Society & CSR Activities

• In this initiative, awareness was created on good personal hygiene habits. Following this, IHHT(Individual household toilets) were constructed in 19 villages in the areas surrounding our manufacturing units in TamilNadu and Telangana
• Two villages – Kondancherry in TamilNadu and Gajwa in Telangana have been made ODF(Open Defecation Free)
• Under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, toilets have been constructed for Girl students in Panchayat schools and Government Primary and secondary schools
• RO plants with Borewell for villages, RO plants for schools and orphanages and overhead tank with water storage. The RO plants installed in villages in Telangana and TamilNadu ensure quality drinking water by removing Fluoride and Sulphur found in large quantities in the contaminated water in these villages. This has helped improve their quality of life as it reduces the incidence of skin diseases and water-borne diseases. This also reduces the loss of productive man-hours of labourers in these communities who are dependent on daily wages.

• With the support of renowned Eye Hospitals like Sankara Nethralaya, Dr. Agarwal’s eye hospital and Vasan eye care, free Eye screening camps are conducted for villagers.
• Individuals are screened for cataract, refractory disorders and retina problems. In the case of cataracts, individuals are taken to the main hospital for FREE surgery. In case spectacles are recommended, those are arranged within a week.
• Cancer screening camps for villagers were conducted for cervical, breast, oral, lung and prostate cancer.
• A health center is being run in Malaiyur hills near Madurai in keeping with the commitment to serve tribal communities in hilly areas.

• Adult literacy programmes are run in village schools and jails as a part of this initiative.
• Literacy of Women and elders in villages is strengthened by teaching them basics like writing their name, filling bank challans and identifying currencies.
• For the last 3 years, 2 adult schools are being run in villages
• In support of their reform process, jail inmates are given basic education
• The adult literacy programme is being conducted for the last 3 years in 5 jails in Telangana to enable inmates to privately appear for their 10th and 12th exams.

Background:-

Pommampatti is a small village located in Eravapatti Panchayat in Chellampatti block near Madurai. Two decades ago it was a thriving village with over 110 families growing over 30 different crops across all seasons. Over the years, lack of water has reduced 40% of the cultivable land to mono-crop cultivation of Jasmine. Due to this, about 40 families migrated to neighbouring villages in search of better livelihood. The villagers depend mostly on agriculture and cattle rearing for their survival. These families belong to the most backward Community and the incidence of poverty is high. Due to its poor connectivity, Pommampatti village does not have adequate infrastructure and the general Literacy rate is 43% - much lower than the state and district average. Villagers are forced to walk a minimum of 5 Kms to get access to any basic services such as Medical, Veterinary services, PDS, Market access, etc.

JK Fenner Intervention to make a difference:-

Beginning in 2017, JK Fenner has initiated multiple interventions in the village in these areas -

• Enhancement of Natural Resource base
• Construction of Individual household toilets
• Sustainable Agriculture with Climate Resilience
• Organic Farming
• Crop diversification with less water-intensive farming
• Green Village with greener livelihoods
• Plantation for Green Cover Development
• Energy Efficiency

Various types of Training and capacity building activities are also conducted in the community to improve farm-based Livelihoods, non-farming livelihoods, Community organizations, health, sanitation, sustainable agriculture, production technologies. Kitchen gardening and Drip irrigation.

As a socially conscious organization, JK Fenner considers skill development and livelihood creation as major pillars of its responsibility towards the communities in its neighbourhood. Skill development centers have been established in Madurai and Hyderabad and are being run under the NSDC curriculum. Some of their major courses are –

• Tailoring:- Individuals are provided assistance for employment or obtaining bank loans to start up their own enterprises. The average monthly income for these trained individuals is between Rs 8000 – Rs 10000 per month with a batch of 180-200 women from neighbouring villages trained every year.
• Driving:- Systematic training(classroom and practical on-road) over two months is imparted followed by assistance in obtaining a driving license from the Transport department and placement support for employment in OLA, UBER or other travel agencies. This provides a livelihood for youths in Chennai, Madurai and Hyderabad who can earn a monthly income of at least Rs 10000 – Rs 15000 per month. About 900-1000 individuals are expected to be trained and empowered this way in the next 3 years.
• Computer skills for hearing and speech impaired:- Since September 2018, the Hyderabad center runs a 6-months training course in Language and computer skills for hearing and speech impaired individuals. After training, they are provided placement assistance for employment in IT and BPO companies.