(THE NEWSMAN OF INDIA.COM)
Mumbai, Feb 18: Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilisers & Chemicals Ltd (GNFC) won the prestigious ET Now CSR Leadership Award 2018 in the category of Innovations in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Practices for its strategy of synergizing its CSR
initiatives with core business practices, national policies and for empowering women by livelihood generation. The award recognizes the company’s contribution in uplifting of
downtrodden women and girls by developing and implementing transparent, sustainable and pragmatic socio-economic programs.

The ET Now CSR Leadership Awards was established in partnership with World CSR Institute. The organizations have instituted a stringent 3 level procedure of shortlisting and selection. The selection was done by independent assessors comprising experts in
the field of CSR. The set parameters included the quantified impact, cost-benefit balance, rigorous monitoring and evaluation procedures in place and scope for up scaling the CSR practices. Above all, this award recognizes and rewards excellence in businesses that are seeking ways to be more sustainable and inclusive in their activities. GNFC was
selected as the winner for its outstanding innovative practices displayed in its flagship CSR Project, The Neem Project.

Fulfilling the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister for 100% Neem coating of Urea, GNFC pioneered the innovative Neem Project that has provided livelihood to rural women and landless laborers. The project has been active in 53 districts across 5000 villages in six states of India. During the last three years, by collecting over 45,000MT of Neem seeds,
more than INR 45 crore income has been generated for nearly 4.5 lakh women. GNFC’s approach has been lauded in the UNDP Impact Assessment Survey which concluded that there has been significant decrease in domestic violence, increase in asset creation
and education expenditure. In particular, Neem Project’s innovative practices displayed, towards facilitating a better quality of life for weaker sections of society through livelihood generation and women empowerment, was on spotlight.
GNFC won from among 187 applicants for the ET Now CSR Leadership Award 2018 in
the category of Innovations in CSR Practices. Applicants include SMEs, Public, Private, Government Enterprises and NGOs for the year 2018.
The gala award ceremony organized by ET Now was conducted at Taj Lands End,
Mumbai on 18th February 2018. Dr. R.L Bhatia, Chief Editor and Founder, World CSR Day gave away the award. GNFC’s Neem Project won the ET Now Innovations in CSR Practices Award for its innovative approach to solving the problems at the community level by creating a win-win situation for all stakeholders. The event was attended bydignitaries from different sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, education, infrastructure, technology, banking, real estate, road transport, etc.

The Neem Project has been appreciated by the Prime Minister in numerous forums for its positive impact on the rural people of Gujarat. Prior to the ET Now Award, it was awarded the ‘Porter Prize’ by the eminent Harvard Business School Professor, Prof. Michael E. Porter, ‘CII-ITC Excellence in CSR Award’ by C K Mishra IAS, Secretary at the Environment, Forests and Climate Change Ministry, ‘Golden Peacock Award’ for Corporate Social Responsibility by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, India CSR Award by
Hon’ble Union Minster Athawale, etc, apart from being widely covered by print and electronic media. Recently, GNFC also signed a MoU with M S Swaminathan Research Foundation to share knowledge and resources, under the ambit of Neem Project, for activities related to women empowerment and organic farming.