Category: Latest At ANAND

On 5th October 2018, a mobile medical van was operationalised to provide primary healthcare services to rural communities living in the vicinity of the SUJAN JAWAI Leopard Camp. The SUJAN JAWAI Leopard Camp joined hands with the SNS Foundation inaugurated the mobile medical van in the presence of Mr. Pushpendra Singh, Minister for Power, Rajasthan. He was received by Mr. Jaisal Singh, Chief Executive, SUJAN and Director, Anand Supervisory Board. The event was organised at a local temple and was attended by the heads of villages where the van would operate as well as several enthusiastic members from the general public.

Since 2014, SNS Foundation has been working in five villages in the proximity of SUJAN JAWAI Leopard Camp, addressing mission-critical areas such as education, skill development, health & hygiene and conservation. Till now, healthcare services for both the human and veterinary populations were delivered through camps where free medicines were distributed after consultations with qualified medical professionals. The newly-inaugurated mobile medical van would do weekly rounds of the villages to cater to the healthcare needs of the local populace.

It was a moment of pride for SNS Foundation as its efforts towards coaching students in adopted government-run schools yielded commendable results in competitive exams. From Jodahalli, Parwanoo, Nashik and Gurugram, 30 students tasted success in two national and three state-level competitive exams. Students qualifying for the Maharashtra State Scholarship Exam and the National Means cum Merit Scholarship would receive monthly stipends till they complete Class VIII and Class XII, respectively. Those successful in entrance tests of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV), Adarsha Vidyalaya and Morarji Desai Residential School will receive free, English-medium education in modern methods from Class VI to Class XII.

“Women entrepreneurs hold the key to our country’s success, they are not only creating income for themselves, but also creating employment opportunities for more women” – Mr. Giriraj Singh, Minister of State – Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises, Government of India

On18th September, Mr. Giriraj Singh congratulated 120 women from Rewari, Varanasi and Noida (40 each) on completion of their entrepreneurship training in apparel and garment-making under the American India Foundation’s ‘MAST + E’ (Market Aligned Skills Training + Entrepreneurship) programme.
The programme was sponsored by Goldman Sachs and implemented by the SNS Foundation in Rewari and Bharatiya Micro Credit in Varanasi and Noida. National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development and IIM Lucknow (Noida campus) played the role of technical partners.

SNS Foundation partners with American India Foundation to conduct Ability Based Livelihood Empowerment (ABLE) programme in Gurugram.

It focuses on skill development training and livelihood generation of youth with disabilities. 40 ABLE alumni students recently shared their experiences and received their course completion certificates during the graduation ceremony.

On 3rd September, Ms. Laura Kohler, Senior Vice-President – HR, Stewardship & Sustainability visited the Kohler Plumbing Academy in Gurugram, which is supported by SNS Foundation. In the past three years, the Kohler Plumbing Academy has trained 250+ youth as plumbers and got 71% of them placed. She felicitated the toppers of recent batches and interacted with the alumni and their employers. She thanked ANAND, Henkel and the SNS Foundation for supporting the training programme.

SNS Foundation, with support from ANAND employees, contributed to the Kerala flood relief efforts. >500 families were provided three essential items, a two-burner gas stove, a mixer-grinder and a pressure cooker to help them restart their lives. The initiative was kicked off by Mr. Yathish Chandra, Police Commissioner, Thrissur and Mr. S. Sarathi, AMC Member gave away the first set of three items to an affected family. A team of seven plumbers and four electricians trained by the SNS Foundation in Gurugram, accompanied by two staff members and armed with basic tool kits travelled to flood-affected areas of Thrissur district. The team helped >230 individual households, police stations, government hospitals, anganwadis, mortuaries, municipal committee offices and staff quarters to repair damaged electric and plumbing connections.

SNS Foundation partnered the American India Foundation to conduct the ‘ABLE’ (Ability Based Livelihood Empowerment) programme in Gurugram.

The programme focused on providing skill development training to enhance the employability of youth with speech and hearing impairments. SNSF has trained >300 such youth, of which >200 are working in the hospitality, retail and manufacturing sectors. The year 2017 was special one for the SNS Foundation as it was able to bring the e-commerce behemoth, Amazon India, on board for hiring ‘ABLE’ graduates. By the end of the first year, ~20 ‘ABLE’ graduates were working in four warehouses of Amazon at Tauru and Bilaspur (Haryana), Okhla (Delhi) and Jaipur (Rajasthan). The graduation ceremony of ‘ABLE’ in January 2018 was graced by the presence of several dignitaries from Amazon India. It also saw the participation of the main sponsors, American India Foundation as well as co-sponsors ANAND CY Myutec Automotive and Dana Anand India. ~20 graduates received their course completion certificates from the various dignitaries and shared their experience of being a beneficiary of the ‘ABLE’ programme. The chief attraction of the event was a bharatanatyam performance by ‘ABLE’ graduate, Banavath Rayamallu. He is presently working in the F&B department of Lemon Tree Hotels, Aero City (New Delhi).

Through the months of December, January and February, SNS Foundation teams across Nashik, Dewas, Jodahalli, Chennai, Hosur and Pune conducted two- day-long personality development workshops for its MEDHAVI scholarship awardees. In these workshops, the awardees, most of who were in their first year of diploma engineering set their goals for 2020 to become ‘good working engineers.’ The workshops followed a uniform pattern and encouraged participants to reflect on their time management skills as they were going through many firsts in their lives – staying away from their homes in hostels, studying and appearing for exams in English language, being exposed to subjects like engineering and drawing, among others. Secondly, the workshop tried to instil in the participants a never-say-die attitude as they were likely to face many challenges in the pursuit of their 2020 goals. The workshops also included interaction and presentations to representatives of ANAND Group companies that had donated to the MEDHAVI scholarship programme.

Differently-abled students of the SNS Foundation presented the National anthem in sign language as part of the World Disability Day celebrations at India Gate, New Delhi. The students, with speech and hearing impairment, were undergoing training in packaging and inspection at SNS Foundation’s Gurugram centre. This year’s World Disability Day was especially significant from an Indian context as it marked the first anniversary of the promulgation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016, which recognised 21 different disabilities. The event saw cultural performances by differently-abled individuals and showcased their indomitable spirit. The event, followed by a ‘Walk to Freedom’ involving all the participants, was jointly organised by the American India Foundation and the National Council for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People and sponsored by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India.