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Satyam Honored Again for
Corporate Social Responsibility
- Byrraju Foundation’s rural transformation work is recognized
- UKTI India Awards celebrate successful business partnerships between
India and the UK
Hyderabad,India September,2008: Satyam
Computer Services Ltd. (NYSE: SAY), a leading global consulting and
information technology services provider, announced that it has won a United
Kingdom Trade and Investment India Business Award for Corporate Social
Responsibility. Satyam was recognized for its work with the Byrraju
Foundation, founded by Ramalinga Raju, Chairman of Satyam Computers.
Byrraju Foundation builds progressive, self-reliant rural
communities in India through a holistic, transformational approach. The
foundation provides a broad range of services to villagers, including
Healthcare, Education, Literacy, Water, Environment, Sanitation,
Livelihoods, and Disability Rehabilitation.
Satyam was specifically honored for its participation in
The Byrraju Foundation’s program to provide remote electrocardiograms (EKGs)
check ups to villagers all over Andhra Pradesh. The EKG is a relatively
routine medical treatment; it is a fairly simple test to monitor heart
health. However, the way Byrraju Foundation delivers EKGs to rural Indians
is anything but routine.
“Records from Byrraju Foundation healthcare
facilities over the past seven years indicated unusually high incidences of
two serious diseases—Diabetes Mellitus and hypertension—among rural Indians,
These in turn make rural Indians more susceptible to cardiac problems,”
said Verghese Jacob, Chief Integrator of Byrraju Foundation
“So there is a crying need in rural areas for, periodic EKGs to detect
heart abnormalities.”
However, providing EKGs for rural people required travel
to the nearest town that featured these facilities. That usually required
considerable travel and expense. To combat these problems, Satyam helped the
Byrraju Foundation establish a telemedicine program—a broadband, wireless
Internet platform that delivers a comprehensive list of services, including
EKGs, virtually.
The system enables doctors in city hospitals use
videoconferencing to monitor EKGs and dispense medical advice to their
colleagues and patients in a Byrraju Foundation medical facility, usually
hundreds of miles away. The whole procedure costs villagers less than one
dollar.
“People who would never see a doctor because of the
cost are taking advantage of this program,” said Jacob.
“Doctors too, although originally reluctant to use the remote platform,
have come to appreciate its effectiveness and utility. It is transforming
the way healthcare is delivered in rural areas.”
So far, the Byrraju Foundation’s work has impacted more
than 3 million people in 199 villages in six districts of Andhra Pradesh, a
state of 80 million people in Southern India. It will expand into other
states shortly.
A spokesperson for UKTI said "This is the first year
that we instituted a Corporate Social Responsibility Award which was awarded
to Satyam Computers for the work of its foundations in rural India and the
establishment of the Emergency Management Research Institute which draws on
Satyam's technology to improve the responsiveness of India's emergency
services. We believe that Corporate Social Responsibility is about giving
back to the community and promoting inclusive values in corporate
organizations and that Satyam Computers has demonstrated this in full
measure.”
This is the second significant honor Satyam and The
Byrraju Foundation have received recently. In June, Satyam nominated Byrraju
for a Computerworld 21st Century Achievement Award, which it won. Another
Satyam nominee and partner, the Emergency Medical Research Institute (an
emergency response program similar to 911 in the US) also earned the honor.
Reachout's News
Bureau
-Sept' 2008
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