Industrial Sector

Jagdishpur, a dusty town located in Sultanpur district boasts of an industrial area with 58 working units including 3 large factory townships. Ambitious youth from surrounding villages flock to this area in search of work and greener pastures. In this setting stands the fertilizer unit of the Indo Gulf Corporation, which has been involved by SIFPSA in carrying information and services related to reproductive & child health to the neighbouring community.

As one of its many innovative approaches,SIFPSA collaborates with corporate bodies for running health and family welfare programmes in industrial areas. These programmes offer the potential to :

In the corporate world, where the pursuit of profit often pushes social responsibility to the back seat, the Indo Gulf Corporation, an Aditya Birla group company, follows a unique business philosophy. It has set up the Indo Gulf Jan Seva Trust dedicated to development activities one and a half years before the establishment of the fertilizer unit. A Vocational Training Centre (VTC) was set up to provide technical skills for self-employment to unemployed youth in trades suited to local conditions. Healthcare and family planning activities have also been taken up by the Trust since 1987.

Indo Gulf Jan Seva Trust was hence identified as a partner organization by SIFPSA. This led to the commencement of the Indo Gulf Health & Family Welfare Programme (IGHFWP) in Jamo block of Sultanpur district covering a population of 72,838 including factory workers in 58 units of the Jagdishpur Industrial area.

Industrial workers in Jagdishpur come from neighbouring rural areas. Special strategies were developed for this under-served group. Each unit selected its worker motivator. The motivators stocked and distributed contraceptives within their group. They helped organize audio-visual shows and group discussions for awareness generation during lunch breaks. The cable network within townships was also used to display messages on family welfare.

The shift timings for workers in each of the 58 units were observed and a plan worked out to set up stalls for distribution/sale of contraceptives at factory gates, once every week in each unit to cover all shifts of the unit. The project currently has 45 motivator workers in the factories.

In order to gain confidence of the community, the project started with the establishment of 6 clinics providing free services for general ailments related to mother and child health. Then gradually family planning services were introduced.

Health camps were held periodically involving the PHC doctors and staff with whom the project staff had developed a good rapport. CBD workers were selected in consultation with the ANMs to ensure that they worked as aides and not rivals. Quality services were also ensured through the Indo Gulf Jan Seva Trust Hospital, originally established for the staff of Indo Gulf, but later thrown open to the community as well.

The project has adopted a strategy to ensure complete immunization of children and pregnant women especially in areas where services are not available regularly.

The project has adopted a strategy to ensure complete immunization of children and pregnant women especially in areas where services are not available regularly.The project team identifies remote villages in the area and organizes immunization camps once a month for three consecutive months in the same village to ensure that all children and pregnant women are immunized. Cultural programmes are organized during these camps for awareness generation on health and family planning.

Contraceptive social marketing was introduced in the project through the Indo Gulf fertilizer stockists in the villages, apart from CBD workers. The stockists displayed the CSM brands, which created curiosity leading to awareness about the brands. Now people are themselves demanding CSM brands, says a satisfied Mr. S.M. Rasik, the ex-Project Director whose personal interest and initiative ensured proper implementation of the project.