Apr 14, 2023 . Read 5 min
Vedanta TSPL's Project Sehat: A Beacon of Hope
Team Vedanta
At Vedanta, we believe in enhancing the lives of people paving the way for a developed and sustainable nation. For nearly two decades, Vedanta has weaved social impact initiatives into the Company's core ethos that help bring positive change. Through Vedanta's social development programs, the company transforms lives of more than 4 million people every year at the grassroots level.
Vedanta Limited’s power vertical - Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (TSPL) is the biggest investment in the state of Punjab with a total capacity of 1980 MW making it Punjab’s largest power plant & one of the greenest in the country. The company is constantly striving & committed towards holistic development & inclusive growth of community in the vicinity. All its initiatives are in line with the national objectives & SDGs revolving around the themes of quality health care, sustainable agriculture, guiding women to create livelihoods, creation of community assets, etc aimed to accelerate positive socio-economic impact, creating maximum value for all stakeholders. in FY 21-22, Vedanta TSPL’s social initiatives reached out to more than 30,000 stakeholders across 26 villages.
In today’s era, access to quality healthcare is a primary need & a critical aspect for survival with a requisite for substantial investment by all individuals to safeguard oneself & their loved ones from common cold, fatal diseases, to a full-blown pandemic that took the entire global population in its fold irrespective of age, gender, or location. According to Rural Health Statistics 2021-22 released by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, almost two-thirds of the country’s population resides in rural areas while only 33% of the total health workers and 27% doctors are available in rural areas. Furthermore, Punjab comes under the top 5 states with the highest shortfall of doctors. PHCs and CHCs in Mansa (with a population of 769751) do not have the coverage as per the IPHS norms and hence are overburdened.
It wasn’t a long time ago that several communities residing around Banawala village, had to travel ~40-50 kms to comparatively urban areas such as Bathinda & Mansa in order to obtain treatment for basic ailments. The rural communities thus, struggled for access to quality resources & qualified experts. TSPL’s CSR Health Initiative - SEHAT (Safe & Effective Health Action) began with an unwavering commitment to ensuring access to quality healthcare services free of cost to the community, close to their doorstep. The project covers a wide range of health issues and works closely in collaboration with the district health department & state government.
In line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3, SEHAT bolsters government health ecosystem by supporting a rural Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Behniwal village with medical (General Physician, Gynecology, Dental), paramedical and fourteen laboratory services delivering quality health services primarily covering people across 12 rural villages. In addition to supporting the PHC, specialized health camps, eye camps, amongst other awareness sessions (on topics like menstrual hygiene, drug addiction, WASH, and HIV AIDS) are regularly organized in peripheral villages to ensure holistic haleness & provision of high-end wellness facilities to the last mile. The project has effectively transformed the lives of over 11000 patients by aiding them with critical health facilities in the most accessible & convenient manner.
Impact assessment & perception study (FY 21-22) carried out by KPMG, indicated that the program was widely appreciated, with all stakeholders agreeing to increased awareness about personal health indicators & malnutrition in children, experiencing timely availability of treatment, increase in income due to improved health in the community along with 69% of the population expressing remarkable decrease in their average expenditure on health & 87% of the stakeholders vouching for improved access to quality healthcare services amongst other benefits post-intervention by Vedanta TSPL.
Solely in FY 22-23, the project has catered to over 3000 patients through PHC, 28 independent health camps, 16 eye camps & more than 36 awareness sessions healing over 11500 lives. Vedanta TSPL is devoted to further engineering projects with a sharp focus on enriching lives & transforming communities for good.
