HDFC Bank, under its CSR initiative Parivartan, hosted its Annual Partners Meet for partners in the East Region from January 23rd to January 25th, 2024, at Midway Resort at Patratu, near Ranchi, Jharkhand. The event saw participation from over 100 attendees representing 45 organizations. The objective of the program was to encourage knowledge sharing among partners, with each partner given the opportunity to showcase their best practices. Through PowerPoint presentations, partners shared their on-ground experiences and highlighted their noteworthy contributions to community upliftment, particularly in transitioning communities from poverty to sustainability through comprehensive rural development initiatives.
During the meeting, Mr. Yogesh Jain, Director Programmes and Mr. Purna Mohapatra, State Project Manager from Prayatn, which is partnering with HDFC in Odisha under Holistic Rural Development Programme (HRDP), delved into the topic of ‘Climate Resilient Small-Scale Agricultural Practices through Integrated farming System (IFS) Model’ providing detailed insights into small-scale agricultural techniques involving natural resource management, organic agriculture and animal husbandry together. They explained that agriculture is extremely vulnerable to climate change with the small and marginal farmers being at the greatest risk. Adoption of IFS model, helps in reducing the impact of the climate change through strategies like mitigation and adaptation because dependence on external sources for inputs are reduced and output of one process become inputs for the other while quality and quantity of production are enhanced.
Additionally, a project model exhibition was conducted by all partners to showcase various community development activities in their respective regions. Mr. Purna Mohapatra specifically highlighted the project models implemented in Rayagada and Puri by Prayatn Sanstha, emphasizing how self reliance is being promoted through development and strengthening of self sustaining community based systems and mechanisms.
During the Meet, Mrs. Nustra Pathan, Head – Sustainability & CSR and Mr. Ritesh Kumar Sinha, Regional Head of HDFC Bank CSR, provided insights into HDFC Bank’s CSR goals, fund utilization guidelines, and reporting and documentation guidelines. Different State heads then presented progress of the CSR initiatives of the bank in their respective states during the year 2023-24.
Following this, a panel discussion was convened on the final day, moderated by Mr. Swaroop Sharma (State Manager, HDFC Odisha), featuring representatives from Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, and West Bengal. The discussion focused on climate change and global warming and their impact on projects, as well as strategies for adaptation and mitigation.
Additionally, the communication team of Parivartan elaborated on HDFC branding guidelines, employee volunteering, event management, photo and video guidelines, case studies, and highlights of Parivartan initiatives. Technical support for online reporting platforms such as Dhwani and P3 was also provided by MIS officers to all partners. Mr. Midhun Kurien, Documentation cum MIS Officer, was a part of this enriching and rejuvenating exchange of knowledge and experiences among participants was Along with Mr. Yogesh Jain and Mr. Purna Mohapatra.
The meet completed with a group photo of partners and commitment to take the initiative further with greater learning.
