The Jusco team visits the day care centre in Dhatkidih on Wednesday. Picture by Bhola Prasad

A 10-member team from Tata Steel’s wholly owned subsidiary Jusco on Wednesday visited an orphanage and a school for special children to see how the company could help.

Team Jusco’s visits to Nirmala Niketan, an orphanage in Baridih, and the day care centre of Parents’ Association of Mentally Handicapped in Dhatkidih was part of Tata Engage, a campaign launched by Tata Sustainability Group this Founder’s Day.

The welfare campaign calls upon company employees across the globe to invest their time and skills to serve the society they live and work in.

Currently, the steel major is celebrating Tata Group volunteering week between March 3 and March 9. Utilities provider Jusco started the week with a blood donation exercise that will continue till March 9.

On Wednesday, the Jusco team gifted an almirah to the daycare centre of Parents’ Association of Mentally Handicapped in Dhatkidih.

The Jusco team also asked functionaries the ways the company could contribute more to benefit special and orphaned children.

Jusco also decided to renovate the toilets at the day care centre. “We are grateful that they donated an almirah as we needed it. Moreover, they have also shown interest in helping us with raw materials such as wax that our children use to make designer candles,” said P. Babu Rao, secretary of Parents Association of Mentally Handicapped, adding that these candles were sold to make the special children financially independent.

Officials of the outfits and Jusco are also chalking out modalities of procuring these candles in bulk and using them as corporate gifts.

At Nirmala Niketan, the orphanage in Baridih, the Jusco team members again met functionaries and asked them how they could contribute to making the lives of the children happier.

A source from the company’s CSR unit aid a host of welfare activities were being held as part of the volunteering week.

“We started the week on the Founder’s Day. Since then, our employees have been visiting Jamshedpur Blood Bank and donating blood. Once the week ends on March 9, the collected blood will be donated to Anurag Foundation, which works for thalassemia patients in the city,” said Priti Sehgal, head of CSR, Jusco.

This is not Jusco’s maiden initiative in social welfare.

The utilities provider earlier adopted a state-run middle school in Adityapur and deputed three teachers for maths, science, English and Hindi. They also set up an academic hub on the premises that serves as a play school, running on private public partnership.