Educating Rural Children
Today more than 9,000 village children go to state-run schools supported by ITC’s primary education programme. The programme, launched in 2000, addresses the lack of basic infrastructure in primary schools. From constructing school buildings and classrooms to making books available, ITC has made school-going an exciting affair. The Company has also created supplementary learning centres to help students from poor families, thereby reducing dropouts. ITC thus aims to make it possible for thousands of children across rural India to have the greatest asset they can aspire to—education for a brighter future.

Enhancing Livestock Quality
India has the largest cattle population in the world. Almost all rural households in India, whether landed or landless, own livestock. But average milk yield at 300 kg per lactation is abysmally low. ITC believes that it is possible to significantly increase the incomes of rural households by artificially inseminating their low-yielding breeds with Jersey and Holstein Freisian cattle. Since 2003 ITC is providing this service in selected village clusters in the rural interiors of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, along with appropriate extension and support services. ITC’s target is to multiply nine-fold the current levels of milk yield to around 2100–2700 kgs per lactation. Today ITC is reaching out to farmers in 500 villages with 15,000 inseminations annually through 30 cattle development centres.