THE DEMPO Business House has been bound with the history of Goa, reflecting the concerns of Goans through its endeavours into social responsibility, not just through its industrialising efforts, with the dawn of a number of initiatives of significance being taken as Goa, liberated of colonial rule, joined the national mainstream.
Corporate Social Responsibility at the Group, which is so deeply embedded in the Dempo ethos as to have become second nature to it, is essentially driven through the parent company, V S Dempo Holdings Pvt Ltd, along with a trust, the Dempo Charities Trust, and a foundation, the Vasantrao Dempo Education & Research Foundation.
The pillars of the Dempo engagement with Goan society are higher education, cultural enrichment, environmental conservation, sporting excellence, health and sanitation, and affirmative action.
SPORTING EXCELLENCE
THE Goan passion for sport, football in particular, is shared by Dempo. Besides having supported and continuing to support football powerhouse Dempo Sports Club, winner of national and regional accolades too numerous to list, chief among which are topping the national league on no fewer than five occasions and running grassroots development programmes for Goan youth, Chairman Shrinivas V Dempo unveiled a unique, first-time corporate endeavour of sports promotional assistance to Goan youngsters who show promise of international excellence in their sporting disciplines. Known as the Dempo Goodwill Ambassadors, each of these youths is a globally benchmarked / rated achiever in her or his discipline – 20-year-old Natasha Palha (lawn tennis), 19-year-old Anurag Mhamal (chess), and 13-year-old Tanisi Kirtani (table tennis). Past achievers supported at one time include Ivana Furtado (chess), Talasha Prabhu (swimming) and Akanksha Salunkhe (squash). In addition to this, Group Company Goa Carbon Limited has supported its GCL Ambassador, 21-year-old Bhakti Kulkarni (chess). Each ambassador, already a prodigy when they joined the scheme, reported a jump in performance and achievement in the course of their association with the scheme.
Reproduced in part by the courtesy of the Goan Observer
