SHAIRU GEMS

Shairu Gems is a forerunner for Corporate Social Investment. Bringing about sustainable and meaningful change is pivotal to the stakeholder of this organization. The many activities that this Shairu Gems is involved with, ranging from long-term projects like cardiac hospital to short-term activities like tree plantation, is testimony to there dedication to bring positive change to people’s lives.

Bachubhai Dayabhai Mehta Mahavir Cardiac Hospital

Their largest initiative is the Bachubhai Dayabhai Mehta Mahavir Cardiac Hospital in Surat, which is chaired by a member of the Mehta family. Under their guidance the hospital has recently opened an MRI centre, with all the technology being donated by the family. The hospital has also been able to open a new trauma wing.

This hospital meets the needs of the common man who pay highly subsidized rates vis-à-vis private hospitals in the country.

So high is the quality of healthcare here, that this state-of-the-art hospital also attracts the elite of Surat. Fees paid by the more well to do clientele are put back into the running of the hospital, and also to subsidize treatment to poorer classes.

The Shree Mahavir Health and Medical Relief Centre

This is a new wing that has recently been built at the Bachubhai Dayabhai Mehta Mahavir Cardiac Hospital. Adding 150 patient rooms more, this centre also known as the Trauma Unit, it provides emergency care and operations to hundreds of patients every month, all at minimal costs. For Shairu Gems employees and their families, treatment at both the hospital and trauma unit is free of cost.

The Ambaji Girls High School

Illiteracy is still wide spread in India. And when it comes to the child, this issue is even more serious. The stakeholders of Shairu Gems, therefore founded and self-funded a school dedicated only for girls. In many towns of rural India, girls are segregated from boys at a very young age. By building an all girl’s school, the chances that a girl will be allowed to come to school, improved dramatically.

Other local projects

The staff and board members of Shairu Gems also undertake short-term localized projects to bring sustainable change in the living environment of the city. Some of the projects recently undertake include;

  • Liaising with the administration of a neighborhood government run school. In India these schools are typically under funded, understaffed and with very poor amenities. Shairu Gems has improved the amenities of this school and brought up the infrastructure to schools run by private, profit-oriented organizations.
  • Paper bag making workshops are held at regular intervals in various rural locations. Usually women participate in there workshops and use the skill to generate additional income for the household. The paper bags they make are brought by Shairu gems, and then distributed free-of-cost to local shops. This also helps in conserving the environment, as shopkeepers are encouraged to circulate paper bags instead of the plastic bags they would otherwise use.

This company organizes tree plantain drives on a regular basis. In 2008-09 along. Shairu Gems has been responsible for planting 15,250 trees.