BALCO’s MHM Workshop Raises Menstrual Health Awareness in Korba District
6th October 2023
- Enhancing Menstrual Health Advocacy Among Local Educators
- Inclusive MHM Awareness: Supporting Specially-abled Individuals
Balconagar; 6th October 2023: Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO), India’s iconic aluminium producer and a subsidiary of Vedanta Aluminium, recently held a two-day District-Level Teachers Training program on Menstrual Health & Hygiene Management (MHM) in collaboration with the Sarthak Jan Vikas Sansthan and the District Education Department of Korba. Organized as a part of BALCO’s project Nayi Kiran, the training aimed to equip educators with the knowledge and skills needed to become advocates for MHM in their respective schools and promote a more empathetic environment surrounding menstruation.
The program was led by Mr. Om Prakash, an MHM Subject Matter Expert, and covered a wide array of topics over the course of two days. The comprehensive training included a wide spectrum of topics, including understanding the menstrual cycle, addressing myths and taboos, promoting health and nutrition, exploring gender-related issues, and creating MHM-friendly school environments.
As part of our MHM training initiative, a special session was organized to address the unique challenges faced by specially-abled girls. Recognizing that managing menstruation hygienically and with dignity can pose specific difficulties for them, BALCO conducted a specialized Menstrual Health Management (MHM) session tailored for children who are visually, speech, and hearing-impaired. This session featured specialized modules and took place at Divya Jyoti School, catering to more than 55 children from the district.
The MHM Awareness Sessions conducted as part of Project Nayi Kiran have successfully reached out to over 6,800 adolescent girls and boys across 30 government secondary and higher schools in the Korba District. The workshop played a pivotal role in elevating awareness around menstrual health and hygiene among educators, thereby impacting over 70 teachers representing 56 government secondary and higher schools in the Korba District.
Highlighting the impact of the workshop, Mr. Rajesh Kumar, CEO and Director of BALCO, said, “This initiative embodies our unwavering commitment to fostering a more inclusive and enlightened society. By equipping our community educators with the knowledge and tools to promote menstrual health and hygiene, we are not only empowering our students but also dismantling long-held taboos, one classroom at a time. This is not just a workshop; it’s a catalyst for change, igniting a brighter future where every girl and woman can embrace their natural biological processes with dignity and pride.”
Inspired by the workshop and appreciating BALCO’s effort, Mr. Gend Lal Bhaskar, a teacher at Govt. High School Darri, and a participant in the MHM workshop said, “We must recognize the urgent need for behavioral change in how our society treats menstruating girls and women, highlighting the normality and naturalness of this biological phenomenon. I commend BALCO for its dedicated efforts in creating MHM-friendly schools where girls feel empowered and are nurtured with the knowledge and respect, they deserve. ”
Project Nayi Kiran was initiated in 2019 in partnership with the Sarthak Jan Vikas Sansthan (SJVS) organization, which aims at demystifying menstrual myths and taboos, developing sustainable hygiene practices during menstruation, and raising awareness about product choices through Menstrual Health Management (MHM) capacity-building to ensure safe reproductive health. To date, it has helped sensitize 48,000+ people through awareness generation and capacity-building activities in 45 villages of Korba block, spreading its impact to other blocks in Korba district, Podi Uproda, Kartala, Pali, and Katghora in Chhattisgarh. It has also empowered over 600 community members ranging from adolescent boys & girls, SHG women, and frontline workers (Anganwadi & ASHA workers) on Menstrual Health Management as master trainers, making them torchbearers of change in the community.
About BALCO:
Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO) is a subsidiary of Vedanta Limited, operating a 0.57 million tonne per annum aluminium smelter in Korba, Chhattisgarh. It is part of Vedanta’s Aluminium Business, a division of Vedanta Limited, which is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing more than half of India’s aluminium, i.e., 2.42 million tonnes in FY25. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. Vedanta Aluminium ranks 2nd in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment 2024 world rankings for the aluminium industry, a reflection of its leading 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. For more information, please log on to www.balcoindia.com
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About Vedanta Limited:
Vedanta Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, is one of the world’s leading Oil
& Gas and Metals company with significant operations in Oil & Gas, Zinc, Lead, Silver,
Copper, Iron Ore, Steel, and Aluminium & Power across India, South Africa, Namibia, and
Australia. For two decades, Vedanta has been contributing significantly to nation building.
Governance and sustainable development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong
focus on health, safety, and environment. Giving back is in the DNA of Vedanta, which is
focused on enhancing the lives of local communities. Under the aegis of Vedanta Cares, the
flagship social impact program, Nand Ghars have been set up as model anganwadis focused on
eradicating child malnutrition, providing education, healthcare, and empowering women with
skill development. Vedanta and its group companies have been featured in Dow Jones
Sustainability Index 2020, and were conferred Frost & Sullivan Sustainability Awards 2020,
CII Environmental Best Practices Award 2020, CSR Health Impact Award 2020, CII National
Award 2020 for Excellence in Water Management, CII Digital Transformation Award 2020, ICSI
National Award 2020 for excellence in Corporate Governance, People First HR Excellence Award
2020, ‘Company with Great Managers 2020’ by People Business and certified as a Great Place
to Work 2021. Vedanta’s flagship Nand Ghar Project was identified as best CSR project by the
Government of Rajasthan. Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the
National Stock Exchange in India and has ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
For more information, please visit www.vedantalimited.com
