SHYAM SUNDER BERIWALA, Chairman, Shyam Steel Industries, outlines the company’s contributions to the society through its CSR initiatives during the Covid-19 pandemic.Shyam Steel, established in 1953, is among the pioneering steel making industries dedicated to the realisation of vision for New India. With its plants located in West Bengal, it caters to the need of a vast multitude of clientele across the country and beyond. The firm is also deeply engaged in a wide range of activities in the health, education, environment, and social welfare sectors as a part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) since the day it started its journey.Ethos of inclusive developmentShyam Steel has been consistently working as a change agent of the society through its CSR activities. In its quest for bringing about qualitative change in the life of the people, through CSR initiatives, the company covers a wide range of areas to combat a variety of inequities afflicting the society – be it providing opportunities to those having limited scope to exercise their expanded choice in terms of access to education, healthcare, sanitation, and safe drinking water. To stand by the people in distress during natural disasters such as hailstorm, cyclone, floods, etc, is deeply embedded into the firm’s CSR commitment.Social reengineering processShyam Steel allocates a sizable portion of its profits for objective realisation of its goals to strengthen the social fabric of the nation in terms of access of the people in need in larger number to education, healthcare, and other key sectors where women empowerment, gender equality and sustainability constitute the basic features.At the micro level, Shyam Steel continues to lend support in empowering women, reducing child mortality, combating immune deficiency viruses, enhancing employment, strengthening framework for vocational skills, supporting animal welfare, and most importantly, ensuring environment sustainability.Shyam Steel undertakes a wide range of activities in a participatory mode to improve the living conditions of the neighbourhood surrounding its manufacturing plants through deeper engagement in community needs through social reengineering processes and infrastructure development, the motto being overall improvement of the quality of life of the people.Response to the pandemicAs a part of its responsibility to the community, Shyam Steel plunged headlong into community service during the entire pandemic and are doing it even now. It had distributed dry rations to many distressed people for months together in different parts of the country, contributed to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, State Emergency Relief Fund in the State of West Bengal, and Chief Minister’s Relief Fund in Assam to fight the deadly Covid-19 pandemic as well as for procurement and distribution of vaccines. It also arranged distribution of essential medicines and dry ration in the tribal areas of Jungle Mahal in West Bengal, Odisha, and Jharkhand. Shyam Steel also helped in setting up of a good number of oxygen plants, purchase and distribution of oxygen concentrators, purchase and distribution of oxygen cylinders to the needy, medicines, etc, for the deserving and distressed people through different NGOs across the country. It also helped in organising sensitisation campaigns, distribution of sanitizers, and masks, etc, among the people.(Communication by the management of the company)