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For a nation that was largely dependent on food imports to feed its population, India today is not only self sufficient in grain production but also has substantial reserves. The progress made by agriculture in the last four decades has been one of the biggest success stories of independent India.
Agriculture and allied activities constitutes a third of India's GDP. In terms of livelihood, over 2/3 of India's workforce is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture. It is the backbone of the Indian economy and growth. But there is something equally important to India's growth dimension and that is seldom given due importance; if agriculture is the backbone, then water is the lifeline.
But despite that, the state of water management in the country is dismal. Failure in rainwater harvesting, lack of groundwater management and lack of infrastructure to channel excess water to areas that are in dire need, have been sore points in India's growth curve.
We maybe champions of farmers' rights at the WTO (World Trade Organisation) but the picture on the ground is very different. Sixty years after independence, Indian farmers have no access to technology they still depend on the vagaries of nature and there are farmers commiting suicides in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Is this the time for corporate India to step in?
It's one of corporate India's blue-chip companies, with market capitalisation of more than $10 billion. ITC is now more then just a cigarette company. In fact, it aspires to be the number one FMCG company in India with a leadership position in hotels, paper boards, packaging and agriculture exports.
While its profits have grown steadily, so has the management's desire to engage with the communities it services. ITC's foray into the social sector is called 'Sunhera Kal' and was started in 2001. It has now touched the lives of millions across 8 states. ITC focusses on natural resource management, which includes wasteland, watershed and agricultural development.
Working in water stressed areas, ITC helps in rainwater harvesting, and it is partnered with Action for Social Advancement (ASA) and set aside Rs 65 crore (Rs 650 million) for community initiatives for the year 2005-2006.
ITC chariman YC Deveshwar told CNBC-TV18, "We are going to be perhaps the only company in the world, that is going to create rural livelihoods and livelihood for tribals. We are the only company in the world that is going to be water positive; we are already water positive for the fourth year running. This year, we have turned carbon positive and we are almost recycling 90% of our solid waste."
Morwani is a small village in Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh. It is rain starved for a large chunk of the year. The local reservoir at the village was not deep enough to hold water and as a result, farmers suffered. The situation in other villages was even worse but that's when ITC stepped in.
ITC teams up with villagers and encourages them to join their watershed management programme. While the villagers help with the construction, ITC looks after the design and development of the reservoirs. The company has already constructed over 1,200 such reservoirs and has helped irrigate 15,000 hectares of land throughout the country. ITC 'Sunhera Kal' project has touched the lives of almost 240,000 people across India and their efforts continue.
Jamshedpur is India's best run township. In its paternalistic tradition, Tata Steel continues to provide municipal services within Jamshedpur, and the relationship is now in its 100th year. The Tatas believe corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not just good for its soul -- it is also good for business.
Tata Steel engages in social responsibility of a different kind. While it believes the importance of business growth is tantamount to equitable upliftment of society, it also believes that there is nothing called a free lunch. That comes true especially in the case of the city of Jamshedpur.
Tata Steel provides the entire gamut of municipal services to 7 lakh (700,000) residents of Jamshedpur.
From water to electricity to other township services, the company in a sense, runs a parallel yet legal alternate government, although they do not have the power to tax, they do charge the public for these services and also levy a municipal contribution charge, but at a subsidised rate.
The drive to be the lowest cost producer of steel made the Tatas hive off the then prevalent paternalistic welfare activity into a separate company called the Jameshdpur Utility services company or JUSCO in 2003. It has a helpline monitored by a 24/7 call centre to provide assistance and relief to the residents of the city and corrective action is taken within 24 hours.
It cost Jusco just around Rs 7 to produce 1,000 litres of drinking water but it earns just Rs 5.
Now by pure mathematics, Jusco's total operating cost exceeds its revenue by 44%. But the way they treat wastewater for instance shows that the Tatas can look beyond profits, in an enlightened manner, at the environment.
Everyday, 100 million litres of sewage enters this plant and another. Over the next 9-10 hours, the water will get the third degree, matter will be screened and any suspended matter will be sublimated, and the waste will be digested by microbes. At the end of the process, clear water re-emerges.
Head, wastewater management, Karthikesh Swami, says, "The current wastewater we are discharging out of the treatment plant is meeting the pollution control norms but it is definitely not potable. For that, there needs to be further treatment beyond this. There needs to be a filtration unit, maybe it will have to be disinfected further, so it becomes potable. But the problem that is attached with this kind of water becoming potable is the social stigma rather than anything else."
Tata Steel managing director B Muthuraman adds, "I would like to see Jusco going beyond Jamshedpur into other cities in Jharkand and the cities of the Eastern region, and I believe Jusco will bring leadership and management expertise into areas, where I believe such expertise is solely needed in this country."
Apart from providing civic amenities within Jamshedpur, Tata Steel is also responsible for setting up infrastructure for a large section of the tribal population surrounding Tata Steel.
Three hours from Jamshedpur live Jharkhand's tribals -- for whom, farming has been the only source of sustenance. But lack of opportunities in irrigation facilities, absence of technology and deficiency of crop knowledge has left their area underdeveloped. Farmers here just grow one crop a year and move to town after harvesting, to look for work. Tata Steel has brought them relief. After regular discussions with the panchayats and common people, the company has now provided them with free flowing water facilities, modern machinery and tractors and more importantly, knowledge of high yielding variety of seeds to enable these tribals to remain self employed through the year.
But there are others also doing this kind of noble work. India's largest cement manufacturer Gujarat Ambuja is doing its best to improve agricultural productivity, by getting involved in water management programmes, by helping set up irrigation infrastructure and also preventing soil erosion.
A small village in Himachal Pradesh's Darlaghat district is poverty stricken, underdeveloped and low on infrastructure. But with the help of the Ambuja Cement Foundation (ACF), things are beginning to change.
This hilly region sees heavy rainfall resulting in the top fertile soil being washed away. But ACF has brought them relief. The Foundation engages local villagers of Darlaghat to implement the water management programme. So, villagers got together with ACF volunteers to build step-based watersheds to prevent soil erosion.
This simple innovation has also increased productivity. Previously, farmers here could cultivate only one crop but now they are able to cultivate two or three crops a year. This project has also helped produce salinity in the soil. Today, villagers in Darlaghat are better equipped to sustain themselves and their recent success has driven them to strive for more.