Tata Steel sets up library at Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences

Bhubaneswar: Tata Steel has set up a 150-seater library building at the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), the world’s largest tribal residential educational institute that has just been conferred with deemed university status by the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India.
The library was inaugurated here today by Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik. Others present on the occasion included Dr Achyuta Samanta, founder of KISS, TV Narendran, managing director, Tata Steel India & SEA, Sunil Bhaskaran, vice president, corporate services and Arun Misra, vice president, Project Gopalpur and managing director, Tata Steel Special Economic Zone, among other dignitaries.

Set up at an investment of Rs4.40 crore, the 150-seater library is a prefabricated engineering building that has been constructed using steel structure as its base. It is equipped with furniture, electrical and sanitary fittings and other furnishings. Of the total cost, an amount of Rs30 lakh has been contributed by Tata Power. The library is indeed yet another testimony of Tata Steel’s commitment to partner and facilitate education initiatives in Odisha.

In 2009, Tata Steel had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with KISS to jointly work towards the uplift of the state’s tribal population, with special emphasis on providing education to the children of the rehabilitated families of Kalinganagar. The collaboration today culminated in Tata Steel setting up the library at the institute, which is home to over 25,000 students belonging to tribal communities.

In his address, Mr Narendran said, “Improving the quality of life of people living in and around our areas of operations is integral to the business philosophy of Tata Steel. Our operations are largely confined to areas that have a sizeable SC and ST population, and we believe that promoting affirmative action is the right way to serve communities around us”.