With a focus to create and preserve sustainable livelihoods, LTFS designs its CSR programme around one of the key hygiene factors i.e, Water. Water being a crucial enabler that facilitates livelihood, LTFS acknowledges the need to understand its availability, management and deployment. Realising and believing that the heart of our interventions is the rural regions and farmer is our prime beneficiary, LTFS channelizes its CSR efforts to bring in changes by addressing farmer’s key challenges in Water. A large proportion of population in India depends on nature based agriculture and the recent climate variability trends create an alarming situation for them. While the Rural farming communities strive hard to balance between drought and flood like conditions which directly attack their wellbeing, security and income, LTFS lends a helping hand to augment their perceptions on Water.   

Our Integrated Water Resource management (IWRM) programme brings in opportunities to vulnerable communities to regenerate the degraded watershed they live in. It brings forth challenges in soil and water conservation to the forefront and designs innovative and sustainable solutions to address them. We impact over 15,000 farmers directly and 50,000 community members indirectly through our IWRM programmes.

LTFS currently intervenes in the drought-affected communities through two IWRM projects - Jalvaibhav and Navnirmaan. The expected Outcomes of the project are to increase the availability of ground water, increase crop yield for food crops and cash crops by improving efficient use of water (more crop-per drop) and integrating water budgeting for village and enhance the household income from agriculture.

Jalvaibhav   

Name of Project: Jalvaibhav

Implementation partner: Dilasa Janvikas Pratishthan

Project Location: 12 villages at Dharur Block

LTFS has partnered with Dilasa Janvikas Pratishthan to implement the second phase interventions of IWRM in the 12 villages where LTFS had previously created 65 Dohas and de-silted 5 small water bodies benefitting more than 6000 farmer households directly and 30,000 community members indirectly. After requests from the community to continue the impactful drought proofing activities at the villages, the second phase of programme was undertaken.

Interventions: Watershed structures/ Drought proofing intervention

1.       Farm Bunding / Compartment Bunding

2.        Water Accumulated Deep Trenches (WADT)

3.        De-silting of dams and pouring silt on the land

4.        Continuous Contour Trenches (CCT)

5.        Loose Boulder Structures

6.        Earthen Nala Bunds 

Navnirman

Name of Project: Navnirman

Implementation partner: Manavlok

Project Location: 20 villages, Ambejogai and Parli block, Beed district, Maharashtra

The fundamental objective is to improve the crop yield for the marginalized farmers in the semi arid regions through Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) in the villages of Beed District, Marathwada. The project lays special emphasis on protective irrigation in order to improve crop productivity. The Project was launched on 17^th March 2017 in the presence of Additional District Collector, Mr. Ajit Kumbhar at Ambejogai, Beed district followed by a field visit to the locations of intervention. The intervention commenced with Baseline Survey and Capacity Building of community level institutions. The villagers are being motivated for creating Village Water and Sanitation Committee and other water user groups to get the community participation in water structure creating as well as maintenance of them.

Interventions: Watershed structures/ Drought proofing intervention

Following integrated water shed management practices adopted based on the need and resources of the villages

1.       Farm Bunding / Compartment Bunding 

2.       Water Accumulated Deep Trenches (WADT)

3.       Desilting of dams and pouring silt on the land

4.       Doha

5.       Continuous Contour Trenches (CCT)

6.       Loose Boulder Structures

7.       Earthen Nala Bunds

8.       Rejuvenation of tube wells      

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LTFS CSR conducts Stakeholder's Workshop with Community and Government at Marathwada

LTFS CSR nurtures and creates opportunities for sustainable livelihoods for communities through the key enabler Water under the Integrated Water Resource Management pillar of intervention.  We have partnered with grassroot organisations Manavlok & Dilasa Janvikas Pratishthan, to support 32 villages from the drought affected Beed district of Marathwada, Maharashtra.

A Stakeholder's Workshop was held on 1^st November 2017 at Ambejogai to appraise the District administration and the benefitting community on the programmes being implemented by LTFS in the region. Mr. M.D. Singh IAS, (District Collector and District Magistrate, Beed) and Mr Shivkumar Swami, (Sub Divisional Magistrate, Ambajogai) graced the occasion and applauded the efforts of LTFS in making a tangible change. Mr Manoj Shenoy (Chief Executive - Wealth Management & Group Head CSR, LTFS) along with Ms Richa Pant (Head CSR, LTFS) addressed the community and explained our journey so far along with the vision we have set for the future. The event saw the participation of 300 rural community members from the adjacent 32 villages of LTFS intervention.

Believing that women, when empowered with skills can become efficient change agents in their community, LTFS has conceptualised a programme called ‘Digital Sakhi’ around those from rural under-resourced communities. The programme focuses on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 – Gender Equality wherein 100 women are identified from the community and trained extensively on Digital Financial Literacy, Leadership and Technology. These 100 women are called ‘Digital Sakhis’. They are each equipped with a mobile tablet with preloaded LTFS Digital Financial Literacy (DFL) modules to disseminate information on Digital Payments and other relevant government schemes including insurance. These women are supported and guided continuously over the course of the programme and from their feedback further interventions are improvised. The Digital Sakhis sensitise the rural population in their respective villages / clusters through household visits and Community meetings (mohalla meetings). They make use of their tablets to impart Digital Financial Literacy. The target for the 100 Digital Sakhis is to reach out to 1,00,000 rural population.

The ‘Digital Sakhi’ programme has yet another leg where 1000 women entrepreneurs practicing agriculture and agriculture allied trades are chosen and up-skilled in their respective trades to yield better produce. These women entrepreneurs are also meticulously trained on Enterprise development wherein they are taught to collaboratively develop market linkages and ascertain higher bargaining rights. Simultaneously, these 1000 women entrepreneurs are trained to perform their business transactions through Digital modes by the 100 Digital Sakhis.

Through this intervention, LTFS intends to ensure inclusion of women in the formal financial system and empower them to help adopt digital modes of transactions in the larger community.The programme is currently being implemented in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. It will be further scaled up to Tamil Nadu and Odisha.

Digital Sakhi - Maharashtra

LTFS launched the 'Digital Sakhi’ programme for rural women in Maharashtra in partnership with Action for Agricultural Renewal in Maharashtra (AFARM), on June 29, 2017 in Pune. The launch event was graced by the Divisional Commissioner, Mr. Chandrakant Dalvi.

This programme is being implemented across 30 villages from Pune, Osmanabad and Solapur districts.

After one year of implementation of the programme in Maharashtra, the following outcomes were achieved:

1.      13.86% increase in knowledge levels on Digital Financial Literacy of the 100 Digital Sakhis.

2.      The average monthly savings of the Digital Sakhi’s household increased by 11.6%

3.      Up-skilling and Enterprise Development training of 1021 women entrepreneurs in Dairy, Goat rearing, tailoring and poultry was conducted.

4.      Women entrepreneurs recorded 60% increase in the volume of work in their respective trade/business.

5.      36% increase in the usage of various Digital Modes of Payments among the community households after one year Digital Sakhi Program.

6.      Women entrepreneurs’ overall annual revenues increased by 14.08% and annual profits increased by 13.24%.

7.      114160 Community Members oriented on Digital Financial Literacy by the Digital Sakhis  through Household Visits and Digital Financial Literacy Camps.

Digital Sakhi – Madhya Pradesh

After one year of successful implementation of the Digital Sakhi programme in Maharashtra, L&T Financial Services launched the second leg of the programme in Madhya Pradesh at Indore on 6th July, 2018. The event was in the presence of Ms Chetna Faujdaar, Joint Divisional Commissioner – Indore Division; Ms Manorama Joshi, Founder (SEWA MP), Managing Trustee (MSSN), Former General Secretary (SEWA Bharat); Mr Manoj Shenoy, Chief Executive (Wealth Management) and group Head CSR; Ms Shikha Joshi, General Secretary (SEWA MP), Secretary (SEWA Bharat) and Ms Richa Pant, Head – CSR, L&T Financial Services. As part of L&T Financial Services' Sustainability initiatives, the entire event was plastic free. The aim of the Digital Sakhi programme is to create a cadre of 100 empowered women as change agents in the society who will be trained to disseminate information on Digital Financial Literacy to 50000 rural population.

LTFS values, respects and attends to the individuals desirous of support. Engaging the key stakeholder employee into the larger structure of the organisation, LTFS believes in the potential to create incremental yet impactful changes in the lives of those in need. Through the programme Boondein, employees volunteer with their heart and soul in projects and programmes specially designed to carefully bring changes in the community. The impact is both ways – as the community gets facilitated with the skills imparted, employees start to care more for the lesser privileged individuals whereby developing a caring culture in the organisation. Employees take pride and displays excellence with the confidence that they contribute to a sensitive and compassionate corporate house.

We are committed to meaningfully engage with bottom of the pyramid communities and usher in inclusive development. We commit to carefully design this through innovative solutions, development of measurable outcomes and sustainable practices embedded in the psyche of our Social Responsibility programmes. We acknowledge that in a nation’s progress, equitable contribution by every cross-section of the society is critical. By paving way for Sustainable livelihoods, LTFS empowers communities at the bottom of the pyramid to bring in change.

Water-wise and Money-wise has so far touched over 400 employees from 4 office locations at Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi as enthusiastic contributors and we continue to receive their endorsement as well as affection towards making a difference. Our volunteering efforts benefitted about 2,000 beneficiaries so far during the year.