Orchid Nurtures Its Community Roots

The Rs 425 crore Chennai-based Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd, started by a first time entrepreneur Raghavendra Rao, has ensured that the community at large can benefit from its existence.

Orchid right from its inception has looked beyond commercial operations and balance sheets and has strongly believed in giving back to society something of what has been taken from it, says Rao.

In its first year of operations (1994-95) itself, Orchid put together a strong value system which incorporated social responsibility and community development activities as part of the overall business strategy.

In 1996, a social responsibility and community development department was created. Most of the activities and programmes emerged gradually in response to both needs expressed by the community and an assessment of the situation by the companys team.

An independent trust, Orchid Trust, was formed in 1998 to set objectives and employs a collaborative and participative style of functioning by having members of various adopted villages and selected Orchid representatives as part of its project governing council. Contributions come not only from Orchid but also from volunteering employees.

The Orchid Trust works on a tripartite approach by working closely with the government and several NGOs and charitable institutions in building a stronger community. Significant investment has been made in community asset creation by evoking public participation.

Orchid Trust works on several thrust areas -- education, health, self-employment, capacity building, infrastructure and youth development. The trust has adopted 12 villages and five panchayats where it runs its welfare schemes in the identified thrust areas.

In education, the Orchid Trust undertakes several activities like sponsoring salaries of additional teachers in government schools, providing financial and other support to economically backward students and initiating awards for teachers and students who excel in their areas. As a result of these initiatives the pass percentage has increased from 30-40 per cent to around 70-80 per cent.

Similarly, in the area of healthcare, the trust regularly conducts health education programs and health camps that help educate people on diseases and health related issues. The trust also organises regular eye-camps. More than 500 cataract surgeries have been organised by the trust.

Under capacity building and women empowerment, more than 300 women have been trained in skills like tailoring, embroidery and crafts.

Young people are put through computer programming, hardware maintenance and driving lessons.