Today we visited the JCB plant in Ballabgarh and a local school and village which is supported by JCB.
Our first stop was a lesson in phonetics at the school with year 5 students and then we were shown some innovative projects that the students have been working on in year 8. Our learners had the opportunity to ask questions about the projects and to grade them and give feedback to the Indian students. We met two girls who were going to be participating in the Eklavya quiz tomorrow. This is a national quiz and the four areas that JCB have factories in, all enter a team to represent them.
Then it was in to the vocational training college where we saw young ladies from the local village learning crafts in sewing and embroidery and we saw them making elephants that we had seen in sale at Nila house. We learnt about the skills the girls are trained in and how they are empowered to quote for their sewing and embroidery services and receive a fair wage for the work they do. This is all thanks to the Lady Bamford Charitable Trust which is now in its 20th year.
We then proceeded to the farm that is being cultivated by the ladies of the village and met the leader of the farm. Again the ladies are taught how to cultivate the land and grow food and crops which they can then sell to their neighbours or at the local market. We planted some trees and from there it was back to the JCB factory for a tour.
JCB Ballabgarh makes the Backhoe loader and we were shown around the entire assembly line including the engine facility. We had a presentation from some of the senior managers at JCB Ballabgarh and finally after planting another tree it was back to the hotel for a well earned rest.
