An Initiative of

HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED- A BRIEFING

The British manufacturer Lever Brothers was founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever and his brother, James.

Their first product was"Sunlight Soap”.

By 1900 "Lifebuoy", "Lux" and "Vim" brands had been added.

In 1930, merged with a Dutch company, Margarine Unie, to form Unilever

Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) was formed in 1933.

The company was renamed in late June 2007 "Hindustan Unilever Limited".

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BRANDS

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

HUL believes CSR should be seen as a core business activity.

In a developing country like India, there is a need to recognize the right of the underprivileged to participate in economic activity

Corporate Social Responsibility is not philanthropy, it is business.

It’s the business of doing business responsibly

Developing innovations which have a social benefit, as much as they have a profit potential, is the key to this approach

PROJECT “SHAKTI”Shakti is HUL's rural initiative, which targets small villages with population of 2000

people or less.

In general, rural women in India are underprivileged and need a sustainable source of income.

Shakti provides critically needed additional income to these women and their families, by equipping and training them to become an extended arm of the company's operation.

Shakti already has about 25,000 women entrepreneurs in its fold.

HOW IT ALL BEGANHUL has been proactively engaged in rural development since 1976.

The principal issue in rural development is to create income-generating opportunities for the rural population.

Based on these insights, HUL launched Project Shakti in the year 2001, in keeping with the purpose of integrating business interests with national interests.

These factory-centered activities mainly focus on training farmers, animal husbandry, generating alternative income, health & hygiene and infrastructure development.

Such initiatives are successful and sustainable when linked with the company’s core business

SHAKTI: THE VISION

HUL envisions the creation of 1,00,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs covering 5,00,000 villages, and touching the lives of 600 million rural people by the year 2010.

WHY SHAKTI?The objective of Project Shakti is to create income-generating capabilities for underprivileged rural women, by

A crucial lesson learnt was that rural upliftment depended not on successful infusion of credit, but on its guided usage for better investment opportunities

Provide a sustainable micro enterprise opportunity, and to improve rural living standards through health and hygiene awareness.

This is where HUL's Project Shakti is playing a role in creating such profitable micro enterprise opportunities for rural women.

JOURNEY THUS FARThe model was piloted in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh in 50 villages in the year 2000

Most Self Help Groups women view Project Shakti as a powerful business proposition and are keen participants in it.

To improve the business skills of the SHG women, extensive training programmes are being held.

Such workshops have already covered a large number of Shakti Entrepreneurs in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Orissa

A TRUE STORY

STATE-WISE ACHIEVEMENTS

ANDHRA PRADESH

Shakti was piloted in Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh in 2001. The initiative is strongly supported by the Commissionerate for Women Empowerment and Child Development.Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Andhra Pradesh has over 4,411 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 22 districts.

KARNATAKA

Shakti was extended to Karnataka in 2002. Here Shakti is working closely with the Rural Development Department and a number of NGOs.Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Karnataka has over 3,011 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 26 districts.

GUJARAT

Shakti has been rolled out in North Gujarat and Saurashtra from 2003. Shakti is working closely with the State Government and a large number of NGOs to rapidly expand the initiative. Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Gujarat has over 1,659 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 23 districts.

MADHYA PRADESH

Shakti was rolled out in Madhya Pradesh in 2003. Here Shakti is working closely with the Rural Development Department and a number of NGOs.Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Madhya Pradesh has over 2,146 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 41 districts.

CHHATISGARH

Out of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Chhattisgarh has over 834 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 15 districts.

MAHARASHTRAOut of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Maharashtra has over 3,072 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 32 districts.

ORISSAOut of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Orissa has over 2,986 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 24 districts.

PUNJABOut of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Punjab has over 1,187 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 17 districts.

RAJASTHANOut of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Rajasthan has over 2,186 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 32 districts.

TAMIL NADUOut of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Tamil Nadu has over 2,629 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 28 districts.

UTTAR PRADESHOut of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Uttar Pradesh has over 10,130 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 73 districts.

WEST BENGALOut of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, West Bengal has over 2,689 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 17 districts.

BIHAROut of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Bihar has over 1,647 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 30 districts.

HARYANAOut of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Haryana has over 635 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 19 districts.

JHARKHANDOut of a total of more than 40,000 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Jharkhand has over 658 Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 17 districts.

i-SHAKTIA key factor that has inhibited the development of rural India has been lack of access to critical information and services.

In order to impact both livelihood opportunities and living standards of rural communities ‘i-Shakti’ - an IT-based rural information service

The premise of the i-Shakti model is to provide need based demand driven information and services across a large variety of sectors

The i-Shakti kiosk will be operated by the Shakti Entrepreneur, which further strengthens the relationship we have already cultivated and builds new capacity.

During the launch of these kiosks, important village members like the sarpanch, schoolteacher and doctor are invited to help reinforce relationships with the villagers.

The kiosks offer information chiefly in the form of audio-visuals in the following areas:•Health and hygiene•E-governance•Education•Agriculture•Employment•Legal services•Veterinary services

OUTCOMEUnusual venture struck gold in Coimbatore villages

With Loans, Poor South Asian Women Turned Entrepreneurial.

Hindustan Lever Limited won Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry Civic Award for 2004-05.

RURAL ENTREPRENEURS

THE EPIDEMIC

REFERENCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY

Internet:

•http://www.hul.co.in•http://www.ishakti.net

•http://www.hulshakti.com•http://www.wikipedia.org

Intra-Organization Magazine: Between Us issue no. 17Past Annual Reports

ABHIMANYU PARIKH - 61

ADITYA SHAH - 05

TUSHAR BHASIN - 54

RUSSELL MASCARENHAS - 45

NEHA BIRARI - 34

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