19 youths all set to be part of Tata Steel Rural Development Society’s Cataract Surgery Programme

Tata Steel Rural Development Society’s (TSRDS) cataract surgery programme will now be strengthened by the presence of a young brigade. A total of 19 young men and women are all set to be deployed as eye camp field workers at different locations in Jharkhand and Odisha. The young lot has been trained as part of an initiative jointly undertaken by TSRDS and Jamshedpur Eye Hospital.

Certificates were given away to these youth at a function organised here today by TSRDS. The function also marked the felicitation of Mukhiyas (village heads) who played a crucial role in identifying youth from their respective villages for the training programme. Mrs Ruchi Narendran, a former senior Tata Group executive and a champion of local causes in Jharkhand, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Speaking at the event, Mrs Ruchi Narendran, President, Jamshedpur Eye Hospital, said: “Tata Steel’s endeavour towards sustaining the health of its communities has been well-received. Such development initiatives further their journeys through long-term collaboration and effective training of the people. We look forward to continued support of all village heads in ensuring that our communities, especially our youth, receive adequate medical attention.”

The training programme enabled the youth to identify patients with mature cataract from their respective panchayats, ascertain the fitness of such patients through measurement of blood sugar and blood pressure, get such patients operated and thereby keep track of such patients till their last post-operative review. Apart from promoting sustainability of cataract surgery programme, the training will also create job opportunities for the youth, the company’s statement said.

Cataract, or clouding of the lens in the eye, is the most common reason for cases of blindness in India, with some experts estimating this to be as high as 63% or nearly two out of every three cases in the country. 1

Over the last five years, TSRDS has facilitated over 20,000 cataract surgeries in Jharkhand and Odisha, the company said.  Between FY17 and FY18, the number of cataract correction surgeries performed with the support of TSRDS jumped from 390 to 692.  TSRDS works closely with eyecare specialists across the country like Mobile Eye Surgical Unit (MESU), Sankara Netralaya, Chennai, Lokeshwarananda Eye Foundation, Purulia, West Bengal, Sankara Eye Foundation, Ganjam, Odisha.

The event was also honoured by the presence of Dr S.P. Jakhanwal, Secretary & Superintendent, Jamshedpur Eye Hospital and Mr Niloy Mitter, Head, Health & TQM, CSR, Tata Steel.

About Tata Steel Rural Development Society

Established in 1979, the Tata Steel Rural Development Society (TSRDS) is involved in various social development programmes aimed at helping the rural communities living around Tata Steel’s operational units.  Prior to the setting up of TSRDS, Tata Steel’s community initiatives were conducted through its rural and community services division. However, the fundamental differences between the imperatives of rural and urban development prompted the company to reclassify its community initiatives programmes under three units: Community Development and Social Welfare, TSRDS and Adivasi and Harijan Welfare Cell, now known as the Tribal Cultural Society.  TSRDS covered 32 villages around Jamshedpur (in the state of Jharkhand in eastern India) in its first year of operation. Today, the Society has seven separate units, six in Tata Steel’s operational areas, and covers 600 villages in the states of Jharkhand and Orissa (also in eastern India). TSRDS is actively involved in the spheres of livelihood generation, health and hygiene, and people empowerment.  TSRDS has expanded its agenda and identified the advancement of education, sports and self-reliance as tools to ensure a better quality of life for the people it works with.

About Tata Steel                   
Tata Steel Group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 27.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) as on March 31, 2018. It is one of the world’s most geographically-diversified steel producers, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries. The Group recorded a consolidated turnover of US $20.41 billion (INR 133,016 crore) in FY18. Tata Steel Group is spread across five continents with an employee base of over 65,000. Tata Steel retained Industry Leader position in FY18 and ranked second overall in the DJSI assessment, 2017. The Company has been recognised as the Climate Disclosure Leader in ‘Steel category’ by CDP (2017). Besides being a member of the World Steel Climate Action Programme, Tata Steel was felicitated with several awards including the Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant for 2014-15 and 2015-16, Best Risk Management by CNBC TV18 (2018) and ‘Corporate Strategy Award’ by Mint (2018). The Company also received the ‘Most Ethical Company’ award from Ethisphere Institute for the sixth time (2018), Steel Sustainability Champions (2017) by the World Steel Association, Dun & Bradstreet Corporate Awards (2017 & 2018), Golden Peacock HR Excellence Award by Institute of Directors (2017) as well as ’Asia’s Best Integrated Report’ award by the Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards (2017), among several others.

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