FE : When social responsibility means more than opening a school :Sept 24,2007

A NEAT, tree-covered campus. Rows of concrete buildings. A well-equipped computer centre, a pool in the background, playgrounds and young boys and girls. Doesn't seem like a government school in a village, does it? But there are many such schools in and around Tiruporur and Alathur panchayat in Tamil Nadu. They are outstanding examples of order, beauty, discipline and result. How these have been possible for government schools is the question.

The answer is more manifest in the eyes rather than in the words of P Lakshmi, headmistress of the Government Boys' Higher Secondary School, Tiruporur. "Our school owes a lot to Orchid. It is not just the Rs 1 lakh they contributed to the fund to raise a new building or for redesigning and equipping our computer lab, but also for the help they have given to the intellectual and academic development of our students. Since ours is a government school, result alone is not our aim. We admit all boys, even those sent out from other schools for their poor academic record or bad behaviour. We are able to help them with the support of Orchid."

Chennai-based Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, which began operations in 1994 as an export-oriented unit, is today one of the top 15 companies in the Indian pharmaceutical industry. With a turnover of close to Rs 1,000 crore, the company employs over 3,200 people, including 600 scientists, technologists and other professionals. Orchid's core competencies are in the development and manufacture of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and Finished Dosage Forms, as well as in drug discovery.

This pharmaceutical company carries out its social responsibility (SR) with active employee participation, on a new philosophy of partnership with government organisations and NGOs. It makes for a tripartite arrangement, a workable model for the entire country, with total annual expenditure running into more than Rs 50 lakh.

According to K Raghavendra Rao, managing director, Orchid, "as responsible members of society, we realise that we cannot alienate ourselves from the examine every patient thoroughly and give proper advice, guidance and medicines. Even the high-charging city consulting doctors won't attend to patients the way these doctors help our people,'' she says. There are tangible results. The health of mothers and children has substantially improved. "We are conducting surveys among young girls to prevent anaemia and other malnutrition problems. Orchid helps us in this too,'' she adds.

Orchid conducts medical camps, eyecare camps and other medical services in these villages. K Manjula, director of an NGO that works for women welfare and assists in the formation and running of women's self-help groups, says there has been marked economic development among the poor women. "We are able to help them help themselves and get the help from Orchid,'' Manjula says, adding that there are half a dozen NGOs that work among the communities with the support of the company. A N Raghunathan, a resource person engaged by Orchid for more than 25 active SHGs, trains the groups in bookkeeping and accounting, dispute settlement, group problem solving and selection of right economic activities.

There is also a training school for women funded by Orchid, where more than 120 ladies are trained every year in garment factories in the nearby areas. Some of them join together and run their own readymade garment business. Orchid is also running an employment counter. The Orchid Trust has tie-ups with 36 large and medium enterprises to supply unskilled, semi-skilled or skilled workers. Employable youth in the area register with Orchid. Adequate training and pre-interview coachings are given to them. So far, 67 people have got permanent jobs and over 600, contract employment.

What keeps Orchid apart in its SR activities has been its decision to partner with and empower government agencies and institutions in the neighbourhood. The strategy was not to open a school or clinic. People were sceptical about this earlier, but today several corporates in Tamil Nadu follow its model. They work with the existing institutions and help them become centres of excellence, picking themselves up from utter chaos and deprivation.

eco-system and have to give back to the world sustainability from our industrial and business operations."

"As a pharmaceutical company, our desire is to extend beyond healthcare to resolving the ills in the social and economic arenas. The company recruited professionals with MSW degrees and gave them freedom to plan need-based community services," he said. The Orchid Trust was born to undertake a variety of projects for the socially and economically deprived sections.

So support for the school programme from Orchid comes in different forms. They pay for additional teachers, organising evening and night study classes with meals, special tuitions for weak students, conducting student counselling sessions by experts and effecting a total change in these students - most of whom come from very poor families. Orchid does all these in collaboration with parent-teacher associations. "What we feel great about Orchid is its behindthe-scene operations. Instead of opening a school by themselves and competing with government schools, they chose to work with the existing government institutions and serve the community as a whole, giving us the credit. Now our school has become a centre of several socio-cultural activities, student camps, sports meets and health camps, as we have the backing of Orchid''.

This government school has produced several scout cadets, NSS volunteers and junior Red Cross Society members, who have earned national recognition with the financial and intellectual backing of Orchid. P Suganthi, child development project officer, Tiruporur, having to manage 137 anganwadis of 25 children of 0-5 years each, expressed similar enthusiasm about the support Orchid extends to carry out their programmes. "They come with doctors and medicines and examine every patient thoroughly and give proper advice, guidance and
medi­cines. Even the high-charging city con­sulting doctors won't attend to
patients the way these doctors help our people," she says. There are
tangible results. The health of mothers and children has sub­stantially
improved. "We are conducting surveys among young girls to prevent anaemia
and other malnutrition prob­lems. Orchid helps us in this too," she adds.
Orchid conducts medical camps, eye­care camps and other medical services in
these villages. K Manju)a, director of an NGO that works for women welfare
and assists in the formation and running of women's self-help groups, says
there has been marked economic develop­ment among the poor women. "We are
able to help them help themselves and get the help from Orchid," Manjula
says, adding that there are half a dozen NGOs that work among the
communities with the support of the company. A N Raghunathan, a resource
person engaged by Orchid for more than 25 active SHGs, trains the groups in
book­keeping and accounting, dispute settle­ment, group problem solving and
selec­tion of right economic activities.
There is also a training school for women funded by Orchid, where more than
120 ladies are trained every year in garment factories in the nearby areas.
Some of them join together and run their own readymade garment business.
Orchid is also running an employment counter. The Orchid Trust has tie-ups
with 36 large and medium enterprises to supply unskilled, semi-skilled or
skilled workers. Employable youth in the area register with Orchid. Adequate
training and pre-interview coachings are given to them. So far, 67 people
have got permanent jobs and over 600, contract employment.
What keeps Orchid apart in its SR activities has been its decision to
part­ner with and empower government agencies and institutions in the
neigh­bourhood. The strategy was not to open a school or clinic. People were
sceptical about this earlier, but today several cor­porates in Tamil Nadu
follow its model. They work with the existing institutions and help them
become centres of excel­lence, picking themselves up from utter chaos and
deprivation.