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Corporate Social Responsibility Report

At Bharti Airtel sustainability is defined in the context of operating our business responsibly. Operating in 16 countries with more than 3 Bn customers, it is our endeavour to make a difference in our communities.

Our approach to sustainability is guided by our values and principles. Our employees across the globe make sincere efforts to leave a positive impact on the lives of people that need aid. We empower the stakeholders through several initiatives in the field of education, women empowerment, sanitation, employment generation and healthcare, among others.

INDIA
At Bharti Airtel, we strive to inspire and empower people to create a financially secure and sustainable future. Over the course of the year, we worked towards achieving socioeconomic growth through our programs. We stepped up our efforts during the year through several programmes that bring about life-lasting changes in the lives of the people.

Bharti Foundation

Bharti Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Bharti enterprises. The Foundation provides free and quality education to underprivileged children with a focus on the girl child, across rural India through its flagship initiative - the Satya Bharti School Program. Post completion of 10 successful years in 2016, the Foundation’s education focus is being scaled up by transferring learning and best practices of the Satya Bharti School Program to Government schools through the Satya Bharti Quality Support Program. The Foundation has also made significant contributions in the field of secondary education through its higher education programs in partnership with renowned institutions like Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) – Delhi & Mumbai, Indian School of Business – Mohali, University of Cambridge – UK and Newcastle University – UK. Since 2014, the Foundation has extended its service beyond education to improve sanitation in Ludhiana, as well as in Amritsar with the initiation of Satya Bharti Abhiyan.

Education

Satya Bharti School Program

The Satya Bharti School Program is the flagship initiative of Bharti Foundation. This rural education initiative provides quality education to underprivileged children, completely free of cost, with a special focus on the girl child. The program envisions transforming students into educated, confident, responsible and self-reliant employable citizens of India with a deep sense of commitment to their society. The program’s reach is multi-pronged: encouraging active involvement of the rural community, parents of students and other organizations working in the field of education in India. Making a lasting and sustainable impact on the community

where schools are present and finding innovative solutions through its primary and senior secondary schools, the Satya Bharti School Program is being implemented with the intent to arrive at replicable and scalable components of quality education which may be adapted by the Government and other like-minded organizations. Reaching out to thousands of underprivileged children, the program, through its focus on holistic development, aims to bring forth a new generation of citizens eager to usher in positive change.

Key Achievements, 2017-18

National level

  • 23 students from Satya Bharti School were winners (Eight Gold, Eight Silver, Seven Bronze) at ‘Natural Capital Olympiad’ (Environment based competition)
  • 35 students secured admission in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) - complete residential schools for gifted students in India supported by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India
  • Two Satya Bharti School teachers were declared winners by Centre for Teacher Accreditation (CENTA -a hallmark of teaching excellence)
  • Exemplary performance by students of Satya Bhart Schools at India Art National level Painting Competition ‘Khula Aasmaan’, receiving 11 medals and 87 honorable mentions
  • Nine Satya Bharti students among the coveted Top 100 at the ‘Design For Change’ contest that recognizes impactful community campaigns addressing social change
  • Three students were declared winners at ‘Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards’ celebrating volunteer community program in India

International level

  • Satya Bharti Adarsh Senior Secondary School, Rauni, Punjab was awarded at ‘School Enterprise Challenge’, an international initiative that promotes entrepreneurship
  • 14 Satya Bharti Schools students were declared winners at ‘Inspire Aspire’ Poster Making Competition 2017

Students of Satya Elementary School, Dhulka, Punjab: Narinderpal Singh (15 yrs old), Simranjot Kaur (13 yrs old), Sanehdeep Kaur (12 yrs old), Daljit Singh (10 yrs old), Arshdeep Singh (10 yrs old)

Agents of Change: The road connecting the villages of Jharunangal and Dhulka in District Amritsar, Punjab had deteriorated causing several road accidents and injuries to people. Satya Elementary School, Dhulka started witnessing a steady decline in attendance rates of students due to challenges faced by students by the worsening condition of the road.

The students of Satya Elementary School, Dhulka, along with the active support of their teachers, resolved to change the situation. It spurred them to initiate a road safety project. The children went door to door, approached the village sarpanch, community members and the students of nearby schools, informing them about the situation. The determination of the students led to a change, inspiring the community to pitch in by providing construction materials and labour. Within a short time-frame of less than a month, the students’ efforts led to a repaired road that was safe for use.

254

Schools

50%

Percentage of Girls

06

States

45,388

Students

76%

Percentage of students from SC/ST/OBC communities

1,617

Teachers

70%

Percentage of female teachers

Satya Bharti Quality Support Program

The Satya Bharti Quality Support Program is an education initiative with Government Schools. Through this Program, Bharti Foundation engages the school leadership, teachers, students and the surrounding communities towards enhancing the schooling experience and strive for excellence. The approach is to identify, integrate and optimize best practices from Satya Bharti Schools with the intent of encouraging innovation, participation and ownership to facilitate sustainable change.


398

Schools (in ten states*)

50%

Girls

159,298

Students

5,982

Teachers

69%

SC/ST/OBC communities


*Program Footprint across 10 states of India: Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh & Jharkhand

Program Approach:


Optimize use of existing resources, policies and systems

Collaborate with school leadership and staff to maximize usage

Support schools leaders to achieve higher goals and bridge existing gaps

Facilitate, support and enhance school resources, processes and efforts

Key Achievements, 2017-18

  • The remediation program has helped increase the learning levels of 3,817 students thereby improving their English language and Math across 151 schools
  • Leadership positions at clubs were led by girls witnessing more than 60% girls at the helm compared to 31% last year
  • A total of 558 awards won by schools at different levels with five students winning National Means-cum-Merit scholarship awarded by Ministry of Human Resource Development; two winning All India Kung Fu championship and one gold medal in wrestling at 4th Indo-Nepal Golden Cup Youth Rural Games 2017-18
  • Leadership training organized for 104 schools to empower the school leadership (Principals and senior staff). Also, capacity building exposure trips organized for Army Goodwill Schools’ staff (100 participants) to Satya Bharti Adarsh Senior Secondary Schools in Ludhiana
  • Schools connect with communities increased with average number of meetings of School Management Committee up from two in FY 2016-17 to five by end of FY 2017-18
  • Increased Parent-Teacher Meetings per school from two to three over previous year. Average attendance increased from 35% to 48% witnessing a rise of more than 1,300 basis points
  • Three girl students were felicitated by the then President of India, Hon’ble Sh. Pranab Mukherjee in Sohna for exceptional roles and leadership skills in club activities under Rashtrapati Bhavan’s secretariat’s ‘Smartgram’ project

“Bharti Foundation’s Quality Support Program has benefitted us in various ways and it has helped us in improving overall development of students. Their focus on innovative activities like library week, art and craft workshops, study skills workshops and celebration of national day have created an impact on students’ lives.”

“We would like to express our gratitude to Bharti Foundation for their tireless contribution in changing the overall atmosphere of our school. Their initiatives like Lecture Series, Students Competitions, Student-Teacher Excursions, Teacher Training and Club Formation are priceless contributions in development of a child’s future. Apart from this we highly appreciate the role of the Foundation in streamlining Parent Teacher Meetings and community connect



Mrs. Poonam Nijhawan, Government School Principal Sarvodaya Senior Secondary School, Pitam Pura, Delhi

Mrs. Santosh Kumari, Government School Principal Govt. Girls Higher Secondary School, Kandoli, Nagrota, J&K

Satya Bharti Learning Centre (2013 to 2018)*

This remedial/bridge courses program run by the Foundation, aims to bridge the education gap of Out-of-School Children to mainstream them into regular schools. The first phase of the program, started in 2013 and deployed in partnership with the Government of Rajasthan was scaled up to Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, thereby extending program reach to the remote blocks of all three states.

Till March 2018, following have been the major achievements of the program:


49%

Percentage of girls

33,353

Students mainstreamed

1,522

Centres operational since program inception

All data as on March 31, 2018

98%

Percentage of SC/ST/OBC students


Key Achievements, 2017-18

  • 9,265 students were mainstreamed in year FY 2017-18
  • 15 blocks (Nine in Rajasthan and Six in Jharkhand) declared Out-of-School Children free by the Education departments. In these 15 blocks, Bharti Foundation contributed by operating 846 School Learning Centres and mainstreamed 18,646 students
  • Nearly 1,600 Education Volunteers (EV) worked in this program, which has generated trained human resource for remedial teaching at the village level
  • 1,522 Satya Bharti School Learning Centres have been operated and closed successfully
  • Education Department, at all block and district levels have formally appreciated and acknowledged Bharti Foundation’s contribution for identifying Out-of-School Children, remedial teaching and mainstreaming them in government schools
  • 79 EVs appreciated by Education Department in Rajasthan
  • Rajasthan Council of Elementary Education appreciated the program
  • Over 250 appreciation letters and formal recognitions received from government officials
  • Over 200 print and electronic media reports came about Bharti Foundation’s School Learning Centres program
  • MP Shri Nishikant Dubey appreciated the work of Bharti Foundation
  • Secretary, MHRD, Government of India appreciated Bharti Foundation’s work to reopen a school
  • Bharti Foundation nominated in the 13 member core Education reformation committee team at Pakur, Jharkhand
  • Many students in this program (erstwhile Out-of-School Children) went on to be selected in Navodaya Vidyalaya
  • (JNV), Eklavya Vidyalaya and Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV), besides 16 students completing class 5 with over 60% marks (first division)
  • Three centres have been awarded ‘Swachh Vidyalay Purashkar’ (one in Category green band and the other two in category blue band by MHRD, GOI)
  • MLAs from constituency of Barmer, Ramsar, and Sawai Madhopur visited centres and appreciated Bharti Foundation’s work with government schools
  • MLA from constituency of Dahua in Jharkhand visited the Centre and appreciated the program
*From April 2018, this program has been integrated with the Satya Bharti Quality Support Program for the comprehensive support of Government schools.

Bokrabandh, is a village approximately 400 kms north of Ranchi, falling under Sunderpahari block of Godda district. This remote village (the nearest station is Bhagalpur Railway Station which is 94 KMs away) has a population of around 600 people, primarily belonging to a tribal community. The only Government school in Bokraband was closed for years due to lack of infrastructure and basic facilities.

Lukas Hansda, a youth from a tribal village pledged to bring the change that mattered. Working as an Education Volunteer with Bharti Foundation, Lukas Hansda, followed the processes under Satya Bharti Learning Center Program. The first challenging task was to get Out-of-School Children back into school. After a lot of hard work and persuasion, 24 children underwent the remedial course in Satya Bharti Learning Centers.

The Satya Bharti Learning Center provided remedial courses for Out-of-School Children and Satya Bharti Quality Support Program, helped the school to set up co-scholastic processes such as School Management Committee, Community Volunteering Program, Students’ Council, Parent Teacher Meeting, School Development Plan etc. Government teachers were encouraged and persuaded to attend the school regularly. The activity based learning approach and healthy teacher-student’s relationship helped in enriching the overall schooling experience for all stakeholders. Today the village has a fully functional school and has institutionalized key processes that make the initiative sustainable with Lukas motivating another 20 students to join in 2017-18 academic year.

“We appreciate Bharti Foundation’s Satya Bharti Learning Centre Program and their collaboration with Government of Rajasthan in identifying Out-of-School Children and mainstreaming them in government schools. We would like to highlight Bharti Foundation’s support in achieving the goal of 100% mainstreaming of drop out children. We hope that Bharti Foundation will continue this commendable work across all districts of Rajasthan”.

“Wonderful initiative by Bharti Foundation in Naxal-hit district of Jharkhand to bring back Out-of-School Children. Such public–private partnerships can help transform education. The need now is to scale such efforts and expand nexus of good work”.



Dr. Priya Balram Sharma, Deputy Commissioner (REI) Rajasthan Council of Elementary Education, Jaipur

Sh. Anil Swarup, Secretary, MHRD Government of India (Courtesy: Twitter)

Satya Bharti Abhiyan

On August 18, 2014, Bharti Foundation launched the Satya Bharti Abhiyan, an initiative to improve sanitation facilities with rural Ludhiana as a focus area. Phase one of the program has been completed with individual toilets constructed and handed over across rural and urban Ludhiana. In addition, 14 Government schools, identified by Punjab Education Development Board, have been provided a separate toilet for girls in rural Ludhiana. In the urban areas of Ludhiana district, 201 households in a list provided by the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC), that did not have a toilet, have been provided one.

On July 15, 2017, the Foundation announced the expanded outreach of the sanitation initiative with the launch of the Abhiyan in Amritsar. An MoU was signed with the Department of Water Supply and Sanitation (DWSS), Punjab in September 2017 for providing financial assistance to beneficiaries for the construction of toilets as identified by the DWSS.


90,276

Total beneficiaries

18,286

Toilets constructed (rural & urban Ludhiana amd rural Amritsar)

14

Girls’ toilets (government schools)

1,010

Villages surveyed

792

Villages (toilets constructed)

11

Urban local bodies (toilets constructed)

* Data as of March 31, 2018, with total figures from inception in August 2014

Key Highlights, 2017-18

  • Reduction in open defecation enabling better health and wellbeing. A survey of usage of toilets provided to the beneficiaries, revealed 98.54% being used
  • Ludhiana district (rural), one of the largest and most populated districts of Punjab became the second selfdeclared “Open Defecation Free” district in the state in November 2016. Amritsar district (rural) has achieved selfdeclared Open Defecation Free (ODF) status on March 28, 2018 and Punjab (rural) on March 30, 2018
  • Satya Bharti Abhiyan received ‘CORPORATE TRAILBLAZER’ Award at ‘India Today Safaigiri Summit & Awards 2017’
  • The program has been appreciated at the village, district, state as well as National level of governance. On January 24, 2018, Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi lauded Bharti Foundation’s sanitation initiative during a CEO meet at the World Economic Forum in Davos
Commemoration ceremony for completion of Abhiyan in Ludhiana graced by then Minister of Finance and Corporate affairs, Govt. of India, Shri Arun Jaitley, Shri Manpreet Badal, Finance Minister Govt. of Punjab, Shri Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, then Cabinet Minister for Department of Water Supply and Sanitation, Govt of Punjab, and Mr. Rakesh Bharti Mittal, CoChairman, Bharti Foundation. Event joined by many government officials, political fraternity and industry officials
Higher Education

Bharti Foundation has also partnered with premier National and International Institutes in the sphere of Higher Education:

The Bharti School of Telecommunication Technology and Management at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, established as a premier institute developing ‘Young Telecom Leaders’. The Airtel IIT Delhi Centre of Excellence in Telecommunications (AICET) was established to bring about a sustained growth and progress in the Telecom sector through various innovative initiatives.

The Bharti Centre for Communication at IIT, Bombay is dedicated to being a contributor in expanding the frontiers of knowledge through research and education in the telecommunication industry.

The Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Mohali was set up in a partnership between Indian School of Business (ISB) and Bharti Enterprises with Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University (USA) as its partner school.

Key partnerships

Partnerships with University of Cambridge (UK):

The University of Cambridge and Bharti Foundation, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) on 12th September 2016 to conduct a baby corn crop improvement research program in India. The program is being funded through a grant from Bharti Foundation to the University of Cambridge. The grant supports a three-year research program carried out between Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences and the Cambridge Centre for Crop Science (3CS), Punjab Agricultural University and FieldFresh Foods.

Manmohan Singh Bursary Fund:

Begun in 2010, this scholarship program enables high school students of remarkable caliber to pursue their education at the University of Cambridge University, thus removing the financial barrier.

Partnership with University of Newcastle (UK):

Bharti Foundation and Newcastle University, UK signed and MoU in March 2018 to extend cooperation in the area of student’s internship and joint academic research. The students from Newcastle University, UK, will make a visit to the remote villages in India and conduct their research on various educational reform projects run by Bharti Foundation. The findings of their research will be used to further develop and enhance the ongoing programs.

Satya Bharti University Announcement

In November 2017, Bharti Foundation announced its plans to set up Satya Bharti University with the vision of “Being a global leader in creating and disseminating cutting-edge knowledge that transforms lives and creates a brighter future”

Airtel Connect

Airtel Delhi Half Marathon

The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM) continues to be bring together corporates, individuals, employees and students of schools and colleges, giving them the opportunity to increase their awareness about the Satya Bharti School Program, help raise funds and enjoy the marathon run.

Young Leader Programme

The Young Leader Programme is a two-week initiative (part of corporate induction program) to engage new team members of Bharti Airtel as volunteers to support various initiatives of Bharti Foundation.

2,568MWh

Units of electricity saved in FY 2017-18 in our facilities

ACT (A Caring Touch)

It is an employee payroll giving programme encouraging employees to give back to society in terms of money, time, skills or knowledge. In FY 2017-18 more than 4,145 employees (from Bharti Airtel Limited, Bharti Airtel Services Limited and Telesonic Networks Limited) participated contributing H 4.58 Mn, while the employer contribution was H 5.80 Mn.

Africa

We operate in a complex and dynamic environment, with economic controls, technological progressions and increasing focus on digitisation. As a responsible corporate, we align our business growth with social and economic wellbeing of the communities where we operate. Our programs are executed at local level through our employees, thereby directing contributions to areas of greatest impact in the particular regions.

Education

Adopt-a-School: Our flagship program in Africa, through ‘Adopt-a-School’ initiative we have created an impact in lives of more than 32,000 under-privileged children. We have helped schools rebuild infrastructure, provide reading materials, support feeding programs and promote e-learning.

Internet for School: Airtel Kenya partnered with more than 315 schools in 36 counties across the country with its flagship program ‘Airtel Internet for Schools’. The program has provided internet accessibility to several school students who cannot afford cost of connection. Till date more than 300,000 students have been impacted through the initiative.

300,000

Students benefitted through Internet for School program

Internet hubs: Airtel Zambia employees scaled up their efforts to bridge the digital gap in the country through donation of computers and providing internet accessibility by setting up dedicated ‘internet hubs’ across the country. Through partnerships with the British Council, Samsung Electronics, Huawei and the Ministry of Education, Airtel is helping students to realise their full potential and contribute to national development. The hubs helped students and teachers to use the computers for improving their Internet and Communication Technology (ICT) capabilities.

7,000

Students used internet hubs created by Airtel Zambia

Disaster management

Fight against plague: Airtel Madagascar partnered with World Health Organisation (WHO) and Malagasy Government in implementing a strategy and response plan to help people fight the plague outbreak that affected more than 23 Mn in August 2017. Airtel Madagascar provided a short code number so that all subscribers would have free access to information, creating awareness to prevention, symptoms, transmission and treatment of the plague from WHO. Around 40,000 calls were received on a daily basis. The initiative received a commendation from the WHO (World Health Organisation). Our employees set up.

40,000+

Calls received daily for information on plague

Health

Health Centre by Phone: Airtel Malawi is part of “Chipatala cha Pa Foni” (CCPF) or ‘Health Centre by phone. The toll free health and nutrition program in partnership with NGO Village Reach and Ministry of Health has helped the subscribers reach out to trained health professionals for advice to any health related issue. Originally focused on women and children, the hotline now covers all health topics, including nutrition, HIV, and TB, youth-friendly service and content.

12,000+

Annual Calls received from subscribers seeking healthcare advice

Youth empowerment

Train my generation: Train My Generation project was initiated to train young Gabonese students in New Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Airtel Gabon signed the partnership agreement with UNESCO at the UNESCO Headquarters in November 2014. A first of its kind agreement between UNESCO and a private company, the initiative helped improve digital literacy in centres by training more than 5,000 students between the age of 17-35 years. Airtel opened 13 such training centres across Gabon with 62 teachers being imparted training by African Institute of Information and Technology

On March 29th 2018, the graduation ceremony for the “Train My Generation Program” was conducted with Audrey Hazouley, the Managing Director of UNESCO and the President of Gabon were present as guests at the ceremony and commended Airtel for this ground-breaking initiative.

“With changes in the education system that have seen more students turning to the Internet for learning resources, the organization continues to harness the strength of the Company’s technology to drive change in the community. Airtel Africa is committed to support schools across the continent connect to the Internet.”


Raghunath Mandava Message from MD and CEO

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