Corporate Social Responsibility

Philosophy
	In the welfare society one expects Government to provide all kinds of social services to its citizens and especially to the needy. But Government is unable to discharge this responsibility efficiently because of its gargantuan size. It is imperative that NGOs (Non Government Organizations) pitch in and take up some of the social responsibilities of the Government. Corporates or Companies are also NGOs and as such should willingly take up such additional responsibilities. They are well organized, disciplined and result oriented. They can discharge such additional responsibilities efficiently. Kinetic's promoter family, Pune based Firodias has been a family of freedom fighters. Late Pankuwar Firodia, mother of Kinetic Chairman Arun Firodia, was a freedom fighter herself. Mr. Firodia remembers assisting his mother in running Adult Literacy Classes for the illiterate watchmen working in a State Government factory where his father (Kinetic's founder Late Mr. H. K. Firodia) was Works Manager; and has traveled with Acharya Vinoba Bhave in his ' Padayatra' and such experiences made deep impact on him.



Projects
Kinetic has initiated and runs a project called "Swapnabhoomi" (Dreamland) in Parbhani District of Maharashtra where a cluster of 150 villages have been adopted and are provided inputs for sanitation, literacy, vocational guidance, water conservation, irrigation, women's upliftment, village industries etc. These villages can aspire to be called ' ideal ' villages. Kinetic runs a special program for rehabilitation of leprosy afflicted persons. by way of curing, caring, training and providing gainful rehabilitation. This program has been sustained for over 15 years, which is indicative of the company’s commitment and focused approach to the cause of empowerment and rehabilitation of leprosy patients. Kinetic has formed a special alliance with Mission: Vijay II, a foundation that assists our country’s war heroes in rehabilitation. The alliance covers all ex-servicemen and war-wounded soldiers or their widows or families, and offers them an opportunity for earning livelihood after they are no longer able to serve in the army or have lost their family members. Through this alliance with Kinetic, the war wounded, ex-servicemen and war widows are offered an opportunity to set up Authorized Sales and Service stations for Kinetic. These would be set up in the Tehsils or villages across the country. They will earn commission on all sales and also income from servicing of Kinetic’s two wheelers. Kinetic will extend all training and support required for them to carry out this activity. The alliance has been formed on a national level, so the program is open across the country. Kinetic has sold over 60 lakh vehicles across India, so this program can generate sizeable income. In addition to these three on-going programs, we also donate cash or assistance at times of emergency. For example, we had donated financial assistance to Latur village when it was devastated by an earthquake. We have also specially modified and donated scooters to soldiers who lost their legs in the Kargil War. These scooters are modified so as to help them get around despite their disability.
Recognition
FICCI has given Kinetic the “FICCI award for empowerment of physically challenged” for our work in this area. The award was given at the hands of Hon’ble President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. FICCI acknowledged that this work has brought about a tremendous change towards the patients in the attitude of the community at large, as well as the family members of such individuals. Kinetic has also been awarded the The NCPEDP-Shell Helen Keller Award 2004 under the category of Companies / organizations / institutions who share vision and through their policies and practices demonstrate their belief in equal rights and gainful employment for persons with disabilities’. This was given to Kinetic for its work in supporting a rehabilitation and employment program for leprosy afflicted disabled individuals. Kinetic Engineering has also received the Businessworld-FICCI Corporate Citizen II award as a recognition of the company's corporate social responsibility work for the year 2006. Kinetic's founder and chairman Mr. Arun Firodia received the award at the hands of Ashwani Kumar, Minister of State for Industry. The award is instituted by FICCI's socio-economic development foundation (FICCI-SEDF) in conjuction with leading business magazine Businessworld.