New Delhi: Tata Power Delhi Distribution (Tata Power-DDL), a leading power distribution company serving a populace of 7 million in the national capital, won two prominent awards under the 'community and industry engagement' and 'COVID-19 action' categories at the prestigious UN Women 2020 Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards. The awards were announced during a virtual ceremony organised by UN Women India.
Tata Power-DDL has been honoured under the 'community and industry engagement’ category for its UNNATI initiative which focuses on women empowerment. The objective of the initiative is to empower underprivileged women and create livelihood opportunities for them. Tata Power-DDL takes a 360° approach to empower women in a holistic manner and creates market linkages that have long-term benefits. UNNATI is further divided into four main functions: women literacy, ABHA (change agent), entrepreneurship development programme and vocational training centres.
The company has also been recognised under the 'COVID-19 action' category for adopting a gender-sensitive response to the pandemic. In the wake of the outbreak, Tata Power-DDL came forward with a slew of initiatives under the theme ‘Powering Fight Against Corona’ to efficiently manage the crisis and mitigate its impact on its stakeholders. The initiative aimed to monitor physical well-being of employees and community service and propose necessary preventive measures to ensure business continuity within Tata Power-DDL. The campaign was launched with the objective of engaging and motivating both sets of employees -- working from office and working from home.
In his remarks at the virtual ceremony, Ganesh Srinivasan, CEO, Tata Power-DDL, said: "Sustainability and lasting development have always been the cornerstones of the work we do and empowering women in the community is one of our major focus areas. We strongly believe that diversity plays an important role in driving disruption. Considering the aftermath of the pandemic, the focus of organisations will shift towards being more responsive and resilient. We are thankful to the UN Women for recognising our efforts."
Tata Power-DDL has won several national and international accolades for pioneering efforts in power distribution reforms, including the National Award for Meritorious Performance. The company ranks fourth among the Great Places to Work for in India and has also been recognised as one of India’s Best Workplaces for Women.
The UN Women 2020 Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards, which are organised through the European Union-funded WeEmpowerAsia programme, aim to encourage, value and recognise the efforts of individuals and businesses that promote gender-inclusive business cultures and the achievement of gender equality in the Asia-Pacific, guided by the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs).
The WEPs is a joint initiative of UN Women and the UN Global Compact, aimed at empowering women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors. Launched worldwide in 2010 by UN Women and UN Global Compact, the WEPs is a holistic set of seven principles that support businesses to advance gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and community. To date, more than 4,200 companies around the world are signatories to the WEPs, including 171 companies from India.
