On National Safe Motherhood Day, Vedanta Aluminium promotes maternal healthin Jharsuguda

Its initiatives towards enhanced maternal healthbenefitted30,000 women in FY23

Jharsuguda:On National Safe Motherhood Day, Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium, conducted a series of awareness sessions on maternal health, nutrition and neonatal care for pregnant and lactating mothers in Jharsuguda. The sessions were conducted in Brundamal village at a Nand Ghar, which are modernized anganwadisrun by Vedanta that serve as centres of women & child development, with a focus on pre-school education, nutrition and healthcare and women’s skill development.

As part of the program, essential checksfor pregnancy-induced hypertension, gestational diabetesand other pregnancy-related ailmentswere conducted by a team of Auxiliary Nurse Midwives(ANMs), Anganwadi workers and doctors from Vedanta Aluminium’s mobile health units. Moreover, the women were imparted crucial information regarding the importance of supplementary feeding practices along with breastfeeding to promote proper nutrition, as well asthe need for complete immunisation of new-born babies. The women were also provided with vitamin supplements to help maintain their health while in the breastfeeding phase of motherhood.

Through its Nand Ghars, Vedanta Aluminium has been conducting regular informative sessions and health camps for expectant and new mothers in Jharsuguda, reaching out to more than 30,000women in the last financial year alone.

Speaking about the company’s healthcare interventions for the communities, Mr. Sunil Gupta, CEO – Vedanta Limited, Jharsuguda, said, “In pursuit of our commitment to improving rural communities’ access to quality healthcare, we have rolled out various health initiatives across Odisha, especially in underserved regions. Promoting women and child health is a crucial pillar in Vedanta’s social impact endeavours, and our Nand Ghars, which have emerged as important community centres of woman and child development, play a crucial role in this endeavour.Our initiatives focus on raising awareness about proper care, medical check-ups, and support for mothers and new-born babies, ensuring their total wellbeing.”

Ms Anjali Rohidas, one of the mothers who attended the session, said, “I have been attending Vedanta’s health camps for quite some time now, especially during my first trimester. Through such sessions I have become more cognizant of my own health as well as of my new-born child. We are also provided vitamin supplements free of cost and I thank the company for supporting us during this crucial period of our lives.”

Vedanta Jharsuguda provides a wide spectrum of basic and specialized health services in and around its areas of operations such as:

• Mobile Health Units:Medical Units equipped to provide basic doorstep healthcare services on a regular basis to more than 54,000 people annually in remote villages.
• Nand Ghars: Through its Nand Ghars, Vedanta Aluminium provides quality healthcare and proper nutrition to small children, pregnant women, and new mothers.
• Health camps: The company conducts mega health camps in Jharsuguda that feature specialists and resource personnel from government hospitals, to provide free-of-cost quality healthcare in remote parts of Odisha.
• Sanitation drives: To promote health and hygiene in the community, the company also organises cleanliness & sanitation drives to encourage practices such as handwashing. Moreover, employee volunteers work with community members to clean drains & streets and disinfect them to prevent breakouts of infectious.

Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing more than half of India’s aluminium i.e., 2.29 million tonnes in FY23. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. Vedanta Aluminium ranks 2nd in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) 2022 world rankings for aluminium industry, a reflection of its sustainable development practices. With its world-class aluminium smelters, alumina refinery and power plants in India, the company fulfils its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.