trainings were provided on-ground on straw management techniques along with acknowledgment and appreciation for farmers.
