MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems delivers on its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commitments by partnering with SNS Foundation (SNSF). Since the enforcement of the CSR Law in 2014, Promoting Quality Education in government and govt. aided schools, along with extending scholarships to matriculate female students for engineering education, has been the primary focus of MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems CSR. The company undertakes initiatives around its two manufacturing locations of Chakan (Pune, Maharashtra) and Chengalpattu (Tamil Nadu).

Promotion of Quality Education in partner govt. / govt. aided schools is carried out through two main approaches –

1. Appointment of additional teachers in partner schools who coach students lagging behind in learning outcomes to bridge the gap and bring them to the desired grade level results
2. Infrastructure Development to improve standards of safety & security, health & hygiene and optimum learning environment

Under its CSR mandate , one of the key initiatives during 2014-15 was the renovation of a century-old primary school building in Talegaon, Pune with a strength of 250 students. The foundation stone of the said school Paisa Fund Primary School was laid down by Indian freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak . Currently, it is being run and managed by Nutan Maharashtra Vidya Prasarak Mandal (NMVPM). However, with the infrastructure falling apart and the premises being declared unfit for any kind of activity, NMVPM was close to demolishing this heritage site. However, the timely intervention of SNS Foundation and MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems in 2014 gave a new lease of life to the 100-year-old institute.

In recent years, while schools were closed in times of the pandemic MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems and SNSF initiated its engagement with four new schools around its manufacturing unit in Chakan and filled essential gaps in their infrastructure needs.

• Zila Parishad Primary School, Majgaon: With no kitchen for the preparation of mid-day meals and washrooms in a dilapidated condition the school authorities struggled to provide the 20-odd students studying from Classes I to IV an optimum learning environment. Making good use of the time during lockdown a new kitchen and washrooms for both boys and girls have been constructed. Thus the academic year 2022-23 offers a brand new start for the students and teachers of this school.
• Zila Parishad Middle School, Koregaon B.K.: Essential repairs and much needed facelift was undertaken in this school having 90-odd students studying in Classes I to VII. A new washroom was also constructed for the girl students.
• Zila Parishad Middle School, Brahmanwadi: The school has 80-odd students studying in Classes I to VII. Much of the school building has been declared unfit for use by govt. authorities. Efforts of govt. authorities to provide the school new infrastructure were matched by MATS and SNSF with the addition of one new classroom and washrooms for girls and boys. The school did not have any washrooms prior to intervention of MATS and both students and teachers were subjected to open defecation.
• Zila Parishad Primary School, Kondiwade: The school’s infrastructure was affected by the cyclone Nisarga. The school has 50 odd students studying in Classes I to IV and its adjoining Aaganwadi (early childhood care and education centre) has 60 children in the age group of 0-6 years. To mitigate the losses due to the cyclone the school has been extended support with a new Aaganwadi (hall, washroom and pantry) one new classroom and washroom for girls and boys.

Students in above mentioned partner schools around Chakan and in 19 odd partner schools around its Chengalpattu facility were at risk of dropping out due to prolonged school closure as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Limited or no access to equipment needed for online classes coupled with poor internet connectivity among the target population made continuance of quality education in pandemic conditions a distant dream.

Hence to tide over the situation teachers of SNSF adopted different measures when severe lockdown restrictions were not in force.

• Conducted community classes i.e. classes are held in open spaces within communities where students reside
• Visited students in their homes and extended individual teaching inputs

In FY 2021-22, against the target of providing education to 100+ school students around Chakan MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems CSR has been able to reach out to and provide education to 256 students (168- primary, 88- Middle). At Chengalpattu, against the set target of 700+ school students, 892 government school students were taught through a mix of online and offline means (community teaching).

MEDHAVI Scholarship Programme:

MEDHAVI scholarship scheme brings together MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems’ objectives of employing a large number of women on the shop floor and its corporate responsibility of promoting education and skill development. MEDHAVI, a Hindi word, means a genius, intelligent female. As the name suggests, MEDHAVI is a scholarship programme only for matriculate girls from underprivileged families (annual income less than ₹2 lacs) willing to pursue diploma in mechanical/automobile engineering. Post completion of the diploma, MEDHAVI scholars are supported with job facilitation in manufacturing companies.

Supporting meritorious students to pursue higher technical education, enhances their employment opportunities. Earlier in 2016, the CSR implementing team of SNSF partnered with Nutan Maharashtra Vidya Prasarak Mandal (NMVPM) Polytechnic College for the enrolment of the scholarship awardees. In 2018 Nutan Maharashtra Vidya Prasarak Mandal decided to close the polytechnic division and Marathwada Mitra Mandal Polytechnic college was selected to continue the MEDHAVI scholarship programme.

Till date out of the 52 enrolments at both institutes, 9 students dropped out, 21 graduated, and 22 are pursuing their diploma. In the last three years, there have been no dropouts. Out of 22 Graduates, 15 Students were placed in jobs and 11 are currently working (2 at Gabriel India Limited, Khandsa, 2 at Bajaj Auto, Akurdi, 2 at Magna International, 2 at Continental, 1 each at TVS Lucas, Steelcase, and Tata Motors).

A MEDHAVI graduate joining employment increases the family income by nearly 150%.

The Company also responded during the second wave of the pandemic by supporting local government health facilities around the MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems, Chakan plant, with supplies of medical equipment, safety gear, and hand sanitizers. The five facilities include Primary Health Centers of Pait, Karanjivihire, and Sub Center of Chimbali in Rajgurunagar Block and Primary Health Center of Adale and Kamshet in Maval Block of Pune District. Across the five government health facilities, 125 litres of hand sanitizers, 500 N95 and 1000 surgical masks, 350 PPE kits, 2700 hand gloves, 160 face shields, and 27 oximeters were donated.

Annually, these health facilities serve a population of 2.29 lacs living across 110 villages of Rajgurunagar and Maval blocks.

MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems CSR also supports the operations of a tailoring unit in rural Talegaon, which trains adolescent girls and women under the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) aligned job role of “Self-Employed Tailor”. During the first lockdown in 2020, mask stitching orders from the ANAND Group companies were secured for the alumni of this tailoring centre to support them as they lost out on other livelihood opportunities. A total of 44K+ cloth masks were stitched by 13 alumni of the centre with total earnings of ₹1.78 Lacs.

Till date the centre has trained 200+ young female adults and women in tailoring skills. 75% of them are self-employed.

With the above broad initiatives, for the year 2023-24 MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems CSR stands aligned to three main UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – UN SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being, UN SDG 4: Quality Education, UN SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth and UN SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.

The key impacts of MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems CSR for the year 2023-24 against the above four UN SDGs are as follows:

MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems delivers on its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commitments by partnering with SNS Foundation (SNSF). Since the enforcement of the CSR Law in 2014, Promoting Quality Education in government and budget private schools, along with extending scholarships to matriculate female students for engineering education, has been the primary focus of MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems CSR programme. Under the CSR programme, one of the key initiatives during 2021-22 was the renovation of a century-old primary school building with a strength of 250 students. Indian freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak laid the foundation started this school, Paisa Fund Primary School. Currently, it is being run and managed by Nutan Maharashtra Vidya Prasarak Mandal (NMVPM). However, with the infrastructure falling apart and the premises being declared unfit for any kind of activity, NMVPM was close to demolishing this heritage site. However, the timely intervention of SNS Foundation and MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems in 2014 gave a new lease of life to the 100-year-old institute.

The Company also responded during the second wave of the pandemic by supporting local government health facilities around the MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems, Chakan plant, with supplies of medical equipment, safety gear, and hand sanitizers.

MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems CSR also supports the operations of a tailoring unit in rural Talegaon, which trains adolescent girls and women under the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) aligned job role of a self-employed tailor. During the first lockdown in 2020, mask stitching orders from the ANAND Group companies were secured for the alumni of this tailoring centre to support them as they lost out on other livelihood opportunities.

With the above broad initiatives, for the year 2021-22 MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems CSR stands aligned to three main UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – UN SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being, UN SDG 4: Quality Education and UN SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.

The key impacts of MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems CSR for the year 2020-21 fall under the UN SDG 4: Quality Education. They have been aligned against specific targets of the goal.

CSR activities at MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems, Chakan, Pune

Education:
With a vision to provide free primary and secondary education without any discrimination, the Company has initiated several projects for promoting education, including special education and employment enhancing vocation skills, especially among children, women, the elderly, and differently-abled and livelihood enhancement projects.

MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems, together with the ANAND Chakan Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan campaign, has provided education to 100+ school students from government or subpar private schools who are at risk of dropping out due to prolonged school closure because of the COVID-19 induced lockdown at Rajgurunagar and Maval Blocks of Pune, Maharashtra. The Company has also supported developing the much-needed civil infrastructure at four local schools. CSR support has been provided by repairing the kitchen and constructing washrooms for girls and boys at Zila Parishad Primary School in village Majgaon. Another aid was provided to build washrooms for girls and internal painting in all classrooms at Zila Parishad Middle School in village Koregaon of Khed Block. Construction of one classroom and washrooms for girls and boys at Zila Parishad School in village Brahmanwadi and Aaganwadi in village Kondiwade of Maval Block in Pune was also supported under the CSR activity.

In FY 2021-22, against providing education to 100+ school students from government /low-grade private schools who were at the risk of dropping out due to prolonged school closure as a result of the COVID-19 induced lockdown, MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems CSR has been able to reach and provide education to 256 (168- primary, 88- Middle) students. In COVID -19 induced lockdown dominant teaching model adopted by teachers who work under MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems CSR was Door to Door teaching.

MEDHAVI Scholarship Programme:
It is a highly promising scholarship programme designed to realise ANAND’s aspiration of employing a large number of women on the shop floor under the CSR agenda of promoting education and skill development. Under this programme, meritorious students are supported with higher technical education, thus enhancing their employment opportunities. Earlier in 2016, the CSR team partnered with Nutan Maharashtra Vidya Prasarak Mandal (NMVPM) Polytechnic college to pursue a diploma in Mechanical Engineering. As Nutan Maharashtra Vidya Prasarak Mandal decided to close the polytechnic division, Marathwada Mitra Mandal Polytechnic college was selected to continue the MEDHAVI Project. Out of 52 enrollments from both institutes, 9 students were dropouts, 21 graduated, and 22 pursued their diploma. In the last three years, there have been no dropouts. Out of 22 Graduates, 15 Students were placed, 11 are working now ( 2 at Gabriel India Limited, Khandasa, 2 at Bajaj Auto, Akurdi, 4 at Magna International, 3 at Varroc, Steelcase, and Tata Motors).

During the year 2021-22, the programme provided scholarship support to 24 matriculate girls pursuing their Diploma in Mechanical Engineering and Automobile Engineering from Marathwada Mitra Mandal Polytechnic College and supported 4 new enrollments. Out of 6 Graduated students in the year 2021-22, 5 have joined the industry.

Skill Development:
Skill development is a major thrust area of ANAND to promote youth employment and training. The Company imparts vocational skills and training to young girls and women of the community to enable employment opportunities. Against set training target of 30 girls and women in NSDC’s Apparel Sector Skill Council job role (NSQF Level 4) of self-employed tailor for 2021-22, 27 have been trained, and 10 are under training. (Total: 37). Of the 27 trained, 15 are self-employed.

COVID-19 Relief Efforts:
Chakan being ANAND’s main manufacturing hub, is also home to thousands of migrant, industrial workforce, who were at high risk at the onslaught of the second wave of COVID 19. Also, Maharashtra was the worst affected state in the country, which prompted MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems and SNS Foundation team to take necessary actions by providing medical supplies, safety gear, and medical equipment to five government health facilities. The five facilities include Primary Health Centers of Pait, Karanjivihire, and Sub Center of Chimbali in Rajgurunagar Block and Primary Health Center of Adale and Kamshet in Maval Block of Pune District. Across the five government health facilities, 125 litres of hand sanitizers, 500 N95 and 1000 surgical masks, 350 PPE kits, 2700 hand gloves, 160 face shields, and 27 oximeters were donated. Annually, these health facilities serve a population of 2.29 lacs living across 110 Rajgurunagar and Maval Blocks villages.

CSR activities at MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems, Chennai

Education:
Education is the primary thrust for MAHLE ANAND Thermal Systems CSR activities with the ANAND Chennai Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan campaign. Under this programme, additional teachers were placed in the government-adopted schools at Chengalpattu, Chennai. They provided education to 700+ school students at risk of dropping out due to prolonged school closure considering the COVID 19 induced lockdown. Against the set target of 700+ school students, 892 government school students were taught through a mix of online and offline means (community teaching). 416 out of 892 students were taught in the offline mode (community teaching). Additionally, the Company supported the construction of two new classrooms and repaired the boys’ washroom at the government school, Padalam.