Corporate Social Responsibility

CSR--Going Beyond Business To Catalyse Social-Economic Change

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a very common activity with Corporate India today. CSR in India has a huge potential as many of the firms and organisations have found in CSR a way to give back to the society and their stakeholders.

Most of the firms have set their CSR policies to maximise the company’s overall impact on the society. Today's corporates feel that CSR is not just another form of indirect expense, but it is important for protecting the goodwill and reputation and to increase business competitiveness on a large scale.

CSR is nothing but strategies adopted by corporations or firms to conduct their business in a three-pronged manner, namely, ethical, environment-friendly and beneficial to the community of stakeholders and the society at large.

The scope and meaning of CSR has been debated since the 1950s. The definition of CSR has been quite dynamic in both meaning and practice. The classical view of CSR was limited to philanthropy, but then it shifted to an emphasis on business-society relationship, particularly referring to the contribution that a corporation or firm can make for solving socioeconomic issues. This was a rather narrow view when compared to the vast definition of CSR today.


In the present day context, CSR has a much wider meaning and is a concept whereby business organisations take into consideration the interest of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on various sections of the society, including the customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and other stakeholders as well as their environment.

India is the first country that has made CSR activity mandatory for the companies operating in India. As per the Companies Act, 2013, businesses can devote part of their profits in areas of education, poverty, gender equality and alleviation of hunger.

CSR initiatives in business processes have recognised that it is not just about growing their businesses, but it is important to shape responsible and supportable relationships with the community to a large extent. Companies have assigned departments to develop specific policies, strategies and goals for their CSR programmes and also set separate budgets to support them. This shows that companies have realised the importance of CSR and, most of the time, these programmes are based on well-defined social goals. The companies must also report on ecological issues such as the measure of progress in terms of energy effectiveness and reduction in environmental impact and environmental safety.

CSR focuses on a company's efforts to improve the socioeconomic condition of the society at large. These efforts can be in the form of donating money to non-profit organisations to implementing environmentally-friendly policies in the workplace.

This begs the question "What is the benefit of CSR to the company?" Companies do benefit from their CSR activities through lower operating costs and increased sales and customer loyalty and higher productivity. Also, the company gains the ability to attract and keep skilled employees, which eventually leads to getting access to more capital through willing investors. CSR is thus a thoughtful and practical way to give back to the society.

A recent report suggested that the total CSR expenditure by the top 500 companies in the country is likely to cross Rs.500 billion by March 2019. The same report also revealed that the top 20 corporations command over 45 per cent of the prescribed CSR in India.

The education sector is the favoured area in terms of sectors to receive CSR investment in the near future. Maharashtra receives the biggest chunk of the total CSR fund spent in the country, followed by Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat. The report revealed that more number of corporates are using non-government organisations as implementing agencies for CSR spending.

The government may tighten rules for companies that are found to be measly in spending their CSR corpus and diverting funds to their balance sheets. These companies will now have to be transparent and declare the amount remaining unspent in their annual report. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has recently announced that it is examining the records of the top 1,000 companies which were required to spend under their CSR initiatives.

From the above, it is evident that CSR has implications for the overall development of the society at large. CSR has played a crucial role and caused profound impact on the community. Due to CSR, closer ties have been established and inter-dependencies between corporations and communities have increased.

ITC: Creating Enduring Value








ITC is inspired by the opportunity to create Enduring Value for the nation. Driven by this aspiration, ITC has made sustainability the cornerstone of its corporate strategy and societal value creation a core purpose. Today, the company is an acknowledged exemplar in sustainability. It has been carbon, water and solid waste recycling positive for over a decade – the only company in the world to have achieved these milestones. Its choice of sustainable strategies and practices has enabled the company's businesses and value chains to generate sustainable livelihoods for around 6 million people across India.

The company’s extensive social investments programme focusses on creating and supporting sustainable livelihoods through grassroots capacity building and asset creation. These programmes have enriched rural communities in the company’s areas of operation, making them more secure, climate-resilient and economically stable. The mosaic of solutions which have had a transformational impact on the ground include the globally acknowledged ITC e-Choupal initiative, the social and farm forestry initiative, the integrated watershed development that brings soil and moisture conservation to drylands, the animal husbandry programme, women empowerment programmes, vocational training programmes, supplementary education for children, and health and sanitation programme which focusses on driving behavioural change in rural areas to enable larger usage of the toilets that are built.






Together with farmers and local communities, ITC has implemented large-scale interventions in climate-smart and sustainable agriculture that make a meaningful contribution to the Prime Minister’s vision of doubling farmer incomes. The company’s rural development programme has enabled farmers to adopt agri best practices, scientific knowledge and technology, to combat the risks of climate change. ITC is also collaborating with NITI Aayog to boost agricultural and allied activities in 25 districts under the aspirational districts programme launched to further the Prime Minister’s vision to transform such areas.

ITC’s Social Investments (CSR) Programme – Mission SunehraKal ITC’s belief that enterprises possess, beyond mere financial resources, the transformational capacity to create game-changing development models by unleashing their power of entrepreneurial vitality, innovation and creativity has driven its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices.

ITC’s CSR engagement focuses on two of its key stakeholder groups: (i) rural communities across India where ITC has agri-sourcing operations, a large majority of whom are resource-poor small-holder farming households, and (ii) communities residing in close proximity to ITC’s production units – primarily rural, though some are also located in semi-rural and urban locations. Both groups face multiple interrelated challenges, and ITC’s programmes target the most marginalised in the community. ITC also considers Central and state governments to be important stakeholders, especially vital in amplifying the scale of its CSR programmes through public-private partnerships.

The core challenge is how to secure livelihoods for economically marginalised communities, not just for today but also for the future. In ITC’s view, this calls for a two horizon perspective: (i) making today’s dominant source(s) of income sustainable by empowering these communities to conserve, augment and manage their social and environmental capital in order to secure agri-production systems and thereby their current sources of livelihood, and (ii) creating capabilities for wealth generation and employment for tomorrow by assisting communities to put in place the necessary socio-economic infrastructure to equip them to take advantage of emerging economic opportunities.

To actualise this strategy, ITC has adopted an integrated approach to development comprising a mosaic of mutually reinforcing interventions collectively called “Mission SunehraKal”.

Deepak Nitrite Limited

"Deepak Foundation Impacts 2 Million Lives"

Founded by CK Mehta, Deepak Foundation under the aegis of Deepak Nitrite Limited is impacting the lives of more than 2 million people with its pan-India programs encompassing healthcare, education and skill building.

Background:
Deepak Foundation, with over 35 years of service towards the upliftment of the society, is one of the leading non-profit organisations in Gujarat with a rapidly growing pan-India presence. The foundation thrives to empower the underprivileged and rural communities in India. Our activities impact over 4,00,000 lives annually in the areas of healthcare, livelihood, skills and capacity building, education and children with special needs through our outreach services. The foundation is registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950 and its Institute for Skills Building, Research, and Innovation (ISBRI) provides an ecosystem for skills training and R&D activities. Since 2013, Deepak Foundation has been providing CSR consultancy services to several corporates and also conducts a needs assessment and baseline impact evaluation studies for various public and private organisations.

Outreach Programs:
Over the years, the foundation has gained vast experience in establishing and successfully implementing mobile health service in urban, rural and tribal areas. At present, Deepak Foundation operates 12 MHUs in villages across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand with the support of government and corporate organisations. Apart from MHU, Comprehensive Emergency Obstetrics Newborn Care (CEmONC), a public-private partnership model established with state governments of Gujarat and Jharkhand is reducing maternal and infant deaths in tribal areas. CEmONC unit has successfully saved households from the vicious trap of poverty by providing timely care at one-stop-free-of-cost government health facility avoiding unnecessary referrals.

Moreover, Deepak Foundation has also signed a MoU with the government of Jharkhand to strengthen healthcare services in two Meso hospitals in Khunti and Saraikela Kharsawan district. From November 20, 2018, the state government has officially handed over the responsibility of managing these hospitals to Deepak Foundation.

Nutrition project Dahej-
Deepak Foundation in collaboration with Gujarat CSR Authority and Deepak Nitrite Ltd initiated a pilot intervention project to improve the nutrition status of undernourished households in Dahej. The project is implemented in six villages: Lakhigam, Ambetha, Suva, Rahiad, Koliad and Vengani of Vagra block for a period of two years and will impact 12,000 beneficiaries. The aim of the project is to reduce stunting in children and anaemia among adolescents and newly-married couples.

Education-
Deepak Foundation ventured into operations & management of 65 Anganwadis in Nandesari area under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) of the Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD), GoG. Due to lack of income, education and hygiene; children living in low socio-economic conditions are often neglected and deprived of appropriate nutrition vital for their growth in formative years. Deepak Medical Foundation provides free treatment to children identified with severe malnutrition and chronic disorders and also organises camps for general health check-ups, laparoscopic tubectomy and blood donation. The foundation has initiated mobile library services in 25 remote villages of Roha block in Raigarh district of Maharashtra in 2016 to offer opportunities of informal self-education and inculcate reading habit amongst readers. Acknowledging the role of mobile library services, in October 2018, mobile library services were also initiated in Hyderabad, Telangana and Nandesari, Gujarat.

Other Initiatives:
Skills building and training :
The Foundation with the support of CSR partners and government is facilitating ASHA training in various districts of Gujarat. The foundation through its training programs has promoted the socioeconomic development of women. It conducts nationally-approved Home Health Aide (HHA) in Vadodara and Chhota Udepur districts, Gujarat and in Hyderabad, Telangana. It also conducts courses like housekeeping, farmers training, cattle care training, etc. In the last fiscal, the foundation has trained 7,429 service users through its training programs.

Sustainable livelihood :
With the aim of self-reliant, holistic and sustainable transformation of rural women, Deepak Foundation has made continuous efforts towards promoting sustainable agriculture. The foundation was engaged in a project aimed at the empowerment of women farmers in tribal areas towards economic sustainability and food security.

Children with special needs :
Deepak Foundation, after over three decades of services in various sectors, has now ventured into serving children with special needs since 2017. Deepak Nitrite Limited 




CSR Initiatives by Heritage Foods

Brahmani Nara, ED, Heritage Foods Limited

Heritage has been built on a foundation of values and commitment to serve stakeholders at large. We drive several community upliftment programmer that are targeted to address issues that are plaguing the growth of an underdeveloped section of the society. We at Heritage Foods encourage its employees to engage and participate in the various CSR activities that we carry as it is indeed a great way to show our employees the company values that we preach on.

This year, we went beyond the compliance to applicable statute and covered over 2,00,000 dairy farmers under group personal accident (GPA) insurance policy. Heritage Farmers Welfare Trust was established in February 2010 with an aim to extend help to farmers. Being a corporate citizen, we understood our corporate responsibility and set up HFWT way before CSR became mandatory under Companies Act 2013. Heritage Farmers Welfare Trust (HFWT) conducts several programmes to meet individual farmers as well as group needs. The members of HFWT are provided with various services from the Trust, including social security scheme, health camps, MCC development activities and merit awards for farmer’s children, among others. HFWT has initiated Group Personal Accident

Insurance Policy (GPA) under the social security scheme to the enrolled members such as milk producers and milk collection centre (MCC) representatives. Since 2014, we have distributed Rs.1,66,23,860 to nominees of the insured members, 122 families have got support through this scheme.

We also have initiatives like Veterinary Health Care Services, where the mobile clinic is equipped with required tools and trained employees on veterinary treatment and cattle management practices. The vehicles are being widely appreciated in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra. The mobile van can reach anywhere in the region on any of the 365 days with a well-defined structured schedule, which includes educational video film in the evening and medical camp next day in the morning. The HFWT has proposed 28 different activities like distribution of stainless steel milk cans, milk analyser, breeding bull, Trevis, feeding bowls, mosquito nets for cattle shed, solar lights, umbrellas, hot packs, SS rice storage drums, SS water containers with tap, cool water bottle, mixer grinder, non-stick Tawa, helmets, induction stoves, emergency lights, SS thermos flask, SS water pots, power chaff cutter, sprayers, milking machines, rugs/blankets, chairs, iron boxes, wall clocks, pressure cookers and hot packs, etc.

With the recent Cyclone Titli creating a devastation of life and property in Andhra Pradesh, we at Heritage had ensured that we helped the people affected during the crisis. We had donated Rs.66 lakh in the relief camps of the affected sites. Heritage Foods had also deployed two mobile veterinary clinics with veterinary teams in the cyclone-affected villages to extend veterinary services and also supplied medicines. The company’s teams had conducted veterinary service camps in 27 affected villages. Teams from Heritage have also helped those farmers who lost milch animals in filing insurance claims.

During the recent floods in Kerala, Heritage Foods had dispatched Rs.45 lakh worth of 25 tonnes of skimmed milk in two trucks to contribute in aid of the flood-hit Kerala. Also, all the employees of Heritage Foods contributed their one day's salary worth of Rs.17 lakh to Kerala Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund. As a socially responsible corporate, Heritage Foods will always stand with the nation during any crisis.

During the last three years, the company had spent Rs.4 crore on CSR activities and the company has won the Telangana Best Employer Brand Award 2017 from the World CSR Day & World Sustainability.

CSR is the key to sustainable growth in today’s competitive business environment

Ravi Jhunjhunwala, Chairman & Managing Director, HEG Ltd.

What is CSR in your view and why it is important?
Corporate Social Responsibility is a consideration of sharing profits with communities, social environment and the society in which the business operates. It is very important for the company to operate in a way that shows concern and responsibility towards the society. CSR activities show that the company takes more interest in social issues impacting the society rather than only activities that improves the profit margins.

Corporate Social Responsibility has evolved over the years from simply terming as charity to becoming an important part of good governance of organisations and further enhances people`s trust.

What are the key strategic benefits of CSR for any company?
A company with robust CSR policies will help to create a positive image and better brand recognition among consumers, investors and the society it is operating in. It depicts that the brand is not only interested in profitable events, but it is also committed to give back to the society. CSR policies give the employees a sense of positivity and responsibility. It will motivate the employees further to work better in a company with a good image in the society. The philanthropic and social contribution develops a respect for the companies through generations, resulting in deep market penetration even in changing economic and cultural scenarios. A major requirement of most of the stakeholders’ is the reputation of a company as a responsible business, which in turn helps the company to build value and achieve gains.

What are the various initiatives undertaken by your company under the aegis of CSR?
As part of its initiatives under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the company has undertaken projects in the areas of promotion of education, eradicating hunger and poverty, initiatives towards community service and rural development, healthcare, plantation and environment development, protection of national heritage, art and culture.

The activities undertaken are as follows:

Healthcare :

1. Provided medical consultation to general public at the OPD Centre in Mandideep and Tawanagar and distributed free medicines among BPL category patients
2.Conducted medical health camps and distributed medicines in villages and to economically weaker sections, in collaboration with Sewa Bharat, Bhopal
3. Provided clean drinking water at Mandideep and nearby areas by installing water coolers with reverse osmosis filters in public places like bus stops and temples

Community Development :

1. Provided computers, stitching and interlocking machines to the Swarojgar Training Centre for women run by the Bhojpuri Samaj Sewa Samiti, Mandideep
2. Provided potable water at Ekant Park, Bhopal

Education :

1. Contributed to local literacy requirement, the school decided to run two shifts for serving more than 1,250 students during the academic year
2. Established a new building to accommodate additional students Subsidised school fees for more than 200 BPL-category students Renovated labs, libraries and equipped them with modern facilities
3. Got the school affiliated with the CBSE board
4. Started a computer centre at Tawa Nagar to provide basic computer education to disadvantaged students and completed two batches

Environmental Conservation :

1. Conducted an afforestation drive at Tawa Nagar along the NH#12 near Mandideep to combat air pollution.

Why should more and more companies embrace CSR?

Every company needs to be aware of the impact of their business on the society, which includes the environment that the businesses succeed in. CSR helps to contribute to a sustainable environment by considering the economic, social and environmental benefits.

A company engaged into CSR activities reflects its ethical and socially responsible attribute towards the society. CSR helps the company to abide by various standard practices, which in turn help in efficient working of the organisation by balancing the aspects of CSR behaviour such as reputation building, human resource management, brand building and lawful practices.

CSR is the key to sustainable growth in today’s competitive business environment. It has a wider impact on the society as it benefits the company to help to reach out to the key issues around the world.


CSR is a strategy that delivers competitive advantage

Vijay Mansukhani, MD, Mirc Electronics Limited (Onida)

CSR for Onida represents the practices and initiatives we commit in order to govern with honesty and have a positive impact on the social and environmental well-being. CSR is essentially important because everyone has a responsibility to care for people and the planet. Profit is of course the goal for organisations, but we will endure success if we take a step ahead of this goal.

Onida understands that CSR is not only a philanthropy tool, but a strategy that delivers competitive advantage, especially in brand positioning.

The committee’s role is also critical as they help in formulating and recommending the activities and initiatives that can be undertaken, budget forecasting and reviewing the guidelines.

CSR strongly engages our employees practising it and is indeed a great way to show our employees the company values that we preach on.

‘We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give’ – has been the theme for our CSR activities. We have been involved with various NGOs in projects to foster the value of giving. We had organised a special programme for kids from 'Save the Children India' NGO that works in the area of health and education for orphans.

This year at Onida we wanted to do something different during Navratri. Being the festive season, we wanted to celebrate in a way where we could give back to the society and put a smile on children’s faces who may not be privileged otherwise to experience the celebrations of this beautiful festival. We invited a group of children from the Smile Foundation to spend time at our office and take part in the festivities and celebrations organised by us. We also wanted to focus on worshipping the girl child. We conducted a Puja for 9 girls, symbolising the 9 goddesses of Durga with a strong purpose to worship and to promote women empowerment. The children were extremely delighted to take part in our celebrations and truly brought a smile on everyone’s faces.

While they spent their time here, we interacted with them, and got a few insights as to what they would want to become when they grow up and their dreams and aspirations. Many of them live within the confinements of what they know and are taught, and do not have that exposure as to the number of opportunities available in the world. It is definitely our duty to inspire and let them know the opportunities available out there and we will truly focus on this aspect going forward.