Corporate Social Responsibility.

MVPL & IESECCI Initiative — For The Welfare Of Ex-Servicemen Of The Armed Forces

Merchant Ventures Pvt Ltd (MVPL), through its trust, Jaiwant Salvi Foundation (JSF), incorporated in January 2020, supports CSR projects. MVPL has taken up the initiative of contributing to the welfare of ex-servicemen through collaborations with institutions working for this cause and supporting them through the resources of the company and its Trust. One such institution that MVPL has collaborated with since June 2019 is the Indian Ex-Defence Service Employees Chamber of Commerce & Industry (IESECCI).

With the available database of ex-servicemen across India, MVPL is making efforts to map the skills of ex-servicemen to potential opportunities and placements. MVPL, through its affiliate companies in the Hospitality, Manufacturing, Trading, IT, Events and offshore accounts and business process outsourcing industries, will be creating an online platform to connect ex-servicemen to available employment opportunities. MVPL will provide career counselling and training through not-for-profit institutions it has collaborated with for the welfare of ex-servicemen. In addition, MVPL, through its client engagements, generates human resource requirements that can be channelised to provide employment opportunities to ex-servicemen referred by institutions like IESECCI. MVPL will be setting aside a part of revenues to contribute to the welfare of ex-servicemen through its Trust (JSF).

The goal of this initiative is to raise awareness of the job opportunities available to ex-servicemen. The collaboration with IESECCI and other similar organisations aims to connect and train ex-servicemen for employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.

Aid To Enterprise

AID TO ENTERPRISE is a vision of Merchant Ventures Pvt Ltd (MVPL) to create a sustainable, digital business model called "Smart Village". The Smart Village will be implemented in rural areas across the country, aligned with state and local government policies and CSR activities, to address issues faced by the rural population regarding development and growth.

The Smart Village Project aims to develop the entire rural eco-system, represented by four pillars: institutional, physical, social and economic infrastructure. The central feature of our smart village will be a modular, smart community centre equipped with the latest Information Communication Technology (ICT) to provide healthcare, banking, telemedicine, education, entertainment and a host of other similar services, funded through CSR funds. Smart villages will use intelligent solutions to optimise resources and provide responsive governance to engage villagers in the management of their villages. Improved digital connectivity to urban areas will connect villages to mainland opportunities of entrepreneurship, employment, education, healthcare, etc. With a population of 83 crores residing in 6,40,867 villages, rural India offers huge untapped potential for business.

In addition, the smart village will be equipped with data analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to analyse infrastructure needs coupled with the infrastructure available. Deficiencies in infrastructure will be identified and paired with the appropriate local and state programs to fill that gap, implemented in the most efficient manner.

How Can MVPL Turn This Concept Into Reality?

• Identify CSR funds
• Identify villages which will benefit
• Meet local Gram Panchayat to assess their need and interest in implementation
• Build a customised community centre from the source of funds identified
• Initiate dialogue with G2C and B2C service providers to create the channel to provide services through the centre
• Transfer ownership to the local Gram Panchayat
• Initiate an AMC contract which will engage locals or ex-servicemen to run the centres