New Delhi:

Adani Foundation’s overall reach has now extended to over nine million individuals across 6,769 villages in 19 states, industrialist Gautam Adani told his company’s shareholders today.

Each figure related to the foundation tells a story of change, of a life empowered, and of a community given an opportunity to develop, the Adani Enterprises chairman said at the annual general meeting.

Adani Foundation is the corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm of the oil-to-ports business group.

Sharing the foundation’s achievements, he said the Adani Saksham skill development initiative empowered 1,69,000 young individuals with essential skills to help them secure a brighter future and potentially become entrepreneurs.

The health outreach programmes of the foundation, which includes its mobile health care units and camps, have touched two million lives, delivering essential services to many remote communities, he said.

The SuPoshan project, he said, delivers the necessary nutrition to 4,14,000 women and children to fortify the foundations of future generations.

Mr Adani said his wife, Priti, tells him at least one story every day about how Adani Foundation impacted people’s lives. “These are life lessons both humbling and inspiring at the same time,” he said.

Speaking at the AGM, Mr Adani also shared his journey and vision for the future. His speech highlighted how the company improved its financials and faced the challenges, including a short-seller attack last year.

New Delhi:

Kalpana Chaudhari, an erstwhile common resident of Maharashtra’s Gondia district, is a popular name today.

Her fledgling business of lac bangles is making waves in her village as well as neighbouring ones and also motivating fellow women villagers to follow in her footsteps.

Her success story owes a lot to the women empowerment steps undertaken by the Adani Foundation via promotion of Self-Help Groups (SHGs).

Ms Chaudhari, a resident of Khairbodi village in Tiroda taluka, learnt the art of making lac bangles as part of the SHG facilitated by the Adani Foundation and then went to set up her own shop.

Today, she is running her own business of lac bangles and other cosmetic items, thus making herself financially independent and empowered. Her bangle business has given wings to her dreams and, today, she has become an inspiration for many other women who want to become independent like her.

Narrating her journey, she says the Adani Foundation inducted her into a project titled ‘Sangini’, where she learnt the art of making lac bangles and then, with their assistance and advice, opened her own shop.

Ms Chaudhari feels truly empowered today, as she not only runs her business but has also learnt other skills, including operating a computer and driving vehicles.

She says that her life has undergone a sea change and expressed gratitude to the Adani Foundation for all the assistance, including the monetary aid for her children’s education.

Kalpana Chaudhari is not the only woman in Maharashtra’s Tiroda to have seen a tremendous change of fortune. There are at least 45 other women, like Kalpana, who are part of SHGs associated with lac bangle-making units, facilitated by the Adani Foundation.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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