As one of the world’s leading providers of telecommunication services, we are
committed to conducting our business responsibly and sustainably, with engagement
and dialogue with all key stakeholders. Our network is touching and transforming
the lives of millions of people across South Asia and Africa; and we are happy and
honoured to partner the progress of such a huge proportion of the global population.
As a part of our corporate strategy,
we are vigorously renewing
our existing systems, adopting
innovations across the economic,
social and environmental
dimensions; and making our
infrastructure more energy
efficient.
Transformational network has a
deep and diverse connotation at
Bharti Airtel.
- It touches all aspects of
stakeholder empowerment
through multiple community
initiatives in the realm of
education, employment generation, sanitation along
with healthcare and disaster
management.
- It emphasises upon protecting
the environment, reducing
the carbon footprint and
collaborating with all
stakeholders to help
combat climate change.
India
A. Holistic Community Initiatives
At Bharti Airtel, our agenda is to
support inclusive socio-economic
progress for the development of our
country. Our focus areas comprise
education, employment generation,
sanitation, healthcare, disaster
management and environment
protection, among others. We believe
every small step in this direction
counts; and several initiatives on the
community front together can bring
about enduring social change. We
are building a replicable, scalable and
sustainable model of development for
the communities we work with.
Bharti Foundation
Bharti Foundation, the philanthropic
arm of Bharti Enterprises has a vision
“To help underprivileged children and
young people of our country realise
their potential”. It aims to achieve its
vision by imparting quality education
to disadvantaged sections of society
across rural India. Implementing and
supporting programs in the field of primary, elementary, senior secondary
and higher education is a key focus
of the Foundation. Satya Bharti
School Program, Government School
interventions under its Satya Bharti
Quality Support Program and Satya
Bharti Learning Centres, are programs
through which the Foundation
supports education. The Foundation has been actively implementing
‘Satya Bharti Abhiyan’ since year
2014, to improve sanitation facilities
in rural Ludhiana. Recently, it has
introduced ‘Nyaya Bharti’ to provide
legal and financial assistance to
deserving, underprivileged undertrials
languishing in jails across the country
for minor offences.
Catalysts of Change: Education in Rural India
I. Satya Bharti School Program
This year the Foundation has
initiated year-long celebrations,
commemorating 10 years of the
Satya Bharti School Program,
launched in 2006 as its flagship
initiative. Satya Bharti Schools,
located across the villages of Punjab,
Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are
celebrating this milestone with
commemorative activities throughout
the celebratory year. The schools
continue to deliver on the promise of
transforming underprivileged children
into educated, employable and
responsible citizens of tomorrow.
The schools provide quality education
to students, completely free of cost,
with a special focus on the girl child.
Besides, the schools also provide
welfare schemes (free mid-day
meals, textbooks, notebooks, shoes,
stationery, etc.) to every student.
After 10 successful years of
implementation, it is pertinent to
reaffirm our commitment to the
primary objectives of Satya Bharti
School Program, which are to:
- Provide free and quality education to underprivileged children in rural India, with a special focus on the girl child.
- Transform students into educated, confident, responsible and selfreliant employable citizens, with a deep sense of social commitment.
- Encourage active involvement of the community, parents and likeminded organisations.
- Make a lasting and sustainable impact on the community.
- Find innovative solutions through its primary, elementary and senior secondary schools to create
replicable and scalable components
in the program, facilitating delivery
of quality education.
Satya Bharti School Program – Key Performance Indicators:
Schools | 254 |
States | 06 |
Students | 40,676 |
Percentage of Girls | 49 |
Percentage of children from SC/ST/OBC communities | 75 |
Teachers | 1,635 |
Percentage of female teachers | 54 |
|
-
40,676
Students
-
254
Schools
-
49 %
of students are Girls
Rani Goyal, Class VIII,
Satya Bharti School, Shergarh,
Jodhpur, Rajasthan
Transformation at Grassroots: Creating Impact
Born in an underprivileged family,
with survival being a daily challenge,
Rani’s journey from illiteracy to
accessing quality education from a
Satya Bharti School has not been
easy. She comes from the Bheel
community, where illiteracy is a
common phenomenon, especially
among girls. Rani’s mother suffers
from severe visual impairment, while
her father, Maniram is a daily wage
earner.
Most girls like Rani, would have
buckled under such circumstances.
However, Rani’s strength of
character helped her convince her
family that an education would
not hinder her responsibilities at
home. Rani resolved to say, “YES TO
EDUCATION!”
The nearest Satya Bharti School
is located six kilometres away
from Rani’s home. Rani, did not let
this deter her resolve, she began
waking up at 5 a.m., completing all
the household chores and only
then start off for school. Her
teachers noticed this remarkable
girl and helped her blossom. Today,
Rani is a topper in her class and
also participates whole-heartedly
in all co-curricular activities.
Energised by her own
transformation, she has begun
promoting the cause of quality
education in her village. Inspired
by her efforts, her Father has also
enrolled her siblings in Satya Bharti
School, Shergarh. He says, “I am
so happy that all my children are
studying at Satya Bharti School;
they now have the opportunity to
learn and excel in life.”
Key Achievements 2015-16
- 20 students have secured admission in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JVN); these schools enrol talented rural children of India through a competitive entrance examination to provide them with an education (free of cost), equivalent to the best residential school system.
- Eight school entries were awarded at the Design for Change contest, a global award platform that celebrates children who drive social change in their communities.
- The Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards declared eight winners from Satya Bharti Schools. This award recognises and rewards post-primary / second-level students for volunteer work carried out in their communities.
- Satya Bharti Senior Secondary School, Rauni, Ludhiana (Punjab) won the International School Award (2015-2018), instituted by the British Council, for their outstanding project on learning in the global context.
- Satya Bharti Schools participated in the ‘School Enterprise Challenge’, an international conference led by Teach a Man to Fish. Satya Bharti Adarsh Senior Secondary School, Fattubhila won the Stage III Special Recognition award and Bharti Foundation was conferred with the ‘Best Partnership Initiative Award’. The awards celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit in children with an underlining message of giving back to society.
- The esteemed CBSE affiliation was granted to all five Satya Bharti Senior Secondary Schools located in rural Punjab
- Bharti Foundation celebrated the success of Class X students at the CBSE Board Examinations 2016. With 225 students appearing for the exams, 41 students scored a perfect 10 CGPA, 56 students scored between 9 and 9.9 CGPA, 66% of these achievers were girl students and the overall pass percentage was a remarkable 99.11%.
II. Satya Bharti Learning Centres
The Satya Bharti Learning Centre
Program focuses on the issue of Out
of School Children (OOSC), in close
coordination with the Government
Schools. In 2012, the Foundation
entered into a partnership with
Educate A Child (EAC), a global
initiative under the Qatar based
Education Above All (EAA). The Satya
Bharti Learning Centre Program aims
to mainstream Out of School Children back into schools by identifying,
enrolling and providing them bridge
courses that bring them to an age /
class appropriate level of education.
The project is run in partnership with
the respective State Government’s
Department of Education. Based
on the success of the program in
Rajasthan, in 2015 it was further
extended to the remote rural areas of
Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
-
22,830
Children impacted
-
5,302
Children enrolled
Program Approach
Satya Bharti Learning Centres – Key Performance Indicators:
Centres | 459* |
Children impacted | 22,830 |
Children enrolled | 5,302 |
Children mainstreamed | 14,703 |
Percentage of girls | 50 |
Percentage of SC/ST/OBC students | 96 |
Education volunteers | 416** |
Key Achievements 2015-16
- Program expansion into Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and more Blocks in Rajasthan.
- 22,830 Out of School Children (OOSC) covered, 473 new centres established with enrolment of 12,282 OOSC.
- 348 villages made OOSC free, in some cases the count of OOSC dropped to such a low figure that it went below the minimum numbers required to run a centre in the village as per Government norms.
- Over 1,100 Education Volunteers have been trained till date.
- Extensive appreciation and recognition received from the respective Government Education Departments, school Principals and the community.
III. Satya Bharti Quality Support Program
Launched in 2013, the Program’s
objective is to support Government
schools in their journey towards
holistic quality education and to
make schools centres of learning
and development. This initiative
envisages improving the quality of
Government schools through needbased
interventions. The learnings
accrued while operating 254 Satya
Bharti Schools over 10 successful
years are systematically transferred to
these schools
Bharti Foundation introduces
innovative tools and processes
to enhance a school’s current
performance by:
- Creating an opportunity for exposure to best practices in education.
- Conducting need-based training for key stakeholders.
- Co-creating processes to sustain the desired change.
Program Approach
Satya Bharti Quality Support Program – Key Performance Indicators:
Schools (In four States*) | 39 |
Teachers | 953 |
Students | 21,620 |
Key Achievements 2015-16
- Successful pilot launch of Innovative Teachers’ Award in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
- Acceptance of program approach and impact by stakeholders with requests from 50 schools through Principals, officials from education departments and community members.
- Steady increase in teachers’ engagement to enhance the performance of students;
provided educational support, such as books for competitive exams, student lectures, career counselling, interschool events, among others.
- Awards won by Haryana School for special projects like ISA by British Council (Bhojawas, Haryana) and nominated for ‘Best School Award’ for Overall School effectiveness (Jodhpur).
- 7 Teachers certified for implementation of innovative ideas by Roehampton University (Kanina Block, Haryana).
IV. Satya Bharti Abhiyan
Bharti Foundation launched the Satya
Bharti Abhiyan to improve sanitation
facilities in rural Ludhiana district and
support the Government’s agenda of
Swachh Bharat Mission. Through this
initiative, it provides individual toilets
in households lacking such facilities,
across 900+ villages.
In addition, the aim is to improve
sanitation facilities in government
schools of rural Ludhiana by building
separate toilets for girls, where no
such amenities exist.
Program Objectives*
- Provide an individual toilet in every household in rural Ludhiana which is without a toilet.
- Provide a girl’s toilet in every Government School of rural Ludhiana that does not have a separate toilet for girls.
Satya Bharti Abhiyan – Key Performance Indicators:
Number of individual toilets handed over | 12,723 |
Number of direct beneficiaries* | 63,050 |
Villages covered | 559 |
Girls’ toilets constructed in Government Schools | 14 |
-
12,723
Households benefited
-
559
Villages covered
Key Achievements
- Quantitative targets -
Satya Bharti Abhiyan has been able to deliver following targets:
Year |
Individual Toilets Handed Over |
Girls’ Toilets Handed Over |
Villages Impacted |
No. of Beneficiaries |
2015-16 |
11,644 |
14 |
489 |
58,734 |
2014-15 |
1,079 |
- |
70 |
4,316 |
Total |
12,723 |
14 |
559 |
63,050 |
- 14 Government Schools identified by the state education department
were provided separate toilet blocks for girl students.
Details of individual toilets constructed by Bharti Foundation are uploaded on the Government’s Swachh Bharat Mission data website (http://sbm.gov.in/SBMReport/Report/Physical/SBM_TargetVsAchievement.aspx). As on March 31, 2016, details of 80% (approx.) of the constructed toilets have been updated. Details of the toilets constructed by Bharti Foundation can also be accessed at http://sbm.gov.in/cfd/RptCorporateContribution.aspx.
V. Higher Education Programs
Bharti Foundation partnered with
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
in 2,000 to set up the Bharti School
of Telecommunication Technology
and Management, IIT Delhi. The
Foundation has also set up the Bharti
Centre for Communication, Bombay
in partnership with IIT Bombay.
The Foundation also recognises
and awards exceptionally talented
students to pursue studies at The
Cambridge University, UK, through
the Manmohan Singh Bursary Fund.
In addition, Bharti Institute of Public
policy, Mohali has been set up as a
partnership between Indian School of
Business and Bharti Enterprises, with
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy,
Tufts University (USA) as its partner
school.
VI. Nyaya Bharti
Nyaya Bharti was launched in
November 2015 to help deserving
and underprivileged undertrials,
languishing in jails across the
country for minor offences. The aim
is to provide them with legal and
financial support and assistance,
while increasing awareness of every
individual’s constitutional right to legal
defence. This is a unique corporate
initiative at the national level and
hopes to fulfil the Hon’ble Prime
Minister’s Vision of ‘Sabka Nyaya’ –
Access to Justice for all. The Board
comprising eminent members from
legal and other professional field
is chaired by Justice A. S. Anand
(Retired Chief Justice of India) guiding
the strategy for the project. This is
implemented by a panel of young
lawyers who have been engaged to
work with the judicial system and
courts to implement the same.
Airtel Connect
Airtel Delhi Half Marathon
The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon
(ADHM) has created an impressive
platform to bring together corporates,
individuals, employees and students
of schools and colleges to raise
awareness about the Satya Bharti
School Program, raise funds and also
enjoy the marathon run.
Bharti Foundation’s theme for ADHM
2015 was centred on celebrating 10
successful years of the Satya Bharti
School Program. Over the last eight
ADHMs, as many as 6,325 employees
comprising 217 teams from 77
corporates have run for us, with many
of them consistently supporting us.
Young Leader Program
It is a two-week program (part of
corporate induction) in which new
team members of Bharti Airtel engage
as volunteers to support various
initiatives of Bharti Foundation. This
year 43 Young Leaders volunteered
in 43 Satya Bharti Schools in Punjab,
Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
ACT (A Caring Touch)
It is an employee payroll giving
program for Bharti Group of
Companies. The Program encourages
employees to give back to society
in terms of money, time, skills or
knowledge. In FY 2015-16, Bharti
Airtel employees have contributed
` 7.61 Mn towards the Satya Bharti
School Program and ` 0.36 Mn was
provided to other NGOs.
-
` 3,934,120
Employee Participation
-
` 3,675,870
Employer Participation
-
43
Young Leaders volunteered this year in 43 Satya Bharti Schools in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
-
` 7.61 Mn
Total contribution towards Satya Bharti School Program
Compassionate Leadership
Helping the Disadvantaged
We have started a scholarship
programme for underprivileged
students of Footwear Design and
Development Institute (FDDI),
Chhindwara district, Madhya
Pradesh. FDDI is a leading design and
management institution and conducts
various professional programmes
of international standards. Over
100 underprivileged students were
granted scholarship during the
FY 2015-16. Besides, under the
‘Campus to Corporate’ programme,
the underprivileged students of FDDI
were mentored and provided with
placement assistance.
Investing in Talent
Him Jyoti School provides free
value-based education to bright
girls from impoverished families of
Uttarakhand. The School’s vision is
to teach learners to be pluralistic,
creative, interdependent and capable
citizens with a global outlook. We
partnered and supported the school’s
educational mission.
Caring for the Elderly
Anubandh, situated on the outskirts
of Jodhpur, helps senior citizens
deserted by their families. We
partnered and supported Anubandh
in furtherance of their initiatives.
Supporting the Community
We also partnered and supported
various programmes and initiatives
of charitable institutions such as
Telangana Yuvathi Mandali, CRY,
HelpAge India, National Association
for the Blind, Save life Foundation,
SOS Children Villages of India, The
Banyan and IDIA Charitable Trust,
among others.
Contributing to Social Welfare
Carnegie India is the 6th international
centre of the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace. The organisation
is engaged in high-quality public
policy research on national, regional,
and global issues. During the year, we
supported their initiatives.
Good Samaritans
Initiatives by Airtel Circle Offices
Digital Empowerment
At Bharti Airtel, we have partnered
with the Government of Andhra
Pradesh for a mobile literacy digital
mission in collaboration with the
Society for Eradication of Rural Poverty.
As part of this, we rolled out ‘e-Shakti’,
an initiative to build mobile internet
awareness and literacy among the
women of Andhra Pradesh.
Our zonal teams have since then been
actively involved in spearheading
training sessions in every district of the
state. During FY 2015-16, our teams
trained 360,000 women in all 13
districts of the state, an encouraging
achievement in such a time span.
We also partnered with the
Government of Madhya Pradesh to
take e-Shakti Abhiyaan to the women
of the state. The training sessions,
conducted by Airtel’s quality trainers
focused on the basics of internet
and its uses, awareness of various
government portals, introduction to
apps and social media. Over 149,000
women were trained across 23
districts of Madhya Pradesh so far.
The similar initiative was undertaken by
Rajasthan Circle in its Kota Zone, which
would focus on the district’s women as
well as men and college students.
Joy of Giving
Our Rajasthan team celebrated the Joy
of Giving week with much fanfare. The
team interacted with children at various
Satya Bharti Schools and sought from
them the wishes that they would want
to be fulfilled. These wishes were put
on a ‘Wish Tree’ and were fulfilled by
our team members by converting those
wishes to ‘Wish Fruits’.
Time for Celebrations
Various initiatives were undertaken
at different locations across India,
celebrating festivals and events. To
celebrate Children’s Day and Diwali
with the kids, the teams bearing gifts
from Airtel Circle Office at Jaipur,
Jodhpur and Alwar zones went to four
different Satya Bharti Schools and
shared various gifts with children. We
also celebrated Durga Puja and were
privileged to be part of the Sarathi
Socio Trust in Bengaluru.
Kids of Prakash School over the last
many years, come to our office ground
and celebrate with us, having dinner
and dancing. The Airtel employees
with families engage and have a great
time with them. This activity helps
employees to engage with street kids
and old-age homes and spread smiles
by doing small activities at local end.
Community Greening
We have always been proactive in
supporting green initiatives across
all geographies where we operate.
In line with that overriding vision, our
Jaipur team spearheaded multiple
tree plantation drives to make the city
a cleaner and greener place to reside
in. The participation was enthusiastic
and the outcome encouraging.
Swachh Bharat
At Bharti Airtel, we are committed
to translate the vision of Swachh
Bharat into an everyday reality. Airtel
employees participated in a cleanliness
drive at Chandigarh Technology Park
office under Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan
in FY 2015-16. We will continue to
undertake more such initiatives for a
cleaner, prosperous India.
Blood Donation
Periodic blood donation camps
are also organised, wherein circle
employees donated their blood; and
helped save lives. In FY 2015-16, our
Gujarat team organised two camps;
and was able to collect 50 units each.
Besides, this initiative has helped our
employees count on blood banks in
their hour of need.
Disaster Relief
The unprecedented rains and
consequent floods in Chennai caused
unimaginable destruction, depriving
a huge proportion of the population
of even bare essentials of life. Team
Kerala and Tamil Nadu (KTN) rose
to the occasion and protected
employees. They also contributed
to bring Chennai and Cuddalore
back to normalcy. The rescue team
worked with local support groups,
police action groups and community
volunteer groups to help save lives.
Our Bihar and Jharkhand Circles
donated ` 958,735 to the Chief
Minister’s Relief Fund on behalf of
Bharti Airtel for the rehabilitation
of victims of Nepal’s earthquake.
Airtel also initiated 48 hours of free
network usage for all calls made to
Nepal, to facilitate relief work and
communication in the disaster hit area.
Gujarat suffered heavy rains and
flood in July 2015. At areas like
Banaskantha, Patan, Kutch, Mehsana,
Sabarkanta and Morbi, the network
was significantly impacted with power
outages in over 2,900 villages. Team
Airtel Gujarat, Indus Towers and NSN
worked diligently in this hour of need.
Over 50% network was restored within
just 48 hours. Airtel was among the
few first to restore connectivity, when
many locations were drowned under
water.
Airtel NESA launched a flood relief
campaign in North East India. The
team volunteered one day for flood
relief campaign at adversely affected
Ampati district in South West Garo
Hills, Meghalaya. The campaign was
conducted, along with government
officials.
Holistic Welfare
We took several initiatives like
‘Each One Teach One’ and Azaadi
Campaign, to enhance digital literacy
across India’s cities and towns. We will
be driving more such initiatives in step
with the Government’s Digital India
mission.
As a part of our community uplift
initiatives, we help create jobs for
local youth closer to their homes;
so that they don’t need to migrate
from their native places. We will
continue to invest more resources and
expertise to generate employment
opportunities for India’s youth,
especially for those in rural regions.
We also regularly organise health
camps to ensure holistic welfare. Our
last camp benefited about 1,700
retailers and distributors. We will
continue to organise such camps
across areas of our operation.
We have also commenced a
Scholarship Programme for kids
where our partners can have their
kids enrolled in this programme for
cash rewards. Close to 40 children
benefited from this programme last
year. Besides, Republic Day, Children’s
Day, Back to School and other
programmes are organised regularly.
Our teams even volunteered to be
invigilators for a Teacher Subject
Knowledge Test across four locations
in Punjab.
B. Environmental Conservation
Environmental degradation and climate change is a critical challenge that industries
and governments across the world must focus on; and find sustainable solutions with
greater urgency and unanimity. The Climate Summit in Paris in 2015 articulated this
concern. Bharti Airtel is partnering with governments and other relevant stakeholders
worldwide to help conserve the environment.
Our priorities comprise:
- Promoting the use of renewable energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
- Exploring innovative technologies in network infrastructure to cut down emissions.
- Working collectively with infrastructure partners to reduce energy consumption and resulting carbon emissions.
- Sharing network infrastructure with partners to reduce emissions.
- Focusing on judicious resource management to wage a war against wastage.
Putting Faith in Green Energy
- Tagged nearly 375 sites green till date by installing green energy solutions and eliminating the use of diesel.
- Installed solar rooftop power plants at 14 Main Switching Centre (MSC) locations, expanding the total installed capacity to 0.805 MWp; these on-grid solar plants are generating over 0.82 Mn units, reducing the emission of 650 tons annually.
- Deployed nearly 700 cumulative sites with solar and battery hybrid, Li-ion and biomass solutions till date, reducing over 16,000 tons annually.
- Continued to focus on renewable sources to enhance energy efficiency; Green Power Wheeling agreements for the procurement of green energy, have been made for three Data Centres and one MSC location; planning to extend the initiative to nine more sites in the coming year.
- Deployed over 150 own sites with advanced VLRA Battery Solution, resulting in over 370 sites with such solution till date.
- Rationalised air-conditioning on over 300 own sites to reduce the consumption by 10%.
- Completed trial on solar natural cooling to reduce energy demand.
- Piloted the use of thermocouple cooling unit at over 450 own and partner sites.
Innovative Network Technologies
Conversion of Indoor Sites to Outdoor
Airtel has been partnering with
Tower Cos to convert indoor sites to
outdoor sites. Over 33,000 sites have
been converted to outdoor till date,
reducing the energy consumption by
about 25%. Sites are being converted
mostly by installing FCU, NCU and
IP55 cabinets for switching off the
air conditioners, thus making them
feasible for installing green energy
solutions like solar, Li-ion, among
others. This initiative also forms part
of Airtel’s War on Waste.
Infrastructure Sharing
Our constant endeavour is to promote
infrastructure sharing, along with our
partners. Our efforts with partners to
consolidate passive infrastructure and
green initiatives have considerably
reduced carbon emission in the entire
industry. This initiative not only reduces
operational cost for service providers
by eliminating operational waste, but
also promotes optimal use of resources.
In FY 2015-16, 45% incremental sites
were deployed as sharer sites, reducing
the energy consumption by a minimum
30% over standalone sites.
Outdoor Site Deployment
During the year, over 90% of the
new sites were deployed as outdoor,
eliminating air-conditioner usage.
In addition, 80% of the sites have
been installed with Auto-TRX
shutdown feature, which ensures that
the TRX remains switched off during
non-peak hours.
Towards a Greener World
Project Green Cities
Project Green City was launched by
Indus Towers and Bharti Infratel few
years back; and over 37,600 sites have
been tagged as green sites till date.
Over 12,800 sites were converted to
outdoor sites during the year under
review, thus enhancing our energy
efficiency significantly.
Resource Management
E-waste
The ever increasing volume of
physical as well as e-waste generated
in contemporary society impacts
the environment considerably. At
Airtel, we deeply acknowledge our
responsibility towards judicious
resource management for a cleaner,
greener planet.
We focus on minimising end-toend
traceability and recycling the
waste generated by our operations.
We monitor on a continuous basis
the generation of the e-waste, its
transportation, processing and
recycling comprehensively.
Any e-waste generated from
technology upgradation, capacity
augmentation and others is recycled
as per the Waste Electrical and
Electronic Equipment (WEEE) norms.
We have a stringent system of
selection of recyclers: recyclers have
to be legally compliant; they should
have their relevant licences in place
with world-class facilities, procedures
and practices to treat e-waste in an
environmentally sound manner.
In FY 2015-16, over 1,700 tons
of e-waste generated from IT and
network infrastructure was recycled
through authorised recycling partners.
E-bills
We are continuously evaluating the
impact of our operations on resources
and environment. Towards this
end, we took significant steps like
reducing paper usage and wastage
by popularising paperless billing.
We have been encouraging our
customers to opt for e-billing and
e-transactions. We provide flexibility
for our customers to opt for paperless
bills at any point in the life cycle.
We have a substantial share of
customers opting for paperless billing.
Over 3 Mn Airtel mobility postpaid
customers have opted for e-bills over
the past two years. In addition, we also
have nearly 70% of our total postpaid
customers on paperless bills till the
end of FY 2015-16, representing over
24% increase in number of customers
opting for paperless bills over
the previous financial year.
Driving Sustainable Transformations Globally
We are committed to bring enduring socio-economic transformation to help
elevate the quality of life for millions of people across the world. We are translating
our commitment into reality on ground through several programmes, which are
need-based and produce measurable outcomes for the community.
Africa
Airtel Africa is committed to
functioning in a socially responsible
manner to enable communities in
the countries in which we operate.
Our focus areas comprise education,
welfare of the youth and health.
“Our CSR journey has just started, but it is an encouraging
beginning. Over the upcoming fiscal, we will see our CSR
teams integrate technology related support into the CSR
programmes. This alignment will create an impact on society
through the technology that we make available”.
Christian de Faria, Executive Chairman, Airtel Africa
Education
Flagship Programmes
- The Adopt-a-School flagship programme has reached over 27,000 students, with more than 700 teachers.
- Airtel Kenya in partnership with the British Council and Global Peace Foundation provided internet access to students, teachers and communities.
- Airtel Zambia in partnership with the British Council, Samsung Electronics and the Ministry of Education has reached over 20,000 students and teachers with their ICT mobile internet bus.
Youth Development
Flagship Programmes
- Train My Generation:
5,000 young Gabonese will be trained in information and communication technology (ICT) skills over the next three years.
- ICT Training in Chad:
Airtel partnered with the Ministry of Education in Chad to train 5,000 youth in the country to improve their ICT skills.
- Airtel Fursa:
Airtel Tanzania is encouraging entrepreneurship among youth (18-24 years) in the country.
- Airtel Catapult Your Business Competition Ghana:
Is a transformative start-up accelerator programme.
- Our Airtel Touching Lives Programme:
Reaches out to over 70 Mn viewers, focusing on empowering the underprivileged.
Health
Flagship Programmes
- Airtel DRC launched 'Airtel Sante info' a mobile health service offered for its subscribers. The service offers free consultations and vaccinations, in partnership with the Medical Action Board Association.
- We continued to support the survivors of Ebola epidemic by providing start-up capital and other resources to 50 women entrepreneurs, especially Ebola widows.
- In Uganda, we organised health camps in partnership with Hinds Feet Programme in remote areas of the country, so that the underprivileged are offered a chance to test and undergo medical screening for various diseases, such Hepatitis B screening and shots, dental, eye check-ups and general medicine. There was also screening for HIV, diabetes, ulcers and blood pressure.
- Airtel Madagascar in partnership with Mobile Hi-Life has developed mobile clinics to help the community get access to better healthcare.
Accolades
- Recognition by the African Union for Airtel's Ebola related initiatives in Africa.
- Airtel Malawi was awarded a premium Awardee in the Corporate Social Responsibility category during the Top Employers Awards 2014 by the Employers Consultative Association of Malawi (ECAM).
- Airtel Zambia: 1st overall award for companies / institutions held in high esteem as good corporate citizen, based on their corporate responsibility initiatives and investments over the past 12 months.
- Ghana CSR Excellence Awards - Best CSR award in Education.
- Ghana Institute of Public Relations Excellence Awards - Best Community Relations programme of the year - Touching Lives.
- Nigeria SERA 2015 - Best Company in CSR health intervention.
- CSR Africa Leadership Awards - Presented to Michael Okwiri, Corporate Communications and CSR Airtel Africa.
Bangladesh
Airtel Bangladesh is committed to
partner various community and
environmental initiatives in Bangladesh
to ensure holistic wellbeing for all.
During the year, the Company provided
crockeries and cooking utensils to
facilitate the Food for Education
Programme of Bidyanondo (learn with
fun), a non-profit organisation. The
programme helps educate children
from disadvantaged sections of society.
The crockeries and utensils were sent
to three branches of Bidyanondo (at
various locations of Bangladesh),
benefiting 500 students.
Sri Lanka
The Company collaborates with
various stakeholders in Sri Lanka
to drive community uplift and
environment conservation initiatives.
The Lady Ridgeway Hospital is
considered to be world’s largest
paediatric government hospital;
it provides free medication and
hospitalisation. Bharti Airtel Lanka
refurbished the hospital into a more
child-friendly environment. The
Company also contributed several
new TVs, furniture and equipment.
The effort proved to be encouraging
with over one million children visiting
the hospital annually for treatment
and care, leaving happy and healthy.
To spread the message of joy,
team Airtel Lanka also celebrated
Christmas with disadvantaged
children of few orphanages and
paediatric hospitals.