For women residing in rural areas, independence is a continual concern, whereas starting their own business is a concept that is only dreamt and imagined about and never completely fulfilled or attained. However, in the instance of these women from Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, one company has transformed their lives and enabled them to be self-made and independent entrepreneurs in their respective terms. Women residing in those areas can now make a decent living to support their families, while also rediscovering the potential of their own voice and ideas. 'SAKHI,' the flagship project of Hindustan Zinc, strives to empower and mobilize rural women into Self-Help Groups (SHGs) to enhance their finances, skill development, and entrepreneurship capabilities. The business's micro-enterprise project, SAKHI Utpadan Samiti, offers sustainable livelihood possibilities and tends to empower the local communities to become 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'. More than 27,000 women benefit from the SAKHI initiative, which spans two states and 189 rural villages. Under this initiative, there are 2159 SHGs with a total savings of Rs 11.62 crore.

Hindustan Zinc's SAKHI Utpadan Samiti employs and engages 130+ SAKHI women. The women at the centre focus on providing a range of clothes with beautiful traditional craftsmanship. It currently supplies the product line to a variety of local and national brands and had its breakthrough when a high-end brand like FAB INDIA decided to tie up with them. The SAKHI Stitching Training Centre set up in Rudrapur's Kalinagar Village was a great achievement. The women have been learning sewing and other handicraft products at the SAKHI training centre for the past few years. Under this project, 189 women received training in stitching and 67 women received guidance in handicraft products. In 2021, a proposal was presented to FAB INDIA Company and its team visited the SAKHI Production Centre to talk to the women and also promised employment. The first consignment of 494 Male Salwar was handed out to their representative successfully.

Sudha Singh expressed her delight at working with SAKHI by saying, "I'm a mother of three and, my husband is a farmer. Before joining SAKHI, we had a rough time. However, now I can help my husband while also providing considerably better educational possibilities for our children. My family was initially unsupportive, believing that it would divert my attention away from my household chores. They instantly noticed how my salary could benefit my family, particularly my children. I presently work at SAKHI Stitching Centre, where I make FAB INDIA MEN SALWAR and earn around 6,000 to 7,000 Rupees per month, and I also operate a general store in my town, for which I took out a loan of Rs. 30,000, of which I have already repaid Rs. 21,000. Now I'm not just socially empowered, but also mentally and financially liberated."

Hindustan Zinc strongly believe that women are fundamental to the growth and development of the society. Their women empowerment programs are focused on making women financially independent and on sharpening their skills to transform them into entrepreneurs besides augmenting their economic capabilities and ensuring their holistic development.

About Hindustan Zinc Limited:

Hindustan Zinc, a Vedanta Group Company, is one of the world’s largest and India’s only integrated producer of Zinc-Lead and Silver. The Company has its Headquarter at Udaipur in the State of Rajasthan where it has its Zinc-Lead mines and smelting complexes. Hindustan Zinc is self-sufficient in power with captive thermal power plants and has ventured into green energy by setting up wind power plants. The Company is ranked 1st in Asia-Pacific and globally 5th in Dow Jones Sustainability Index in 2021 amongst Mining & Metal companies. Hindustan Zinc is a certified Water Positive Company, a member of the FTSE4Good Index and has scored ‘A’ rating by CDP for climate change.

Being a people-first company, Hindustan Zinc believes in inculcating the values of Trust and Excellence to have a culture of high-performance in its workforce. The company takes pride in having some of the best-in-class people practices and employee centric initiatives, which have certified Hindustan Zinc as – ‘Great Place to Work 2021’, ‘Company with Great Managers 2020’ by People Business and the PeopleFirst HR Excellence Award. 

As a socially responsible corporate, Hindustan Zinc has been relentlessly working to improve the lives of rural and tribal people residing near its business locations. The company is amongst the Top 15 CSR Spenders in India and are currently reaching out to 700,000 people in 184 villages of Rajasthan, 5 in Uttarakhand and 16 villages in Gujarat. As a market leader, Hindustan Zinc governs about 78% of growing Zinc market in India.

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