Established in 1971, Asian Star Company Limited is one of the leading conglomerates in the diamond and jewellery industry. Over the last five decades, the company has established a responsible and high-value vertically integrated business that is supported by world-class technology, skilled and professional workforce, and a widespread global marketing network. Today, Asian Star is recognised as a company that honours its responsibilities and believes in nurturing long-term relationships with its business partners.
CSR Initiatives:
Asian Star Company Limited has always been at the forefront to fulfil its social responsibilities and has undertaken various initiatives for the upliftment of the less privileged sections of the society through philanthropic schemes for promotion of education, medical aid, eradication of hunger and malnutrition, as well as programmes for special education and vocational skills for tribal children, rural development and other similar projects.
During the year, the company has contributed not only towards the fulfilment of various philanthropic activities, but also towards larger initiatives that facilitate social development and institution building.
Education: Asian Star believes that education is important in eradicating poverty and hunger, and in promoting sustainable economic development.
Asian Star works closely with the Ministry of Education in Gujarat and the Tribal Integrated Development and Education Trust to serve a large number of differently-abled school children. Scholarships are advanced to these students to pursue academic qualification at school and college level, as well as at specialised institutions.
The company has also contributed towards providing better educational facilities to children residing in Adivasi area at Vikramgad, Maharashtra, and distributed educational materials to needy children at Nandurbar, Maharashtra, by partnering with Walk Together Foundation and Light of Life Trust respectively.
With an aim to promote educational programmes for tribal children, Asian Star has extended its support to Friends of Tribals Society to run schools in villages located in the remote tribal area of India.
The company has contributed towards Gurukulam, a residential Indian traditional education system that provides value-based education to 80 students from 13 states of India. The institute imparts education to students in Vedic literature that helps in the overall development of their personality and moral fibre.
Healthcare: Asian Star believes in the old adage – Health is Wealth. The company has been working in tandem with various healthcare organisations to ensure that the needy and differently-abled get access to affordable and quality healthcare services. Apart from this, direct donations are given to individual patients suffering from heart issues, kidney disorder and other life-threatening diseases.
The company has funded Mobile Medical Vans that provided qualified medical services to more than 350 villages around Ahmedabad, Gujarat, in association with Sanjivani Health and Relief Committee. In addition to this, free cataract surgeries were conducted for more than 1,500 economically backward patients in the remotest parts of India in collaboration with Vision Foundation of India.
Asian Star, in aid of Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust, contributed towards Mega Mobility Rehabilitation Camp with an aim to secure the lives of people with disabilities. This camp was organised over several days to provide mobility aids to needy people suffering from polio, hearing imparity and other physical disabilities. Through this project, the company was able to reach out to over 270 people residing in the suburban locality of Mumbai. During the camp, the polio-affected were provided with custom-made callipers, amputees got Jaipur foot prosthetics and crutches, and tricycles and wheelchairs were distributed to people with spinal cord disabilities. The hearing impaired underwent an audiology test and were provided with appropriate hearing aids.
The company aims to make healthcare facility accessible and affordable to disadvantaged tribal people residing in remote areas of Gujarat, who desperately need basic as well as advanced medical aid. Asian Star contributed funds towards the extended construction of Shrimad Rajchandra Hospital situated in the heart of Dharampur town, in Gujarat. It is a multi-specialty charitable hospital fully equipped with state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic departments to facilitate treatment of various medical and surgical diseases. The funds have been channelised to expand the capacity of the hospital from 70 beds to 200 beds.
Human Welfare: Asian Star has always associated itself with various community welfare and social upliftment projects. The company has extended its support to the task of desilting in drought-prone areas of Maharashtra undertaken by Samast Mahajan. The process will help to eradicate drought situation by conserving and restoring water bodies in future. It has also provided lifetime shelter and rehabilitation to old and abandoned individuals or people with disabilities by sponsoring the construction of rooms for such special people in partnership with Sevadham Ashram.
To fight against the heinous crime of child sexual abuse, the team members of Asian Star ran at the Mumbai Marathon 2020 in support of the NGO, RUBAROO, and their campaign #EndCSA. Not only did the company donate a substantial amount to fund Rubaroo’s awareness campaign, but the team members too gathered funds through their individual fundraising efforts.
The company has also contributed towards Army Welfare Fund established by Indian Army that advances monetary assistance to widows, next of kin and dependents of battle casualties.
Asian Star has always stood by India and its people every time our country has faced the fury of nature or other calamities, and it has been no different as we face the biggest challenge, the Covid-19 pandemic. The company has contributed to the PM-CARES Fund in response to the Prime Minister’s call to join India’s fight against the pandemic. The company has also contributed funds to support Rotary Club of Mumbai’s “Feed All in Need” programme where one crore meals were fed to the homeless and migrant people, and “Breathe India, Breathe” project for procuring oxygen concentrators. Asian Star has provided funds to Palanpur Samaj Kendra Charitable Trust (PSK) to mobilise aid and provide relief to those in need during these challenging times.
The company has actively been involved in welfare programmes that provide food grains and clothes to needy individuals and shelter to orphan infants. It has been supporting SOS Children’s Villages of India that is involved in activities like building families for children in need, shaping their future and establishing facilities and programmes that aim to strengthen families and prevent the abandonment of children.
To be a socially responsible company that believes in sharing benefits with the community; to build a better tomorrow where those in disadvantaged situations are assured of opportunities that allow them to thrive and prosper; and to partner in sustainable humanitarian activities that have a positive lasting impact.
– Mr Vipul Shah
Amazing Moments in CSR Initiatives:
Aatamdeep Trust: Much before the CSR Act was made mandatory, Mr. Dinesh Shah, Chairman and CFO of Asian Star Company Limited, established Aatamdeep Trust in 2005 to lead and aid humanitarian projects for the betterment of society. True to its belief of helping the needy and disadvantaged, Aatamdeep Trust partners with sustainable projects in the areas of education, healthcare, human welfare and other charitable purposes.
Aatamdeep trust has donated directly to “Udaan” project of CARE India, which is a residential primary education initiative that aims to provide wings to poor and marginalised adolescent girls so they can fly back into the fold of education. Aatamdeep Trust also funds A. K. Munshi Yojana’s special school that provides education to mentally challenged students, and to Cancer Charity Trust that treats cancer patients.
Over the years, the life-altering activities of the Trust have brought joyful smiles to disheartened faces and put a spark of hope in desolate eyes.
Schools at Sagrosana and Takarwada, Gujarat: Sagrosana, the birthplace of the first-generation promoters of Asian Star, benefited from one of the earliest grassroots level initiatives by the company. Growing up in this small village in Gujarat, the Shah Brothers recognised that their village needed support to offer better academic choices to children so that they can envisage a bright future and chase their dreams. This realisation led to the desire to set up accessible facilities to establish a strong educational foundation for the children living in Sagrosana and surrounding villages. The initiative not only aided in promoting knowledge acumen amongst the youth, who are the future of our nation, but also placed the groundwork for sustainable economic development of the village. Over the years, the school has flourished and grown under the tutelage of Asian Star, adding on capacity and facilities and being the guiding force for young minds.
Taking forward the same ideology, the company has also established a school at Takarwada in Gujarat.
