Guwahati: Indian Oil’s Chairman SM Vaidya launched the ‘TB Mukt IndianOil Parivar’ program on November 22. This aims to eradicate the menace of Tuberculosis from the Indian Oil family by 2025.

This pledge is in line with the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi’s clarion call to end TB in India by 2025, five years ahead of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of 2030. The announcement was made by Vaidya in the presence of Indian Oil Functional Directors at its corporation in New Delhi. The program is expected to reach out to almost 7 lakh Indian Oil stakeholders and family members. The stakeholders include employees, contractual workers, fuel station customer attendants, LPG delivery personnel and tank truck crew.

Indian Oil will thus be implementing a tuberculosis elimination workplace policy at its locations across the country, by screening the entire workforce for Tuberculosis, creating awareness and capacity building of Indian Oil’s in-house medical doctors and paramedical staff. This is aimed at accelerating the National Tuberculosis Elimination Program. During the event, a ‘TB Mukt IndianOil Parivar’ Application was also launched to facilitate the monitoring and screening of Indian Oil employees.

Speaking on the occasion, Vaidya said, “Tuberculosis remains a public health crisis and a health security threat, and its rising footprint in India is a matter of grave concern. Our Health & Safety and HR Teams have crafted a blueprint for achieving the ‘TB Mukt IndianOil’ milestone by reaching out to our stakeholders in phases. IndianOil is a mini-India, with diverse cultural threads and multitudes. Thus a ‘TB Mukt IndianOil’ will be a significant step towards achieving the national aspiration of a TB Mukt Bharat”.

Touching upon Indian Oil’s crusade against Tuberculosis beyond the workplace, Vaidya added, “Under the aegis of the MoP&NG, Indian Oil is also supporting India’s fight against Tuberculosis through an integrated program to screen the population of Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh. This mammoth endeavour is a strong demonstration of our core value of ‘Care’, the driving force for brand IndianOil over the last several decades.”

Earlier, Indian Oil’s Director (HR) Ranjan Kumar Mohapatra said, “Indian Oil has drawn up a detailed program for achieving ‘TB Mukt IndianOil Parivar.’ We will collaborate closely with the Central TB Division of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to make all efforts to fight against the disease”.

This campaign, apart from enhancing awareness of Tuberculosis at IndianOil installations, will also identify high-risk populations, conduct systematic screening camps, and support the treatment of TB while securing the employability and earnings of the affected groups. IndianOil shall also carry out special training and workshops on TB diagnosis for IndianOil’s Doctors, paramedical staff, and nurses. For smooth implementation, the teams will collaborate with District TB Officers for guidance, training of industrial staff and treatment and monitoring of affected stakeholders.

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