Real estate players of Gujarat plan an image makeover with the focus on corporate social responsibility (CSR)programmes. The Gujarat Institute of Housing and Estate Developers (GIHED) plans to launch welfare programmes for the labour community engaged on construction sites.

The developers association want to cover various issues directly associated with the work force such as child education, food and nutrition, health, insurance and skill development under its labour welfare programme.

The association is in talks with Akshaya Patra, a non-government organisation, for supplying hygienic and nutritious food to the workers on construction sites in the city. They will get lunch at a token amount of Rs5 per plate. The pilot project will be launched within 15 days. It would cover around 1000 labourers on 10 selected sites in Ahmedabad. “Our plan is to cover around 5,000 workers in the first phase of the project,” said Suresh Patel, president of GIHED.

Moreover, the developer’ body also plans to start anganwadi centres for providing education to kids.A team of two people — teacher and helper — will teach the kids reading and calculation. The builders’ body plans to start around 10 such schools with GIHED and the builder bearingthe cost of such schools.

The association also plans to have a tie-up with an NGO, Sanskardham, to get the workers’ children enrolled in near by municipal schools for primary education. The developers will also provide recreation facility and entertainment to workers’ children, such as horse riding.

The realtors’ body has deployed a medical team for on-site primary health check-up of workers. “We distributed mosquito nets on the construction site this year to save workers from malarial infection,” said Patel.

Source: DnaIndia