We believe being a socially-sustainable business isn’t just about responsible investing but demonstrating our commitment to the communities in which we operate as well.
Recently I joined my colleagues in Mumbai to see first-hand how they choose to support their communities not only with funding but also by sharing their knowledge and expertise.
The team adopt villages in remote rural areas and then work with several different charity partners to provide holistic, wraparound support to maximise the impact in that area. I witnessed that work in action and as a result of our partnership with the charities Vyakti Vikas Kendra India (VVKI), International Association for Human Values (IAHV) and Habitat for Humanity India, six schools in the Raipur area now have new classrooms and sanitation provided through M&G’s commitment to building resilient communities. The washrooms are the most critical as that deters many girls, in particular, from remaining at school. We have also helped build hygienic kitchen facilities so that all the children are guaranteed one hot meal a day. School attendance has doubled since the new classrooms, kitchens and, most importantly, sanitation were installed.
One of the remote rural villages suffers with flooding each year during the monsoon and because of silting and soil erosion none of the water is contained. This means that in the dry season there is a severe water shortage which impacts the agricultural irrigation, the water wells and prevents the villagers from producing a second harvest. The funding from M&G has enabled The TNS Foundation to dig out the plain to create a deeper river basin and trees have been planted to prevent soil erosion and the water pump that was broken for the last two years has been fixed and improved so that it collects rainwater as well.
On top of this The TNS Foundation works with the farmers and the women to teach them about organic farming, improving the quality of the soil and therefore the produce and then bring them together to create a collective and show them how to sell the greater quantities of produce they are now producing. “The impact of the improved farming techniques and water capture have been transformative to the lives of all the villagers”, says Deepti Kommera, Lead, Agricultural projects, from The TNS Foundation.
It was inspiring to see how building relationships with the right charities can make such a difference to the lives of so many. The charities have been working across 13 hamlets and in the last three years have seen the real change they have brought about, impacting over 3,000 villagers and farmers in a remote rural area.

M&G funded the repairs to this pump which had been broken for the last two years. It meant that the women of the village had to walk 2 km to the nearest pump, queue for 2 hours and walk 2 km back - and do this 3 times a day, in order to collect water for cooking and washing.