UST wins the ‘Best Environmental Protection Initiative of the Year - 2022’ at the Indian CSR Awards 2022

Thiruvananthapuram, August 30, 2022: UST, a leading digital transformation solutions company, has won the ‘Best Environment Protection Initiative Award for the year 2022’ at the Indian CSR Awards by Brand Honchos. The successful plantation and maintenance of 40,000 plants in 2020-21, coastal area preservation by planting over 11,000 mangroves, forest area preservation, and lake body rejuvenation initiatives implemented by the UST CSR volunteer teams, were evaluated for the awards. UST also partnered with field-based NGOs and technical institutions for science-based methods and sustainable maintenance of natural resources.  

Smita Sharma, Global Program Manager - CSR and Sustainability, UST, received the award from Guest of Honour Dr. Kiran Bedi, IPS (Retd), former Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, social reformer, and author, at the Indian CSR Awards summit 2022 held at New Delhi. Smita Sharma also led a panel discussion on ‘The effectiveness of NGOs in the CSR ecosystem in India’ with the panellists representing the corporate CSR and the NGO sector.

The Indian CSR Awards 2022, organised by Marketing & Brand Honchos, recognise the efforts undertaken by the corporate sector that have significantly committed and dedicated to social welfare practices for a better tomorrow.  

Commenting on the win, Sunil Balakrishnan, Chief Values Officer and Global Head for Development Center Operations, UST, said, “The efforts undertaken by the CSR teams at UST have indeed made a major difference. Through their initiatives, the UST CSR volunteers have proved that efforts towards sustainable living can bring about a major change for the planet when they are implemented wholeheartedly. I applaud the CSR volunteers at UST for their selfless work aimed at helping the earth live on.”
“It’s really an honour to have been chosen for the Indian Corporate Social Responsibility Awards. UST’s initiatives towards planting saplings, coastal area and forest area preservation, and rejuvenation of water bodies, have been in full swing with an aim towards helping the planet stay green. The awards add more responsibility to these initiatives, and our efforts will continue,” Smita Sharma added.

Besides being honoured at the Indian CSR Awards, UST’s CSR initiatives have also been featured in the CSR Compendium 2022 - The Philanthropist, which was unveiled during the CSR summit, by the Guest of Honour. UST has been involved in wide ranging corporate social responsibility initiatives and has Education, Health, Livelihood, Environment and Disaster Management as its prime focus areas. All major programs in this arena are through direct implementation, volunteer engagement, and NGO partnerships.