For the past five years now, Star Cement has been distributing free sewing machines to Outstanding Outgoing Trainees of Star Usha Tailoring School, to help them begin their journey of self-employment and enable them to start taking orders from customers. This year too, Star Cement, distributed 200 sewing machines amongst the Outstanding Outgoing Trainees of the School, at a mega programme held at the NEDFi Auditorium Hall, Guwahati, winning the hearts of the locals by way of its impactful CSR initiative.The ceremonial distribution programme was graced by Sri Gulab Chand Kataria, Hon’ble Governor of Assam as Chief Guest along with other important officials of the State. The programme was spearheaded by Sri Sajjan Bhajanka, Chairman Star Cement and Sri Pradeep Purohit, Chief Operating Officer, Star Cement. Star Usha Tailoring School, was set up five years ago by Star Cement Ltd, in collaboration with Usha International Ltd, in Chamata Pathar, Sonapur, with the aim to provide free-of-cost training to local women and young girls in designing, cutting and stitching of various kinds of garments for children, women and men, which could eventually help them become financially independent. The overall technical guidance and course curriculum was designed with the help of Usha International Ltd, while the cost of setting up the training centre, operational cost, certification etc were borne by Star Cement as a part of their CSR initiatives.
The School since then has grown rapidly in popularity. Till date, as many as 1000 women and young girls have received free training from this centre. Several more women and girls continue to come from remote locations, to enrol for this training course.18 September 2023 event was also earmarked for another CSR activity by Star Cement. During the same event, Star Cement Ltd announced the distribution of several essential School infrastructural items for 15 neighbouring schools which were shortlisted with the guidance of Sonapur Sahitya Sabha. Star Cement will be distributing several essential items to these schools which will include 90 pairs of Desks, 22 pairs of Tables & Chairs, 65 Ceiling Fans, 20 Blackboards, 15 Plastic Chairs and 3 numbers of Room Partitions of 8ft by 5ft dimension.
During the event, Star Cement also felicitated 14 local schools of Sonapur and Chamata area for their outstanding academic performance in the recently held GUNOTSAV, Assam 2023. These schools have been rated as ‘A+ Grade’ for their outstanding academic performance. Star Cement Ltd applauded the achievement of the 14 schools as well as 70 meritorious students of the selected 14 schools by way of financial aid. The selection was guided by the Sonapur Sahitya Sabha, a respected literary forum of Sonapur Area. Sri Gulab Chand Kataria, Hon’ble Governor of Assam was invited on stage to felicitate these schools and students. Later, while addressing the audience at the event, Sri Gulab Chand Kataria, expressed immense appreciation and regard for Star Cement, for the Company’s valuable humanitarian efforts and initiatives which would go a long way in contributing to the economic well-being of the communities in the region. Sri Pradeep Purohit, Chief Operating Officer, Star Cement, also came forward to speak on behalf of the Company. He expressed how these CSR initiatives were ultimately held towards fulfilling the larger mission of Star Cement – that is – to not only help bring about infrastructural growth of the North East but also to build a stronger happier community of people in the region – leading to a parallel journey of inclusive growth. Trainees of Star Usha Tailoring School, Teachers, Students, Members of School Management Committee, Members of Sonapur Sahitya Sabha , as well as the local people of Sonapur participated in the programme with great enthusiasm.
