By Ritwik Sinha. Consulting Editor, Business India
F

or Naveen Jindal-led Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL), part of the diversified $25-billion business conglomerate Jindal Group, the action unfolds in deep, tribal belts of Chattisgarh, Odisha, and Jharkhand, where the company's plants and mines are located.

The over $5.5-billion revenue steel and power major operates in pockets like Patratu, Barbil, Angul, Tensa, and Raigarh, which have a sizeable tribal population in their surroundings. Here the company implements social programmes that are linked with healthcare and assists local Self Help Groups in improving social conditions around themselves.

“A tribal population of about a million people resides in the catchment area of operational centers. We run Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes to improve their living standards,” informs Dr. Prashant Hota, President and Group Head (CSR & Sustainability), JSPL, and secretary-general of JSPL Foundation, the CSR arm of the company.

The CSR structure of the metal and mining major includes serving the local communities by responding to needs, building and strengthening community institutions and Panchayati Raj Institutes (PRIs), and providing assistance during times of disasters.

The pockets within which JSPL operates have not emerged as high-intensity zones on the national, coronavirus map. "Nevertheless, we are helping the administration to beef up healthcare infrastructure. Raising awareness about the nature of the disease has been a key focus. Not many in the surrounding tribal villages know about the disease,” Hota explains.

Using its existing CSR programmes as a base, the company has focused on getting healthcare centers ready to deal with any eventuality. JSPL Foundation operates two hospitals at Raigarh and Tamnar, which are managed by Fortis, and 115 beds have been earmarked for Covid-19 patients including 15 ICU beds.