CII Foundation partners with Birlasoft to launch third phase of Project Shodhan

Birlasoft, part of the 2.4 billion dollar CK Birla Group, and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Foundation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) towards the third phase of 'Shodhan', a crop residue management programme.

As part of the collaboration, the programme aims at improving the quality of air through zero stubble burning -- a year-long mass movement to eradicate stubble burning in 13,000 acres of farmland across 20 villages of Punjab and Haryana and curb the air pollution caused by it.

The project is focused on bringing about a behavioural change among farmers and promoting the adoption of sustainable and environment-friendly straw management and farm practices. At the end of the third phase, Project Shodhan will have positively impacted 50 villages covering about 43,000 acres of farmable land.

"Knowing the harmful effects of stubble burning and how it hampers our environment, we have furthered this initiative with CII Foundation to help solve the situation of crop burning," said Birlasoft's Chief People Officer Samit Deb.

"Stepping into the third phase of the programme, we hope to counter the improper management of crop residue and at the same time educate and benefit the farmers our country," he said in a statement on Thursday.

Seema Arora, CEO of CII Foundation and Associate Director-General of CII, said, "The chamber is working towards developing a multi-stakeholder partnership led by industry to galvanise action to combat air pollution nationally. We are happy to partner with Birlasoft, which has played a prominent role in this whole effort.