Smt Ramilaben Raysingbhai, a member of UltraTech’s Kutumb programme, conferred Padma Shri

April, 2022 : Smt. Gamit Ramilaben Raysingbhai was honoured with Padma Shri award on 28th March 2022 by the Hon’ble President of India In recognition of her selfless service in the areas of education, healthcare and sanitation. Smt. Ramilaben, 52, is a social worker from Songadh taluka in Tapi district in Gujarat. Speaking about the recognition, Smt. Ramilaben said, “I made a decision in my life that ‘Service to humankind is service to God’. When I saw people were indulging in open defecation in my village, I made a decision to build toilets in people's houses. I wished to have my village clean and free from open defecation and also contribute to the Government’s mission of making India open defecation free”.

Smt. Ramilaben has been an active member of UltraTech Cement’s Kutumb programme since July 2019. Inspired by the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission) announced by the Government of India, Smt. Ramilaben, in 2014, took the initiative to galvanise the villagers to construct toilets and eradicate open defecation. After joining Kutumb programme in 2019 and becoming an expert in masonry, she trained other women in the village to learn masonry and formed an all-women team to construct toilets. This not only helped provide enhanced livelihood opportunities for the local women but also reduced the cost of toilet construction. So far, Smt. Ramilaben has helped in the construction of over 700 toilets in nine villages in Gujarat leading to them becoming ‘open defecation’ free villages. Speaking about her association with Kutumb, Smt. Ramilaben said, “I joined UltraTech Cement’s Kutumb programme in July 2019. After joining Kutumb, many women of my village were given training in masonry and plaster and also received free construction toolkits. It has facilitated them to earn a livelihood and supported them in their quest for financial independence.”

UltraTech Cement’s Kutumb programme is a skill training and livelihood enhancement programme of for masons and contractors. Through this programme, UltraTech has engaged over two million masons and contractors across the country for various activities and engagements aimed at improving the quality of construction and trained thousands of masons and contractors to enhance their livelihoods. The emphasis of this programme is to help masons hone their technical skills and also improve their entrepreneurial ability, thus empowering them to gain better employment. Training is conducted at three levels based on the existing skills and ability of the masons. The program is organized in association with accredited agencies, government bodies and reputed educational institutions through a joint certification approach. The Company has developed several audio-visual aids to enable consistency and quality in delivery of training.

Under this programme, UltraTech has trained 90,000 masons and contractors in 2021 alone and plans to reach out to more than one lakh masons and contractors in 2022. For several years now, the programme has also been training women to become skilled masons and thus help them gain sustainable employment. In 2021, UltraTech has successfully trained more than 1,300 women masons across India.

Smt. Ramilaben has been an active member of UltraTech Cement’s Kutumb programme since July 2019. Inspired by the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission) announced by the Government of India, Smt. Ramilaben, in 2014, took the initiative to galvanise the villagers to construct toilets and eradicate open defecation. After joining Kutumb programme in 2019 and becoming an expert in masonry, she trained other women in the village to learn masonry and formed an all-women team to construct toilets. This not only helped provide enhanced livelihood opportunities for the local women but also reduced the cost of toilet construction. So far, Smt. Ramilaben has helped in the construction of over 700 toilets in nine villages in Gujarat leading to them becoming ‘open defecation’ free villages. Speaking about her association with Kutumb, Smt. Ramilaben said, “I joined UltraTech Cement’s Kutumb programme in July 2019. After joining Kutumb, many women of my village were given training in masonry and plaster and also received free construction toolkits. It has facilitated them to earn a livelihood and supported them in their quest for financial independence.”