Shri Praveen Karn, a Post Graduate in Rural Development from Xavier Institute of Social Services is the Group Head for CSR and Communication at Spark Minda Group. While working for CSR & Communication in the industry for more than 14 years, Praveen was also ranked among 25 CSR professionals in India by the CSR Times, declared among the 50 most influential leaders in CSR by World CSR Congress and was placed among 25 Impactful CSR Leaders by India CSR.

His program for PWDs has won The National CSR Award 2019, conferred by the Ministry of Finance & Corporate Affairs, Government of India and the President of India. He is appointed in the expert panel of IICA, is a member of CSR Committee of ASSOCHAM, a member of CSR for Northern Region of CII and has contributed in more than 50 national and international forums as an accomplished speaker.

In an exclusive interview, Shri Praveen Karn shares with Marie Banu Spark Minda Group’s CSR Programmes.

About the founder of Spark Minda group and his philanthropical work?

Spark Minda Group was founded in 1958 by Late Shri Shadi Lal Minda, a leading industrialist and renowned philanthropist who had steered the group to emerge as a leading player in the Indian automotive industry since its inception. His firm belief in “Social Change for Nation Building” provided the impetus for how the group is known today – ‘delivering uncompromising quality in automotive parts’.

In 1987, he founded the Moga Devi Minda Charitable Trust that has successfully accomplished several social projects like, a children home in Delhi “Minda Bal Gram”, a vocational training center for youngsters across several villages in Adampur Block, Haryana, known as “S. L. Minda Seva Kendra”, a value based, not-for-profit, co-education school “Moga Devi Minda Memorial School”, and established the “S. L. Minda Memorial Sports Academy” in Bagla, Hisar, Haryana. He believed that any form of service towards destitute society will ultimately serve the nation, besides offering service to God.

What are the focus areas of Spark Minda Group’s CSR programmes?

Spark Minda Foundation (SMF) is the CSR wing of Spark Minda Group with a vision of building a sustainable society and improving their quality of life. Since its inception in 2014, SMF has been carrying out various programmes that focus on Education, Livelihood, Women Empowerment, Healthcare and Persons with disabilities. SMF’s objective is to protect the planet through affirmative action, thereby leading the integrated and inclusive growth of people and environment.

SMF’s aim of enabling sustainable community development drives the foundation to run projects that benefit children, youth and women in rural communities across five states of India, namely, Haryana, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

About the ‘Saksham’ programme?

Saksham Programme was conceptualized in 2014. It was a result of the determination of the board to bring value to the society, especially towards the most marginalized and discriminated sections. This programme takes a holistic approach to empower and uplift Persons with disabilities.

Saksham attempts to provide assisstive and accessible aid, support to gain financial independence by creating inclusive spaces and job opportunities, and also help the PWDs to access governmental support policies through UDID registration.

Started in 2015, camps were organized between 2016-2018 in several domestic locations of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, and also in Indonesia and Vietnam for the empowerment of PWDs. The foundation also collaborated with the Sadhbhavana Programme of Indian Army’s Pir Panjal Brigade and conducted camps in Baramulla district of Uri in J &K.

A Center for Empowerment of PWDs was established in 2018 in Pune, that caters to more than 10 blocks spanning over four districts of Maharashtra, particularly the rural pockets, where healthcare facilities for Divyangs are not easily accessible. Till date, the programme has reached to more than 8,500 Persons with Disability with 7,951 accessible and assistive aids, 282 UDID registration facilitations and 564 employments. By 2025, it aims to reach 19,000 PWDs through fitments, UDID registrations and employment.

A major area of intervention for the Saksham programme is the facilitation of skilling and employment through a Deployment Matrix that was created to identify roles that can match with the type of disability. This exercise is performed at all production locations and helps in deciding on recruitments. SMF has partnered with more than 35 organizations for this project including NGOs, Trade Associations, Government and other Foundations. This programme aligns with Sustainable Development Goal 10 established by the United Nations in 2015 – Reduce inequality within and among countries.

What are the successes and challenges of the Business Integrated Prison Programme?

Under the Business Integrated Prison Programme, Spark Minda Foundation develops manufacturing facilities inside prisons where the inmates can work and earn a payment. The programme focuses on training and rehabilitation of prison inmates with the aim to reduce propensities towards crime in society. The Prison programme will not only help the inmates to develop a skill, but also show them a way for a brighter tomorrow.

Spark Minda Foundation is currently coordinating this programme in four prisons of Maharashtra – Yerwada Central Prison, Pune (for men and women); Harsul Central Prison; Aurangabad Prison (for women) and Nagpur Central Prison (for men). Being the first Automotive Company in India to set up an automotive facility in Tihar Prison in the year 2014, SMF has engaged around 150+ inmates till date through this programme.

The experience of running this project has a brawny takeaway – what initially was felt difficult for the supervisors eventually resulted in a cooperative affiliation with the inmates. In spite of challenges in internal sourcing or operative challenges (due to prison protocols), like complete checking of each packed container of raw materials and the final products etc., the programme has largely witnessed mutual cooperation and willingness to a great extent.

What are the efforts taken by Spark Minda to support those affected by Covid-19 pandemic?

The effects of Covid-19 loomed large across the globe, and fairly took a front seat in SMF’s interventions. Persons with disabilities are the most vulnerable group during this pandemic and the team rushed to provide raw food items under the Covid-19 relief and rehabilitation to the PWD shelter homes, in collaboration with CII.

SMF team supported in arranging food and hospitality for the healthcare staff of Safdarjung hospital, New Delhi, in collaboration with ASSOCHAM. In Maharashtra, more than 19,000 cooked food packets were distributed to the under-served community. Medical kits and other utilities like bench partition were provided to Jawaharlal Nehru district hospital in Uttarakhand along with testing kits, personal protective equipment and sanitizers.

The foundation also collaborated with the Indian army under the Sadbhavana project and distributed ration and medical kits to over 300 people in Jammu villages at isolated areas along the border. The Aakarshan Skill Development Center has been converted to online e-certified courses so that it does not stop imparting knowledge and skills. Further, SMF have initiated mask production in all project offices that had produced over 33,000 masks so far.

During the second wave of the Pandemic, the foundation remains committed to provide support to the disadvantaged and marginalized sections of the society. SMF is delivering monthly ration kits to people with leprosy in Manav Seva Kusth Ashram, Uttarakhand, alongside distributing Covid-19 Arogya kit in Vengadu, Tamil Nadu and distributing grocery kits for PWD employees across the country.

In order to further improve access to healthcare internally, Spark Minda Group has also launched a programme to vaccinate all 15,000 employees across the country, free of cost. In addition to this, the group will also provide medical tele-consultation services to all employees for the entire year.