ravva engaging with community

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Ravva - Cairn’s first development success story has been the bedrock of innovation, and the foundation of our success story in the country and the region. Ravva, which in Sanskrit and Telegu means “diamond” showcases the journey of growth that Cairn has been able to achieve in its business. Incidentally, Ravva is the only field in India to get such a unique name indicating the belief of the nation in it.

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Page 1: Ravva Engaging With Community

             

RAVVA

Celebrating 16 Years of Technical Excellence

Engaging with the Community

Page 2: Ravva Engaging With Community

RAVVA – Celebrating 16 years of Technical Excellence CSR

Engaging with the Community

Ravva has not only been a site of technological and operational innovation but has also seen various social innovations through the multiple corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects undertaken by the Ravva JV.

The first phase of development commenced in 1995 and its success was dependent on the co-operation of farmers and other land contributors. The community engagement process was handled effectively and disputes were resolved through multilateral discussions.

Local industry around Ravva was primarily agriculture based and reliant on prawn farming along with seasonal labour. The infrastructure facilities, access to health and sanitation, and access to education were limited.

The local community suffered from high levels of unemployment, when aquaculture, after a brief period of success from 1994 to 1997, failed to sustain and generate revenues as export rates declined sharply. CSR projects in Ravva initially arose from the need to enhance the local infrastructure for operations, through roads, hospitals, drainage systems, and irrigation canals. Specifically, it was initiated with the provision of clean water to the Yanam village through the public water distribution system, realignment of the irrigation canal, building internal roads in the village, and repairs to the S.Yanam – Amlapuram road.

Cairn India has now become an integral part of the local community and a partner to the local administration to help in the economic and social development of the people in the region. A village development committee represented by all groups under the Chairmanship of the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) was formed to discuss community issues.

CSR Programme Objectives at Ravva

To ensure universal delivery of primary education through infrastructure improvement, financial assistance and supplementing government education programmes To improve health infrastructure and supplement primary healthcare with a focus on safe drinking

water and sanitation To promote sustainable livelihoods with special focus on women and to generate income and

employment at a local level through the ‘Micro Vendor’ programme To develop and sustain the local economy through infrastructure development in consultation with

the community and the district administration

Infrastructure Development Initiatives

Infrastructure facilities at S.Yanam were poor in terms of roads, health and education. As it was one of the least developed villages in the East Godavari district, initial CSR activities focused on infrastructure development.

In partnership with the district administration, projects that have been implemented are:

Building and repairing roads Construction of a bridge at Edarapally Construction of a bus terminal at Amalapuram

Page 3: Ravva Engaging With Community

RAVVA – Celebrating 16 years of Technical Excellence CSR

Construction of community halls Providing electricity to a fishermen’s colony Provision of water taps Repairing irrigation canals Construction of houses in partnership with the local administration in Yanam and Chellapalli

villages

Economic Development Initiatives The focus of the Ravva JV’s economic development programme in S.Yanam was to develop the skills of the community members to aid in income generation. This was done by developing the following: 1. Tailoring Centre A tailoring centre was established in S.Yanam in November 2004. A trainer was engaged to teach sewing to the rural women and sewing machines were procured for the centre. A self help group of women was formed in October 2005. The Ravva JV has been supporting the association by encouraging the women to stitch coveralls, wind socks and uniforms for school children

2. Lace Training Narsapur in west Godavari is famous for lace items, which are exported to various countries. A lace training programme for women was organised in S. Yanam by the Godavari Delta Lace Artisan Cottage Industry, which works on livelihood promotion for women through lace making. The women were trained for six months after which they moved to working in their respective homes. The training has opened new income generation opportunities for these women. 3. Coir Unit A coir unit was established in 2006 by using machines procured by the District Development Agency post the tsunami but lying unused in the cyclone shelters. The Coconut By product Society in Uppalaguptam was engaged to provide assistance to the women. The society supplies raw materials and takes finished products. The coir unit has been specifically beneficial for those who are largely dependent on agriculture and, hence, only have seasonal employment. 4. Other training Fire fighting training has been provided to community members in order to enhance individual economic skills, self reliance and emergency response capability. A Basic First Aid Training was organised through the St. John’s Ambulance Association, Hyderabad, for contract workers, drivers, school teachers and SHG members.

Micro Vendor Development Programme The Ravva JV has also undertaken sustainable development initiatives to address the communities’ livelihood concerns and build and strengthen goodwill in the region. In alignment with best corporate governance practices, the Micro-vendor Development Programme was launched in Ravva in 2005. The aim was to build the skills of local communities to aid the supply chain of Ravva JV operations and, in turn, other emerging industries in the region. The goal was to provide communities with an opportunity to integrate with the JV’s supply-chain and benefit from the growth in the JV’s operations. Opportunities for local sourcing were identified in the supply chain of CSR, Contracts and Procurement, Health, Safety and Environment, and Operations. A Best Practices Team (BPT) was set up to provide technical assistance and advisory services to the local entrepreneurs to become micro-vendors. This helped in integrating the programme with the overall business operations at the Ravva plant.

Page 4: Ravva Engaging With Community

RAVVA – Celebrating 16 years of Technical Excellence CSR

The objectives for the programme were:

To increase local content in the supply chain of the Ravva JV Training entrepreneurs and Ravva micro-vendors to become suppliers to the Ravva JV and other

business enterprises in the area To develop value added services and technical assistance to micro vendors/local suppliers such

as market access, tender facilitation and information dissemination Many micro-vendors have now secured contracts from other corporations in the region using their experience with the Ravva JV. As an outcome of the programme, many jobs were created. They helped with minor civil, electrical and mechanical work, gardening, maintaining the green belt, waste management, sand blasting and painting. In appreciation of their efforts in launching the Micro- Vendor Development Programme, Cairn India received the TERI Corporate Award for Social Responsibility. 2008. Such has been the success of the programme that Cairn India has used the experience at Ravva to help design the Enterprise Centre initiative in Barmer, Rajasthan. The success of the Micro-Vendor Programme can be attributed to the integration of community development needs with the business needs of the company. Another key attribute is the approach towards the programme, which has been market oriented rather than altruistic and philanthropic. Education Initiatives in Ravva According to the 2001 census, literacy rate among adults in Andhra Pradesh was 54.2%. The literacy rate in the East Godavari district was 65.48% with 70% male literacy and 60.94% female literacy. However, the dropout rate at upper primary level is high. Schools are characterised by teacher absenteeism, adverse student-teacher ratio, lack of teaching materials and other infrastructure challenges. Education initiatives in Ravva have been focused on infrastructure development. Cairn has supported the construction of school buildings in S.Yanam and surrounding villages to facilitate access to schools and improve the literacy rate in the area. Computers were provided to local schools to promote computer literacy among the rural children. As a large part of the community could not afford school uniforms for their children, these were provided to several children, which were stitched by members of the Ravva Self Help Mahila Association. In order to improve literacy among adults, adult education centres were started. Contract workmen working at the Ravva Terminal have been attending the centres and some of them even qualified for the college entrance examination conducted by the Andhra University. Girls, who had dropped out after matriculation, due to distance and financial problems, were encouraged and helped to appear for the college common entrance examination.

Health Initiatives The CSR health initiatives in Ravva have been focused on curative care and periodic programmes. Initiatives include health infrastructure building mainly through the district administration, camps, and campaigns (in collaboration with the NGOs and the Government hospital). Due to the absence of a hospital within a radius of 17 km from S.Yanam village, there was a huge demand for medical services in the area. Responding to this need, a charity clinic was established in the village in February 1995 for providing out-patient services. In addition to out-patient services, round the clock emergency services are also provided to the community free of charge. A hospital and veterinary clinic were also constructed by the district administration with the support of the Ravva JV. Various awareness camps on health related issues like HIV/AIDS, cancer, blindness control and cataract are organised on a regular basis.