It has been observed that Mumbai and Dadra & Nagar Haveli are among the top 10 districts in India, where the ratio of migration in search of jobs is the highest. While migration has become an important livelihood strategy for marginalized and low-income communities, it leaves them more vulnerable as they are often excluded from local government welfare schemes. Further, lack of education, awareness, and income affects their housing conditions, access to healthcare facilities, knowledge about hazardous occupational risks, etc. The situation of children of these migrant workers is worse as they are left with no access to crucial child development services related to nutrition, healthcare, and education. According to India’s Census, 453 million internal migrants were recorded in India, forming a significant 37% of the total population. It is observed that one out of every five migrants is a child, resulting in an estimated 92.95 million migrant children.

Driven by the purpose that ‘our people and products make this world a better place’, Prayas, a community development endeavor was initiated by Owens Corning India to bring about sustainable development of migrant communities around their business premises in Taloja & Mumbai (Maharashtra), Thimmapur (Telangana) and Silvassa (Dadra & Nagar Haveli). It was initially started in 2013 with a small group of employee volunteers looking to serve the local community. Since then Prayas has become a passion for Owens Corning India and its employees.

United Way Mumbai has been closely associated with Owens Corning since 2013 when we came on board with the mandate to conceptualize and design the CSR programme for the company. What began with a baselining exercise at Owens Corning locations in Taloja and Thimmapur to understand the needs of the local community, slowly grew into vibrant and impactful programmes focusing on basic education, vocational education, health, and sanitization related interventions, allowing for ample opportunities for employee engagement.

Considering the migrant backgrounds of children from the programme geography, enrolment and attendance is often a challenge. Added to these are factors such as unfamiliar medium of instruction, psycho-social issues faced on the home front, which makes academics challenging for children from these communities. To address this, a holistic non-formal education programme, in line with the education policy was started in government schools for students of Grades 3 to 8. Being remedial in nature, the programme is integrated into the school curriculum and works to enhance the learning of students in the areas of English, the local regional language (Marathi or Gujarati), and Mathematics. Qualified and trained teachers have been recruited to bring children who are lagging in grades to their appropriate grade levels of learning.

Additionally, the library, science laboratory, and computer laboratory have been strengthened to broaden the children’s knowledge and aid their future careers. Sports is also encouraged to promote physical development. Kheliyad, an annual inter-school sports meet is held in Taloja and Silvassa. Since the first edition, 1400+ children have participated in Kheliyad, bagging 450+ medals and 35 trophies. Kheliyad has become a signature programme popular among schoolchildren over the years. 

Curiosity is one of the values of Owens Corning, and this is seen in various initiatives under Prayas. Learning is carried forward during a vacation through Summer Camps organized by employee volunteers. These camps provide constructive learning experiences as children are exposed to art & craft, visits to places of interest such as museums, science activities, reading clubs, and other fun learning opportunities.

Prayas also recognizes children who excel in academics as well as those that have shown all-round achievement in scholastic and co-curricular feats. These children are awarded annual scholarships in recognition of their noteworthy achievements during each academic cycle. 291 children have been recognized for their achievements. It has been rewarding to see children from the remedial programme being awarded the scholarship. These occasions are also moments of pride for the families of these children and have inspired others in the community.

A Vocational Training Centre has been set up in Taloja to help build skills among the communities and encourage entrepreneurship further accentuating income. A total of 15 women have been trained in tailoring. In addition to this, over 3000 youth in Silvassa have been reached through the Two Wheels One Life project, which aims to provide guidance and awareness on two-wheeler safety in partnership with RTO, Dadra, and Nagar Haveli. 

“The OC India Initiative ‘Prayas’ is an endeavor to make our communities better every day. ‘Prayas’ is driven by the basic purpose of Owens Corning which is our people and products make this world a better place”. With all that we have done and are doing at OC India, we got a sense of pride and gratitude. We must be mindful of the challenges and the real need of our communities that lie ahead of us and understand that we have our scope of work and contribution cut out. With the continued support of our CSR volunteers and partners in all the initiatives we look forward to continuing our collaboration with the communities around us in India to bring about sustainable improvement and development”, Mr. Sanjay Rao, Director Human Resources India & Singapore at Owens Corning.

Dr. Bhalchandra Pedhambkar, Occupational Physician, Owens Corning India, Taloja has been closely working on the health interventions in Taloja. Speaking of these interventions, Dr. Pedhambkar remarks, “We aim to improve the health conditions of students and villagers in the neighboring community. Health and sanitation initiatives of Owens Corning India address the basic need of the community. The availability of sanitation facilities at school has reduced the school dropout rate for girls. The basic health services are rendered to the community through weekly Outpatient Department (OPD) services, health awareness sessions, and health camps. This has brought free health services to the doorsteps of poor villagers. Our focus is on early detection of diseases and initiating timely treatment for non-communicable diseases.”

The CSR Team at Silvassa focuses on 4 major areas of Health, Safety, Environment, and Education. Dr. Dinal Thakkar, Factory Medical Officer, Owens Corning India, Silvassa has been closely working on the health interventions in Silvassa. Speaking of these interventions, Dr Thakkar shares, “We have been able to contribute especially in the lives of school children and also helped improve education levels. In partnership with United Way Mumbai, we have aided in organizing summer camps and workshops for school children thus encouraging creativity. During COVID times, we have supported the community around us when we helped in providing essential COVID-related items- PPES, medical kits, etc. to those in need. We are sure that with the partnership, we are in the right direction towards fulfilling the basic purpose of Owens Corning”. 

As we know the pandemic has had far-reaching consequences across all sections of the society, especially the migrant community that was left bereft of the source of livelihood, food, healthcare, and education. During these trying times, the programme continued to build community resilience through the provision of ration & basic essential kits to families facing a loss of income, equipping healthcare workers at local PHCs with protective gears to cater to the health needs of the community, and most importantly continuing the nonformal education of children. School closures did not inhibit learning, it continued as teachers from local communities connected with students through WhatsApp or cluster learning when technologically challenged. There has been a marked improvement in the children learning levels as a result of these efforts. 

United Way Mumbai’s endeavor has been to create shared value for the company and also for the community, with the impact of every programme being measurable year on year in each geography. We are glad to share that since inception, 27500+ people have been impacted through Prayas. There is so much more that can still be done in the local communities, and with Owen Corning’s support, this is possible.