Mr. Krushna Gopal Mohapatra, Collector inaugurated Vedanta Bal Chetana Program at Biranarayanpur village in Rayagada district on June 12, 2009. Under the program 646 Anganwadi centre in five blocks of the district would be supported. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Vedanta Aluminium, District Administration of Rayagada and Vedanta Foundation on May 20, 2009. Mr. Umesh Mehta, Vice President (Mines); Mr. SK Pattnaik, AVP (Mines); Mr. S. Sarkar, Head (CSR) of Vedanta Aluminium were present on the occasion. The program is expected to benefit more than 30,000 children.
Children up to two years and six months shall be given micro-nutrient supplement, where as children between two years and six months and six years will be given additional nutritional supplement along with the food provided by the Government, under ICDS program. Specialized training shall be conducted for the Anganwadi workers under the project to improve the pre-school education for the children. In order to make the Anganwadi centers more attractive, educational toys will also be given to each centre. Vedanta Foundation will be responsible for implementation of this program in the district.
Presently, Vedanta is providing support to 400 Anganwadi centres in Kalahandi district, covering about 16000 children. Encouraged by the success of the program, the company extended the project to Rayagada district. The company has also been successfully operating 38 childcare centres with 1290 children in peripheral villages at Lanjigarh. The children are provided with free uniforms, nutritious mid-day meals, afternoon snacks at the childcare centres. ‘Bal Chetna Program’ is one of the Flagship program in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities of Vedanta. The program is being implemented by Vedanta Foundation in partnership with local administration in Orissa, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan.
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