Located towards the northern part of the state of Odisha is the city of Rourkela, popularly known as Ispat Nagar, it has one of the largest steel plants of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) known as Rourkela Steel Plant. The Rourkela Steel plant of SAIL has been involved in various CSR projects in the areas of education, women empowerment, livelihood, skill development, agriculture and livestock development, and land & water management for the upliftment of the locals.

NABCONS is a development consulting organisation, supporting and promoting sustainable socio-economic prosperity through coherent learnings for 15 years. It is engaged in providing consultancy and advisory services in the strategic spheres of agriculture, rural development and allied areas as well as helping corporates in their CSR endeavours. The organization offers a wide range of services with focus on the following- feasibility studies, project formulation, appraisal, financing arrangement, project management and monitoring, concurrent and impact evaluation, restructuring of agri-business units, vision documentation, institution development and turnaround of rural financial institutions, policy and action research studies, micro finance related training, exposure visits and capacity building, training of trainers and building up training institutions and non-farm enterprise promotion, among others.

The organization was mandated by Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) to assess and document the impact of their CSR programmes like Project Kishori and Parswanchal Vikas project. Assessment of the CSR initiatives is essential as its helps one-gauge aspects like sustainability, efficiency, efficacy etc. It contributes towards knowledge development. Documentation helps in comparing data and establishing best practises.

Project Kishori was implemented to bring about empowerment of adolescent girls and women in the bordering villages of Rourkela and to enhance the ability of women to influence the direction of social change. Women Resource Centres were established in 30 villages to enhance the knowledge and skill of the women and ignite the spirit of entrepreneurship among them.

Undertaking a visit to the peripheral areas of Rourkela Steel Plant for conducting the evaluation of its CSR activities took the project staff inside the homes of the beneficiaries and gave them a glimpse of their lives.

Interacting and engaging with women like Pramilafrom Lohanda village, Phuloprabha Naik from Birketa and Gauri from Rium, living with their families near the Rourkela Steel Plant for years, one canobserve the degree of positive transformation in their lives after they were made a part of Project Kishori. These women spoke along with intricate nuances, about their journey in the Women Resource Centres established under the Project with key focus on educating and empowering women and building entrepreneurial essence among them. There was a noticeable change in their attitude, increased efficacy and self-reliance. Gauri from Rium village mentioned that the project helped her become financially independent as well as help her contribute to her family’s income.

Another CSR initiative of this steel plant, Parshwanchal Vikas project was implemented in 16 villages in four blocks of Sundergarh district with the aim of augmenting livelihood opportunities of the villagers by equipping the community for managing and mobilising natural resources effectively, skill development and knowledge enhancement. 

One of the beneficiary of the Project, Rita Baa from Pasra village gleefully showed her new improved smokeless chulha, which lets the smoke out of the house; consumes less fuel and time compared to the traditional chulhas. Installation of new improved smokeless chulhas has been very comforting for beneficiaries like her. The efficient use of fuel has not only resulted in reduced incidents of eye diseases and lesser consumption of fuel wood but has also reduced drudgery of women from going out to collect fuel wood.

The NABCONS staff managed to build a good rapport with the women members of Anjali Self Help Group from Baniguni village in a short span of time. Coming from diversified backgrounds, these women are an inspiration for many in the village. The primary income generating activity of the group is vegetable cultivation. The group members also ventured into garment trade after receiving training on stitching and tailoring equipment. Though itis one of the good performing SHGs but the feedback that all the members unanimously expressed about the need for additional training and capacity building, continued motivation and further support in income generating activities would help the corporate plan for its future interventions.

The impacts of CSR interventions were visibly overwhelming. These projects apart from benefiting villagers with sustainable development and access to better living are also creating goodwill for the steel plant.

NABCONS in its exercise to document the CSR initiatives carried out a detailed study. The study entailed survey of beneficiaries, agriculture land, wadis, artificial insemination centres, vaccination-cum-deworming camps, vermin-composting units, check dams, SHGs, etc.

The CSR impacts on target groups were documented and further areas of interventions were identified. Subsequently, the organiztion also undertook Baseline Survey, Perception Study, Need Assessment and Preparation of Perspective Plans for Socio-Economic Development of Peripheral Areas for CSR Programmes of Rourkela Steel Plant.

Impact-Story is a series on development and CSR interventions leading to some impacts on the ground. If you have a project, innovation or intervention that has changed the lives of a few people or a community, please share a brief note at csr@ngobox.org. Our Team will get back to you after validating the information for a detailed coverage.