Social Responsibility

There are many destitute people living on the streets in Bengaluru city who are not sheltered and left to fend for themselves. They also have to struggle for medical support when they are sick.

In response to this humanitarian crisis, the Collins Aerospace Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team, in partnership with United Way Bengaluru (NGO), constructed the St. Theresa’s Grace Hospital, a transit point where the destitute can bathe, get a haircut, dress their wounds, and be given clothes, food and medical care. The building can accommodate 22 patients with all facilities including oxygen lines.

As part of the project, a conceptual herbal garden was built next to the hospital building. Keeping in mind the need for harvesting the rainwater, a pond was restored in the premises, collecting over seven Lakh liters of rain water per annum which in turn will percolate to the earth to re-charge the bore wells. The hospital building is fitted with a rainwater filter and 25,000-liter tank to collect rainwater for gardening purposes.

Collins Aerospace formally handed over the rejuvenated, centuries old Water-Pool (Basaveshwara Kalyani) to the city of H Basavapura Grama Panchayat, Bengaluru in Feb 2021. This historical water-pool, believed to be built by Chola dynasty, was rejuvenated under the Collins Aerospace Green Mini Grant initiative.

The kalyani, being over 900 years old, had reached a dilapidated stage where it was covered with jungle weeds and plastics, and it was silted up at the bottom. The revetment stones were loosened and the kalyani was virtually losing its shape. Due to poor underground streams that caused the kalyani to dry up, the team had to plan for many ways and means to get water in and fill up the kalyani. A strategy was designed to divert the rainwater from a nearby stream by constructing a check dam along with connecting a nearby water body which was a part of local lift irrigation program. The restored Kalyani now has the capacity to hold up to 7.5 million liters of water, which will percolate and re-charge the ground water.

Under the aegis of the Collins India CSR initiative, the team initiated the Integrated Rural Development (IRD) project across twenty villages in two gram panchayats, namely Gangawara and Bandekodigehalli, Bengaluru.

The Integrated Rural Development (IRD) project is aimed at holistic development of communities around the Collins Aerospace manufacturing unit at Aerospace SEZ in Devanahalli taluk, Bengaluru rural district.

In the initial phase, the project aims to build community resilience by providing infrastructural support to Gangawara gram panchayat to promote better public services to the community. There are plans to create a digital library at the gram panchayat equipped with computers and internet access so that students can continue their education, as well as a training room for Self Help Group (SHG) women members.

Schools in the villages lack good infrastructure, equipment, and a safe and joyful atmosphere. To address this gap, one higher primary school (1st to 7th standard) was selected to receive support in the form of additional classrooms, a computer and STEM lab, amenities for staff and students, solar electrification and rainwater harvesting systems, etc.

On Jan 30th, 2021, an auspicious event was held as part of the Collins Aerospace CSR initiative: the inauguration and handing-over ceremony of a newly constructed Annex School building at Angadihalli Primary School and a Community Hall in Hassan District.

Ensuring quality education and the establishment of a child-friendly school environment is central to the Village Nhancement Project initiated by our CSR team. In the last 3 years, Collins funded and established child-friendly school environments in Harihalli and K.Hosakote Government School campus that benefits over 350 children from underprivileged communities. In addition, Angadihalli School campus is another unique contribution to the lives of children from Hakki Pikki (Tribal) community who have been deprived of good civic amenities.

The cultural center constructed in the middle of the village will serve as a common gathering place for the Tribe (Hakki Pikkis) to preserve their unique identity and tradition.

The leadership and CSR Team in India inaugurated the Center For Occupational Therapy at the Home of Hope, Doddagubbi, Bengaluru.

The center has facilities for training in pottery, tailoring, gardening, welding, carpentry, basic health care assistance and care giving. An exclusive room for training was also established. The Center will also have counseling services for the emotionally and psychologically depressed.

The center will empower individuals to be self-supporting and self-reliant through vocational training. The center will also keep residents agile and aware of their capabilities by promoting activities that will help nourish the mind, body and soul.

Be it urban, semi urban or rural areas, a government school with a teacher is not enough to guarantee education to a child. Lack of funds for essentials such as books and pens, which might seem trivial to many, adds to the worrying high dropout rate in India.

Collins Aerospace is supporting primary schools in the Gowlidoddi and Gopanpally areas of Hyderabad by providing the students with the basic infrastructure needed to pursue education. This ranges from providing skilled teachers, infrastructure development like renovating the existing buildings and provision of benches, uniforms and study material. In order to provide the students a platform to showcase their talents in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) and arts, the employees volunteer to train them and helping them participate in annual inter-school competitions.

To provide holistic development of under-privileged children apart from education, a weekly health clinic is run at schools (School Health Program) to ensure they all stay healthy and practice a healthy lifestyle in their community.

A school for differently-abled kids, Dharithree, is also supported by various initiatives such as constructing a Marujevani (auditorium) and Pyramid building (meditation center) which help the hyperactive, distracted children improve their concentration, vehicles for transportation of kids from local village to hospitals and schools.

Employee volunteers also take time to visit these schools and conduct regular events to engage with the community and bring in the positive changes at the grassroots level.