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Industrial Landscape
OF SOUTHERN ODISHA
Vedanta Limited.
This is an Industry based around the area of Lanjigarh, in the Kalahandi district.
Introduction
Vedanta Limited operates a 2 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) alumina refinery in Lanjigarh (Kalahandi district, Odisha), India, since 2007 and an associated 90 MW captive power plant at Lanjigarh, which was commissioned in 2008. The refinery feeds Vedanta’s aluminum smelters at Jharsuguda in Odisha and at BALCO in Korba, Chhattisgarh. In line with the group’s strategy of contributing to the communities it operates in, the company has focused interventions in the areas of health, education, livelihood, and infrastructure amongst several others, in the Kalahandi region.
Education
Child Care Centre
Vedanta Lanjigarh runs 35 Child Care Centres to provide pre-schooling facilities and support in the form of childcare, nutrition, and education for children of 2.5-6 years of age. This project focuses on Personality Development, developing arts and Crafts skills, Physical Development, Language, and Social Development for the holistic development of the children along with ensuring zero malnutrition among them. The program also supports mainstreaming of children into the formal education system.
Women's
Empowerment
Project Sakti
Project SAKHI is operational in 44 villages in 6 GPs of Lanjigarh Block and 1 GP in Muniguda Block. Under SAKHI Project, in the year 2016, 307 SHGs are federated into Shaktimayee Foundation which acts as the apex institution covering over 3000 SHG women. The objective of this federation is to facilitate and handhold the women SHG members for self-reliance, self-production, and self-employment by mobilizing internal resources of the persons, the group, or the community. The project focuses to empower women through social capital building, economic empowerment, and political participation. Smooth saving and credit operations and enabling the Women SHG members for promoting livelihood activities are the focus for financial empowerment. To promote the marketing of SHG Products, the Federation has initiated a facilitation center in Lanjigarh. Shaktimayee Foundation is supporting over 3000 women in various farm and non-farm incoming generation activities including poultry, goat rearing, grocery shops, phenyl making, turmeric processing, leaf plate making units, vegetable cultivation, mushroom cultivation, and many more. Over 1.5 lakhs masks were stitched during the COVID pandemic by SHG women, supporting the govt. missionary while making a livelihood for themselves.
Other Effects
Vedanta Hospital
Health is the most critical engagement area for Vedanta and the company works to bring affordable healthcare within reach of the communities in the periphery of its operations. Vedanta Hospital in Lanjigarh is a 20-bedded state-of-the-art medical facility, well equipped with doctors, physiotherapists, and visiting specialists like O&G, Ophthalmologist Dentist, and 24X7 ambulance service for referrals. It has been recognized for sickle cell detection and antenatal check-up under Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan. The unit has also deployed a Mobile Health Unit at Lanjigarh, which provides health services to over 50 remote villages per month, providing quality medical consultation and medicines free of cost at the doorstep and supporting the Maa Santoshi Jankalyan Hospital, the only medical service center in the remote region of Bankakundru, which caters to over 27,000 people. In addition to these services, Heath camps are organized in the villages bringing health services to the community's doorstep.
Orchard Development:
The convergence with the horticulture department has helped in creating various types of orchards in the peripheral villages. The project focuses on developing and replication of improved agriculture-based livelihood prototype for beneficiaries. The project emphasizes the capacity building of the target families to effectively establish, and maintain the orchard and build linkages with different institutions and markets. This project has helped to create direct employment through the MGNREGA scheme for field preparation, pit digging, fencing, and other associated activities.
Backyard Poultry Farming
Raising improved local poultry breeds in backyards is an important source of livelihood. In convergence with Odisha PVTG Empowerment and Livelihood Improvement Programme (OPELIP), Vedanta Lanjigarh has enhanced the livelihood means of over 500 families in our periphery villages. Each family is provided with chicks, a poultry shed, vaccines, and poultry feed. This poultry production will enhance the income of farmers and provide nutritional security at households.
Broiler & Layer Farming
For Enhancing the livelihood by strengthening the local poultry production systems and for the generation of additional income amongst farmers through broiler meat and egg production, Vedanta has implemented 500 birds capacity broiler farming and 200 birds capacity layer chick unit in convergence with District Veterinary Department, Kalahandi. Vedanta also facilitated loan support to the beneficiaries from Shaktimayee Foundation. The project has helped in generating sustainable livelihood means through this intervention.
Vegetable Cultivation
The most deserving 300 families were identified from rural villages of Lanjiagrh for the purpose of the initial implementation of the program. With the objective of the program was to improve access to nutrition-rich diverse vegetables and fruits, particularly the needs of Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers, Children, and Adolescent girls in the family. Moreover, this project has helped in the empowerment of farm women through increased participation in cultivation practices and earnings from selling the excess produce in local markets.
Bio Floc Farming
Bringing innovation to all new activities to improve the livelihood of the community will remain core. In convergence with District Fisheries Department, Vedanta has collaborated to introduce Bio-Floc, an innovative aquaculture technology that can significantly boost fish production in the Lanjigarh region of Kalahandi district. Bio floc Technology (BFT) is considered a new revolution since nutrients can be continuously recycled and reused in the culture medium, benefiting from the minimum or zero-water exchange. This technique allows fish to be bred and produced in a limited space using high-density artificial tanks. This project helps the farmer who does not have the resources to carry out fish farming in ponds and reservoirs, keeping the overhead costs minimum.
Farm Pond
An initiative started to support farmers to solve several purposes of farm needs, especially for a reliable source of water to be used by a producer for agricultural or livestock production. Lanjiagrh being a dry and rainfed area requires water-storing structures for supplying water to crops and animals. In Lanjiagrh, over 65 Farm ponds are coming up in convergence with the Soil and water conservation department to improve the livelihood means of the farmers.
Pisciculture
Utilization of natural resources in a sustainable manner to create opportunities for livelihood is our core focus. In convergence with District Fisheries Department, multiple pisciculture units have been established and more are coming up in our peripheral area, where beneficiaries will be provided with assistance for farm ponds, shed creation, fingerlings, training, and capacity building. The project focuses on creating additional water bodies for intensive aquaculture, to meet the unmet demand for fish production and to ensure income generation and self-employment creation.