Best CSR Efforts (Gold) – United Spirits Ltd

As an exemplary corporate citizen, USL has been involved constantly in multiple CSR projects that aim at inclusive, all-round   and   sustainable   development   of   society. USL has a strong and clearly-defined CSR charter that mandates focused initiatives at community, state and national levels to benefit the communities around which it operates by lending them the wings they need to take get off the ground.

Under   Project   S.H.E   (Security-Health-Education), a woman empowerment programme, USL has focused on the development of a safe and responsible drinking community. It also successfully completed a pilot focusing on ‘Open Defecation-free Village’ by building toilets and increasing the levels of sanitation and hygiene in the community.

In its first phase, Project S.H.E has benefited over 39,000 people in the villages around the company’s plants in Bhopal, Gopalpur, Alwar, Puducherry and Udaipur. It provides access to clean drinking water through installation of RO water purification systems and bore-wells; improved sanitation through construction of toilets and drainage systems; primary health care; and employable skills.

Water conservation projects are also being undertaken in these villages.

USL-Diageo has partnered with the Maharashtra government to make the state drought-free by 2019. Under the State government’s ‘Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyaan’ project, USL has  adopted three villages near its  plants – Karkheli, Yetala and Jarikot, in Nanded district. The aim of the project is to make 500 villages in Maharashtra free from water scarcity over the next three years. In the three villages that USL-Diageo adopted, de-silting of ponds has facilitated increased storage of rain water. The villagers benefit through increase in irrigated farmland and higher availability of drinking water.

To promote responsible drinking, DRINKiQ workshops have been organized for the employees of USL-Diageo. DRINKiQ is designed to help combat alcohol misuse and promote responsible drinking through sharing of best practice tools, information and initiatives, making both external and internal stakeholders better informed and more aware of the choices they make as consumers.

USL also helps promote safe driving under the USL- Diageo-Road  to  Safety  campaign.  It  educates  people not  to  drink  and drive through highly visible ‘Diageo- NDTV Road to Safety’ television campaign. In another unique initiative, the company partnered with other industry members to reach out to over 25,000 students in a nationwide campaign called “Cool Teens” against underage drinking.

The  company  also  runs  the Young  Women  Social Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YWSEDP). Inspired by the success of the first phase of this programme in the previous fiscal, USL has rolled out Phase II during the year to help women from marginalised backgrounds become self–reliant and integrate into the mainstream of progress.