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| Leading the
way |
| Madhuram Narayanan Centre |
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Mother Teresa releasing the Upanayan Early
Intervention Programme. |
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| We reproduce here excerpts of a conversation between
Anuradha Mundkur, N Kumar, Vice Chairman, Sanmar group, Air Vice Marshal
V Krishnaswamy (Retd.) and Mrs Jaya Krishnaswamy on Corporate
Social Responsibility and the Madhuram Narayanan Centre published
in the Jan-Mar, 2000 issue of Changes. |
| Sanmar group’s role in social development
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| As far as community development
work is concerned, we see Sanmar as a catalyst not as a forerunner.
The programme should run on its own. Our main objective is to
run the company, make profit and find good credible social development
programmes to support. |
| Since you do not have a written
policy on corporate social responsibility do you earmark a budget
for these kinds of activities? |
| While we do not have an earmarked
budget, this has not stopped us from supporting good credible
projects. We look at a specific issue – ask for a budget – if
its in line with what we have in mind then we support it. Its
a no strings attached support – we do not expect anything in
return and that is true for most corporate houses. |
| Your views on the importance of
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in India. |
| There are three issues here. |
| First, unless the country and
the community grow your company is not going to do too well
either. That’s one of the reasons why we ensure that the area
around where we have our factories become better and better.
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| Second, CSR is in a sense nation building. However
small your effort, you are still contributing towards the growth of
the nation. |
| And finally, even corporates have a conscience and
the corporate conscience needs to be at peace with itself and it keeps
asking you if you are doing enough. Its no longer a question of “are
you doing something”... its “are you as a company doing enough”. We
need to find a way to do more in primary areas like education, and
health. CSR is a continuing process not a one time ad hoc donation
be it in cash or kind. And that’s the kind of commitment to social
development that the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is working
on. |
| What is missing or lacking in CSR in India? |
| What is lacking is corporate networking. Many companies
are doing many different things but we are unable to share among ourselves
in an organizational manner what each of us is doing so that we can
learn from our shared experiences and work in a better manner. To
some extent CII is trying to act as a network but they need to do
it much more so that we corporates do not duplicate work... we add
value to each others efforts... that is what is important. |
| We need to increase awareness on CSR among young
management students. We should target business schools. |
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| What prompted you to set up the
Madhuram Narayanan Centre? |
| Setting up Madhuram Narayanan
Centre was the culmination of an effort that began in 1987.
At that time, Indchem R & D Labs, a subsidiary
of Sanmar group was exploring how we could use our expertise
in computers to benefit the less privileged. One suggestion
that came up was to computerize an existing training programme
for people working with children who have mental retardation.
Another was to develop an indigenous programme suited to the
country’s needs – and this is what we did. During the course
of the project we found that there was also a lack of structured
testing in the country. The Madhuram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional
Children (MNC) was conceived as one that would test the programme.
MNC was established in 1989 as a model centre to provide services
to children with mental retardation (in the age group of 0 to
6 years) through the systematic training programme developed. |
| There are so many centres in the
country that are providing services to children with mental
retardation. What makes the Madhuram Narayanan Centre’s effort
unique? |
| The centre uses a training programme
that has been indigenously developed by an interdisciplinary
team of paediatricians, development psychologists, special educators,
occupational therapists and computer professionals. Called the
Upanayan Early Intervention Programme, it has been conceived
keeping in mind Indian socio-economic needs and the cultural
milieu. The entire programme is in the form of training modules
both in printed form as well as software, which can be used,
independent of each other. The first of its kind in the country
the programme was written originally in English and has now
been translated into a number of Indian languages. |
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| One of the cornerstones of the programme is parental
involvement. The Centre aims at developing parents’ as co-teachers.
Selected parents are given systematic orientation course on early
intervention so that they can train not only their children but also
others at the centre |
| What are the other activities that MNC is involved
in? |
| As part of disseminating our learning from the approach
to the rehabilitation of children with mental retardation, we conduct
teacher training programmes and workshops. We also train teachers
from other institutions working with similar children. |
| We have also helped setting up
similar centres in Tamil Nadu notably: |
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The Southern Railway Women’s Welfare Organisation,
Chennai |
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The Air Force Wives Welfare Association, Tambaram |
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The Women’s Welfare Association of Atomic Energy
Establishment, Kalpakkam |
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Women’s Association of Bharat Heavy Electricals
Limited, Tiruchi |
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Avvai Kappagam, Chennai |
| Future Plans... |
| The Centre is located just above the Bala
Mandir Primary School, in T Nagar, Chennai. We hope to increase
interaction between the two institutions so that children with
mental retardation have better chance of being accepted by mainstream
society. |
| Another dream is setting up Madhuban – chain
of early intervention centres in the country to be connected
by a computer network. This is a long-term plan. The first step,
which we have already set in motion, is setting up similar centres
in Tamil Nadu. We now want to take it to other cities as well
– we will provide all the necessary inputs but whoever is interested
will have to take care of the management and take the programme
forward. |
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| Any Takers?... |
| You can contact: |
Air Vice Marshal V Krishnaswamy (Retd.), Director,
Madhuram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional Children,
126, G.N. Chetty Road, T. Nagar, Chennai - 600 017. Tel: 044-8281042,
8267568
E-mail: nkoff@sanmargroup.com |
| Reproduced with permission from Changes, a magazine
brought out by Action Aid India. |
| Sanmar Sonata Captain averts accident |
We reproduce
below a letter received by The Master, Sanmar Sonata, on his skilful
handling of the vessel in a sudden gale at Mangalore port, saving
damage to both ship and port.
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HINDUSTAN PETROLEUM CORPORATION LIMITED
(A GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ENTERPRISE)
REGISTERED OFFICE: 17, JAMSHEDJI TATA ROAD, MUMBAI - 400 090)
MANGALORE
POL TERMINAL, VILLAGE BALA, VIA KATIPALLA, MANGALORE - 574 149.
Letter of
Appreciation
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The Master,
M T Sanmar Sonata, Mangalore.
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06.06.2000 |
| Kind
Attn. Capt. Shri A E Allen |
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Dear Sir,
We express our
gratitude and appreciation for the timely action taken by your team
for handling the emergency situation suddenly developed @ 0905/06.06.00
due to heavy windy showers dispositioning the VSL at the berth leaning
towards the shore end. Due to your concentrated efforts this serious
accident was averted and you were able to move the VSL safely to
its original position.
We are thankful
to all the efforts put in by you.
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Very truly yours,
L B Pawar
Dy. Manager
Hindustan Petroleum Corpn. Ltd.
Pol Terminal, Mangalore
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