Amazon India’s First Community Centre in Karnataka Celebrates Two Years of Transforming Lives

Amazon Cares, the CSR initiative of Amazon India had launched its first Community Centre in Karnataka in April 2017 to support 17 villages like K. Mallasandra, Besthamanahalli, Mayasandra and Samethanahalli, in Bangalore in line with its continued efforts for positive engagement with the ecosystem it operates in. The Community Centre set up in partnership with FORD India (Forum for Rural Development) has now completed two years of focused initiatives in education, health & hygiene, environment, livelihood & skill development and women empowerment. There are two Community Centres currently in the region with fourteen such centers across the country with the objective of achieving sustainable development.

“Keeping our vision in mind, over the past 2 years, we have created opportunities for close to 5,000 individuals to realize their potential in Karnataka and in turn supported the transformation of the lives of the local communities. We are committed to using our resources and infrastructure of innovation and technology to enable diverse communities succeed. We believe that through our sustained efforts we can help support India’s development” said Karuna Pande, Director, Customer Fulfilment, Amazon India.

Commenting on the same, Srinivas, Headmaster, Lower Primary School, Rachamanahalli village said “The Centre has created spaces for women, youth and children in our villages to learn various skills, become more computer literate, have access to books for reading and learn with educational aids. Over the past two years, by adopting better health and hygiene practices, we have witnessed a significant change in the quality of life. With the experience of Amazon India and the focus of our local community, we are confident of building a sustainable effort towards creating a better future for all of us.”

Education: Aligned with the National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM), the education support initiative enabled access to quality education for the community through digital literacy and has positively affected the lives of about more than 700 people so far. The centres have also imparted basic training sessions on computer skills, reading and writing workshops and career counselling sessions to women and youth that has enabled them to secure better job opportunities.

Amazon India has supported parents with Early Childhood Development sessions across 13 anganwadis in the villages where around 500 children in the age group of 2 -6 years ‘learn while they play’ through various activities. There are two libraries in these Centres, well equipped with thousands of carefully selected books ranging from school textbooks and encyclopedias to novels and competitive examination reference books that have helped more than 200 students in the region.

Livelihood: The livelihood initiative focused on creating awareness among the community members about government schemes that work towards supporting the marginalized and economically weaker sections of the society. The project has reached out to more than 700 beneficiaries of the community.         

Women Empowerment: In order to promote women empowerment, the centres have assisted around 1,200 local women to support their families financially by training them on vocational skills like Basic and Advanced Tailoring, a beautician course and so on. Many women were also provided sessions on micro-entrepreneurship, financial literacy and given exposure visits for practical learning.

Health and Hygiene: Amazon India promotes preventive healthcare through partnerships with the local medical community and government organizations. Some of the initiatives rolled out at the centres include awareness programs on cleanliness and household waste management, maternity care and menstrual hygiene to name a few. Besides this, regular health check-up camps are conducted for people across all age groups. Overall, around 1,700 adults and children have benefitted from these programs so far.

Amazon Cares demonstrates the philosophy of being ‘good neighbors’ through the activities undertaken in areas where Amazon India operates. The Company imbibes this philosophy to empower and engage its employees, customers, sellers, local communities and other stakeholders in its contributions to create opportunities and transform lives.