Kanan Devan launches 3 new schemes
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Kochi: In a move that has helped to re-build the lives of thousands of its employees, the largest participatory management company in the world, Kanan Devan Hills Plantations Company Limited has launched three projects based on the principles of corporate social responsibility.
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The first of these project consists of a Rs 1 crore strawberry unit, where over one lakh bottles of preserved strawberry are produced every year. With each of these 500 gm bottle fetching Rs 80 in the market, the total turnover of the venture works out to over Rs 1 crore.
The spill over effects has impacted the lives of almost every employee of these tea estates. The strawberries are cultivated by the workers who rear it in the kitchen gardens, which are allotted by the company. This has greatly helped in augmenting the family income of the employees, Krishna Rao, Manager of Pallivasal estate, said.
In a paper presented at the just-concluded India International Tea Convention 2009 in Kochi, he said the project has helped to keep not only the husband and wife of the family employed but also other dependants of the household.
The vision of the project, Rao said is “to collectively create a unique and sustainable business model with the commitment and involvement of all the employees as partners.” With over 12,000 workers on its rolls, the project is estimated to have benefited over 5,000 families.
While the strawberry cultivation has benefited the workers at large, the 64 employees of the preservation unit are differently enabled, highlighting the corporate social responsibility of the company.
The second project Aranya is a unit specialising in the Japanese tie-and-dye form of Shibori Dyeing. The unit is hundred per cent environment friendly and uses only natural dyes. The dyes are sourced from eucalyptus, eupatorium, tea residue, pinecone etc. The theme of Shibori dyeing was introduced to the workers by Yoshiko Wada.
Further training was imparted by international experts like Ana Lisa Hedstorm and Barbara Arlen etc through a series of workshops. There is zero-waste generation as the waste water is recycled for garden purposes. The solid waste is converted into organic manure and is used in gardening and at the tea plantations. This unit is run mainly by differently enabled children of the employees.
The fibrous waste generated from the dyeing unit becomes the raw material for handmade paper making unit at the next project, Athulya. The Athulya project also recycles paper waste into value added stationery material. As part of its corporate social responsibility project, an eminent assessor who is versatile in the field of social welfare and healthcare undertakes an annual survey on achieving the welfare targets — savings, literacy, social welfare and occupational safety among the workers. Reflecting the participatory nature of the company, 97 per cent of the workers are equity holders of the company.
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