Clean-up drive on the Marina beach was the bank’s endeavour to contribute to the preservation of the beautiful coastline

Clean-up drive on the Marina beach was the bank’s endeavour to contribute to the preservation of the beautiful coastline

CHENNAI:  As part of their ongoing commitment towards sustainability and community development, employees of Standard Chartered Bank and their families came together to clean up a part of the Marina Beach on Saturday morning.

All of them actively participated in the clean-up drive clearing garbage, debris and plastic waste strewn across the beach.They cleaned up a stretch behind the Gandhi Statue, covering more than one kilometre. The clean-up drive was organised in association with the Indian Development Foundation with whom the The Standard Chartered Bank has partnered for various projects regarding environmental conservation and community development.

Speaking on the occasion, Ravi Duvvuru, regional head, legal and compliance, South Asia, Standard Chartered Bank said, “Being a sustainable bank means looking beyond philanthropy, beyond CSR and reputation management. It means embedding sustainability deep into the way of how we do business. Sustainability is embedded in our brand promise - Here for good. It affects every single thing we do — the way we make decisions and the contribution we make to local economies and communities.”

He added that the clean-up drive on the Marina beach was the bank’s endeavour to contribute to the preservation of the beautiful coastline and its marine ecosystem. “As a responsible corporate citizen, we encourage our employees to participate in various projects of community development,” he said. The bank’s employees had undertaken a similar clean up drive at the Marina in 2013. In addition, they had also organised several sustainability initiatives like distribution of ‘Emergency cards’ with telephone numbers of important hospitals, blood banks and ambulance services in the region, and blood donation camps in Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Over the last one year, they have also undertaken dedicated financial education sessions in over 10 schools across Chennai and Bangalore to educate underprivileged children on the basics of banking. This initiative is now being expanded to include more schools.