THE GLOBAL COMPACT
COMMUNICATION ON PROGRESS...more
GC
Principle No.1 & 2 – Support and protect Human Rights
The support and
protection of internationally proclaimed human rights requires efforts
to improve quality of life. HPC has undertaken projects to help local
communities in earning their livelihood. Initially in 2004-05 HPC had
set up two handloom centers in villages pre-dominantly inhabited by
tribals. Upon observing the efficient and successful running of these
units, HPC has recently selected six villages where upgraded equipment
for handloom weaving have been installed. Six buildings have also been
constructed to house these handlooms. With the support of ‘Mahila
Samitees’ (Women’s Councils) expert traditional weavers amongst the
women folk have been identified and selected for advanced training. Upon
completion of the training programmes, the women would start weaving
‘Gamochas’ and other decorative traditional dress materials which have
ready markets in the North-Eastern Region.
OUTCOME
The above project has
generated a lot of confidence in an otherwise unsure community who were
not having a steady and assured source of income. It has enabled them to
have sustainable means of earning. The local community looks upon the
Organization as a provider. There are several families amongst the local
community whose children have found gainful employment either directly
or indirectly in the mills and even in the townships. Such assistance
from the Corporation has given a fresh lease of life to the local
inhabitants. Many locals have also put up grocery stores, barbershops,
and electronics shops etc. and they are finding ready customers amongst
the employees of the mills.
G C
Principle No.3 – Uphold the freedom of association and the effective
recognition of the right to collective bargaining
The Joint Bi-partite
Forum involving representatives of Management and Employees Unions has
been strengthened with more frequent meetings.
OUTCOME
The Bi-Partite Forum is
a platform for exchanging views, share information and to deliberate on
matters related to production and productivity of the Company. The
working atmosphere in the Industrial Units is extremely cordial and
conducive to hard work.
G C Principle No.4 – Ensure the elimination of all forms of forced and
compulsory labour
The Labour Laws
pertaining to engangement of forced and compulsory labour is applicable
at HPC & compliance made in this regard strictly.
OUTCOME
There is no engangement
of forced and compulsory labour at HPC.
G C
Principle No.5 – Ensure the effective abolition of child labour
The applicability of
Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act 1986 is complied with
strictly at HPC.
OUTCOME
No Child Labour is
allowed to work at HPC.
G C Principle-6 Eliminate discrimination in respect of employment and
occupation gender equality at every step
Right from inception,
HPC has been a firm supporter of maintaining gender equality amongst its
employees. Women and men are given equal opportunities in employment and
ample scope on improving upon their talents and skills. The Organization
has a full fledged HRD Cell manned by professionals which ensures equal
opportunity for women employees. The Corporation, as a matter of policy
sponsors both men and women to various training programmes, professional
courses, seminars and even study tours abroad so that the employees may
improve upon their knowledge and skills in order to contribute
positively to the Organization. In HPC, both men and women work side by
side without fear or favour. Women’s participation and contribution in
all cultural, social and official activities are encouraged. The
Corporation has constituted committees to look into any grievance or any
sort of harassment the women employees may face in the course of their
employment.
HPC also focuses on local area entrepreneurial development. An
Entrepreneur Development Programme was organized at the Community Centre
of Cachar Paper Mill on December 09, 2006 for prospective entrepreneurs
to carry forward the Company’s vision.
OUTCOME
The working atmosphere
at HPC is cordial, peaceful and extremely conducive for productivity and
work. The Corporation provides the best working environment for its
employees irrespective of caste, creed or gender which has resulted in
good work culture and the employees are able to contribute immensely for
the growth of the Organization. Each worker is viewed as a supportive
pillar in this Organization. Basically, due to the weightage that has
been given for development of its employees, the Corporation today has a
professional team of dedicated personnel who believe that ‘Together
Everyone Achieves More’.
GC
Principles 7, 8 & 9 Relating to Environment
As a responsible
corporate citizen, HPC has been constantly contributing to the
preservation and maintenance of the ecological balance.
Towards this end, environmental protection has received topmost priority
on the Company’s agenda. The Corporation has already embarked on a
Modernization & Technological Upgradation Plan (MTUP) to keep abreast of
the latest developments in the field of pulp & paper manufacture and
also to meet the commitments to the Corporate Responsibility for
Environmental Protection (CREP) charter initiated by the Ministry of
Environment & Forests, Govt. of India. As part of Modernization &
Environmental Upgradation Scheme, HPC has installed AFBC Boiler,
upgraded paper Re–winder, Quality Control System in Paper Machine and
Soap Stone Powder feeding system and installed Lime Mud Re-burning Plant
with capital outlay of approx. Rs.130 Crore. HPC manufacturers paper
from renewable bamboo fibre, which is a species of grass. With the
objective of ‘green investment’ and also as part of the Company’s
socialy development programme, HPC units and subsidiary have been
actively promoting the Farm Forestry Scheme with the assistance of the
local NGOs. The Fibre Development and Procurement Department of the
Mills have been educating the local farmers on the benefits of availing
the Company’s Farm Forestry Scheme.
HPC has installed a Tissue Culture Laboratory at Nagaon Paper Mill,
Jagiroad, Assam recently for mass production of quality bamboo plantlets
of preferred species for distribution among local farmers as well as to
nearby States to develop bamboo resources and as an action plan to
desist gregarious flowering of existing bamboo plantations.
HNL, a wholly owned subsidiary of HPC has been spearheading an extensive
farm forestry programme by distributing seedlings of various species of
wood and bamboo for supplementing the availability of forest raw
material. This scheme is well accepted by NGOs/Voluntary Organizations
and marginal farmers.
As part of the MTUP programme, HPC has initiated action for installing
Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) bleaching system in pulp manufacture. This
would further improve the quality of effluents discharged after
treatment and, thereby, meet the standards of CREP Charter, HPC had
taken up 4 projects to cut green house gas (GHG) emission under Kyoto
protocol and obtain Host Country Approval from Ministry of Environment &
Forest as Project under sustainable development.
OUTCOME
The Farm Forestry
Scheme has evoked positive response from the villagers and has provided
an assured source of income to the local inhabitants who were otherwise
shifting from one occupation to other due to vagaries of Nature or would
have been at the mercy of middlemen. HPC has so far distributed 44.89
lakhs plantlets against Farm Forestry Scheme and procured 3.80 lakh
quick growing, high yielding and disease free resistant bambo plantlet
at their State-of-the-art Tissue Culture Laboratory which is first of
its kind in North East India.
The steps initiated for installation of ECF bleaching system would help
reduce pollution and maintain ecological balance.
Solid Waste Management
Another area that has
been developed is solid waste management.
Paper Mills generate many solid waste materials during various stages of
production. These materials require a lot of effort in disposal and
occupy precious land for dumping. One such waste material is lime sludge
which is generated during chemical recovery process. With the
installation of Lime Sludge Reburning Plant, lime sludge will be
recycled back to produce lime for re-use in the production of sodium
hydroxide avoiding dumping of this solid waste.
The installation of Lime Sludge Reburning Plants, (LSRP) at one of the
Mills, is complete. Trial production of Lime has been started. This is
in compliance with one of the key aspects of CREP charter.
HPC also generates bamboo dust during processing raw material for pulp
mill. A project for Gasification of bamboo dust has been completed. The
producer gas generated in the gasification plant will replace fuel of
equivalent heat value. Besides producing energy from solid waste, this
would help in solid waste management. Trial Gasification has been
started after stablisation of Lime Kiln and bamboo dust gas would be
taken into Kiln as partial fossil fuel substitute.
HNL installed De-inking plant to manufacture pulp from waste paper in
2002. The major share of waste paper is collected by self help groups of
women coordinated through Kudumbashree Mission of the State, which
provide livelihood for poor women. By replacing more than 30% of the
pulp requirement with De-inked pulp, the Company could conserve usage of
virgin pulp and, thereby, forest resources, in line with the Company’s
policy of environment protection.
HNL is implementing an EDP project to enhance its annual production
capacity to 2,80,000 tonnes. HNL envisages to meet more than 50% of the
pulp required for this project through another De-inking plant thereby
reducing substantially dependence on forest resources.
OUTCOME
By implementing the
above measures and keeping high alertness in environment management, the
mill premises and environment are well maintained and clean. The Company
has initiated steps to register projects which would enable reduction of
fossil fuel consumption, thereby, reducing emission of Green House Gases
(GHG), under Kyoto protocol of United Nations Framework Convention for
Climate Change (UNFCCC) to derive the benefits of CER credits.
GC Principle 10 – Relating to anti-corruption
A lot of pre-emptive
and preventive measures to eliminate sources of corruption have been
initiated. All Notice Inviting Bids/Tenders are invariably hosted on the
website.
Electronic cash transactions (ECS) have been institutionalized.
OUTCOME
There is total
transparency in all transactions.
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