Monday, April 20, 2015

CSR rule impacts 25K companies involving Rs. 28K cr annually

Bhaskar Chatterjee
Bhaskar Chatterjee
Dr Bhaskar Chatterjee, whose untiring efforts led to the legislation of Section 135 in the Companies Act, related to corporate social responsibility (CSR), had been “dissuaded” not only by corporate bigwigs but also by intellectuals from going ahead with his mission.
This came to light on Friday at the 25{+t}{+h} TS Rajan Memorial Lecture that he delivered at the Institute of Rural Development-Anand (IRMA). But, Dr Chatterjee said,“When you have an idea, explore it to the hilt and pursue it.” This is what he did as he spent months doing his research and finding ways of rooting CSR firmly in the Indian soil.
Dr Chatterjee is now Director-General and CEO of the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), set up by the Union Government in 2008 to act as a think-tank and capacity building nucleus for corporate regulations and reforms. He is credited with evolving and structuring a framework for CSR for public sector enterprises and authoring the amendment to the Companies Act, known as Section 135.
The Act, first of its kind globally, had been hailed as the largest and the most ambitious CSR experiment ever, affecting between 16,000 and 25,000 companies and involving an expenditure of Rs.15,000 crore to Rs. 28,000 crore annually on activities defined in Schedule VII and falling under the area of social development.
Speaking of his journey into CSR, Dr Chatterjee touched upon his experiences with the tribal community and marginalised classes as an IAS officer in Odisha. In the process of evolving the framework and guidelines for what eventually crystallised into Section 135, he said, he was appalled by two factors: one, nobody was asking “How much is being spent on CSR?” and two, CSR was seen as a form of charity or donation activity.
In a bid to divest CSR of its intermittent character, he came up with the idea of “Strategic CSR”, whereby the latter would be conceived as a mandatory project or programme on the part of companies.
(This article was published on April 17, 2015)

The Forces Driving and Hindering Corporate Social Responsibility in India By Gurnek Bains

By Gurnek Bains
Gurnek Bains, Founder and Chairman of YSC, one of the world’s leading corporate psychology consultancies
CSR is sometimes seen as a luxury that can only be afforded by Western multinationals whose strengths enable them to look beyond the pursuit of short-term and narrow goals. However, there is much evidence that CSR is an important theme for many Indian leaders. Surprisingly, the data suggests Indian executives may be more concerned about CSR than those from many other parts of the world.
A McKinsey Survey of international executives found to their surprise that 90% of senior Indian executives felt that business should have a broader societal purpose than simply making profits. The figure for American Executives was 40% and only 10% of Chinese executives endorsed the view. Similarly a study involving executives at 98 Indian companies by HBR found that Indian leaders put a much stronger emphasis on businesses having a positive social purpose and looking after their employees than did American leaders.
In fact, they put serving the interests of shareholders at the bottom of four areas of priority whereas American leaders put it first. However, while a sense of CSR is evident in many circles of Indian business, it is also significantly lacking in others.
In my book, Cultural DNA: The Psychology of Globalization, I argue that there are some significant features in Indian culture that propel a focus on CSR as well as certain deep seated attributes that mitigate against it. Understanding both the positive and the countervailing forces is helpful for progressing the CSR agenda in the country.
On the positive side, the following factors can be identified:
Belief in a broader purpose to life – I argue that for many reasons the early modern humans who settled in India were able to move up the Maslow hierarchy of needs much more quickly than people in other regions. The benign Indian environment enabled a concern for the higher things in life and indeed the strong religious instinct within Indian culture in large part arise from this fact. Many business leaders are able to look beyond a narrow view of what they should be pursuing in life and turn their attention in part to broader goals.
Ahimsa - The concept of “cause no injury” is deeply embedded in Indian cultural DNA. I argue that this arises in large part from the fact that uniquely the humans that moved to India did not have to fight their way in against other competitor human species. Non-violence and a concern for life are deeply embedded elements within Indian cultural DNA. In business, the concept of Ahimsa means that there is more of a focus on positive social contribution and people than one might naturally expect for companies in emerging markets.
The HBR survey quoted above also found that twice as many Indian leaders thought that human capital drove success, compared to American executives. However, over 80% of HR executives said that employee development was critical for business success compared to just 4% in the United States.
Inequality- For a variety of reasons societal inequality is also high in India. Across the world we find that CSR tendencies can be reinforced in context where leaders of successful companies are aware of the vast discrepancies in the conditions of people around them. This is especially the case where the state does not provide a particularly secure safety net or enforces certain responsibilities in a reliable or consistent manner
Family Values - In many environments, executives are beholden to a range of diverse shareholders and this means aligning people around CSR initiatives can be difficult. Many significant businesses within the Indian corporate environment are led by individual founders or members of the founding family. In such contexts it is much easier for the leaders to commit to long-term CSR objectives that may not be of immediate benefit to more short-term stakeholders.
However, there are certain forces which also mitigate against effective CSR in the Indian environment:
Horizontal segregation- After Sub Saharan Africa, India has the highest level of genetic diversity in the world. I argue in my book that in Africa this lead to virtual segregation of communities into tens of thousands of tribal groups. In India, because geographic separation was less possible it led, in the context of a high pathogen environment, to horizontal segregation. Evidence indicates that caste has been around in India for thousands of years and genetic research suggests that there has been very low rates of marriage outflow from many communities with outside of one’s caste.
This strongly engrained sense of horizontal segregation can limit empathy for others and lead to a focus on narrower sectional goals and a preparedness to disregard the interests of groups to whom one does not have high levels of loyalty. Understanding and fighting this psychological tendency within Indian culture is essential if the CSR agenda if to be advanced in a major way.
Corruption/difficulty of doing business- For a variety of deep seated cultural reasons, many officials in India see business as an opportunity to extract gains for themselves. India is also rated as one of the most difficult countries in the world for people to do business in. For many Indian business leaders, day to day life is consumed by managing these challenges – leaving little passion or energy for driving wider societal goals. Tackling these issues would unleash the high levels of pent up energy within Indian executives for CSR activities.
Tendency to focus on the short term- Inevitably, given where India has been as a country, many businesses struggle with the challenge of survival and getting through things one day at a time. CSR is a flower that flourishes best in environments where people have the luxury of being able to focus on the long-term picture. In my experience Indian leaders also tend to regard CSR as a worthy act rather than as an intrinsic lever for building engagement with their communities and work forces or as a way of driving tangible business benefit in the long run.
Understanding the above forces and creating a dialogue between the ‘converted’ vs the ‘unconverted’ would be helpful for leveraging the strengths for CSR that are latent, but often only partially expressed at the moment, in Indian business culture.
The research cited here is covered in Gurnek Bains’ book Cultural DNA: The Psychology of Globalisation (Wiley 2015)
[ By Gurnek Bains, Founder and Chairman of YSC, one of the world's leading corporate psychology consultancies. YSC has 20 offices around the world and works with 40% of FTSE100 companies, leading U.S. multi-nationals, as well as a host of companies in other regions. Gurnek is listed in HR Magazine's Top 100 Most Influential People and has worked for over 25 years with senior leaders around the world. He is author of the best-selling “Meaning Inc: The Blueprint for Business Success in the 21st Century” and his latest book “ Cultural DNA: The Psychology of Globalization” was published in March 2015.]

Building a CR Committed Business: Elements of Performance Culture

By Sanjay Dawar, Vishvesh Prabhakar and Raghav Narsalay
We believe CSR opens up a platform for companies to build strategic drivers of long-term growth for themselves and the nation. Towards delivering and deriving optimal value from such opportunities for society and business respectively, companies must establish internal systems and processes for unleashing a passion and commitment to CSR programs throughout the organization. Such a culture further provides the fuel a company needs to keep moving toward its long-term CSR vision and strategy, despite the inevitable challenges and setbacks.
dimensions of CSR
Dimensions of Corporate Social Responsibility Photo: Rusen Kumar
Accenture and FICCI in their research report titled,“Organizing for Success on Corporate Responsibility: The Path to High Performance”, studied CSR as well as corporate responsibility (CR) initiatives of organizations that have: consistently allocated a sizeable portion of economic resources to C(S)R initiatives across economic cycles during the last three years; undertaken a range of social, environmental and people-centric initiatives toward creating holistic and harmonious change benefiting communities as well as business at large; developed a well-defined plan for their future C(S)R actions; and have been awarded for their differentiated and consistent work by recognized agencies.
Deriving insights from the actions taken by these companies, this article discusses actions performance culture relevant to nurturing high performance CSR teams.
1. Drive top leadership commitment: Employees watch and listen to what their leaders say and do. They look for integrity in and alignment between leaders’ comments and behaviors. The most powerful messages come from leaders whose actions demonstrate the company’s commitment to social change. Unlocking social consciousness in employees thus begins with top leadership. Companies and their leadership need to display consistent personal commitment to social good if they expect their employees to make such a commitment, including generating socially beneficial ideas.
Let’s take the example of the Tata Group. Leadership at the Tata Group continues to invest in activities across generations, sending a clear message to employees that being a socially responsible business is valuable for society and business itself. As early as 1892, Jamsetji Tata established the JN Tata Endowment Scheme to provide higher education for deserving Indians. Before the dawn of the 20th century, he had already introduced accident compensation for his textile workers, something unheard of in those days. The leadership at the company has continued this journey.
In 1996, the Group established the Tata Council for Community Initiatives to bring together innovative corporate social responsibility practices in the organization. In 2007, the Tata Affirmative Action Programme was set up to identify unique ways to “address the prevailing social inequities in India by encouraging positive discrimination” for historically disadvantaged communities “without sacrificing merit or quality.” Leveraging a more than century old spirit of individual volunteering within the Group, Tata Engage was formulated to inspire and facilitate collective volunteering initiatives across Group companies.
2. Institutionalize Effective CSR coaching: Without effective CSR coaching, teams or sometimes even senior executives, especially in organizations with no-prior CSR experience, may unwittingly reach out to organizations whose energy, managerial attention and other resources are already exhausted. Such partners will not be in a position to deliver sufficient value. In addition, without coaching, senior leaders, leading CSR teams, who are feeling pressured to deliver a quick CSR impact may launch short-term CSR activities without developing a plan first. As a result, their CSR initiatives will be short lived and less impactful. Organizations with nascent CSR operations that want to scale their initiatives will need to coach their CSR teams to leverage the ecosystem to minimize risks and maximize impact. To do so, such companies can approach high performers working in areas of similar interest and request coaching from their CSR teams.
3. Design consistent and compassionate impact measurement methods: CSR initiatives create tangible (quantitative) as well as intangible (qualitative) impacts. To measure the tangible impacts of a program, companies must develop a consistent set of indicators that all major stakeholders can understand measure and verify. In addition, these indicators should measure impact, not output. For example, in a CSR project aimed at reviving forests, it is important to measure how many of the saplings a company planted grew enough to provide the desired cover. That number matters much more than the number of saplings planted.
To measure intangible impacts—such as beneficiaries’ perceptions of the quality of their lives or their sense of personal safety—CSR teams will have to be able to hear and document the unspoken. They will need to master scientific methods to gather qualitative data and complement them with impromptu data gathering skills. To systematically capture as much qualitative data as possible, teams can create templates and use web-based tools to gather and record their findings on mobile platforms. They can then transmit their impressions to the main server and use analytics to draw relevant insights from the qualitative data.
In case of high performers, many a times, the C-suite and sometimes even the board closely monitor the impact of their company’s CR initiatives. At Great Eastern Energy Corporation Ltd, for example, the team is required to share a report on its CSR work with the CEO after every CSR activity. Often, the CEO responds with detailed observations and recommendations on how performance against certain indicators can be improved.
4. Invest in recognition and communication: Employee engagement is critical to the success of CSR efforts. Their day-to-day commitment to CSR initiatives, decisions and actions channel their company’s collective intelligence and resources toward realizing the CSR vision. The right recognition and communication systems can keep employee engagement levels high. Recognition initiatives enable companies to systematically identify and reward employees for outstanding examples of socially responsible behaviors and practices. In recognizing CR champions, companies must take a big step toward putting CR on par with other core functions in the organization in terms of perceived importance. Recognition also helps ensure that employees who work in CSR program do not feel “dumped” into a sidelined effort, compared to coworkers in revenue generating functions. By sending the message that CR matters, companies can attract top talent from many different places in the organization to lead or support CR initiatives.
It’s time companies understand the opportunities CSR programs can unfold for them to build long–term strategic business growth drivers. To optimally leverage CSR initiatives towards building the workforce, leadership and innovation teams of the future, companies will need to transform themselves. While crafting a strategy and building desired capabilities will be an integral part of the transformational journey, the key focus must be on knitting the performance culture within their organizational fabric. Only then will be in a position to create passionate teams willing to embrace and deliver change.
[Article is co-authored by  Sanjay Dawar, Managing Director and lead for Accenture Strategy in India, Vishvesh Prabhakar, Managing Director, Sustainability, Accenture in India and Raghav Narsalay, Managing Director with the Accenture Institute for High Performance.]

Why India is Glad about CSR? By Dr. Rupal Tyagi

By Dr Rupal Tyagi
Dr. rupal tyagiWhile our country has seen huge development over a period of time, it has, willfully or otherwise, neglected issues related to advancement that organizations can address through shared exertion.
It is going to be a long upward haul in the battle against poverty and hunger in India.
Outright impoverishment accounts for a huge number of premature deaths in the country. As indicated by the World Bank report (2014), 11.8 percent of all Indians fall below the globally accepted poverty line of US$ 1.25 per day (PPP).
The Indian government has made an endeavour to advertise the model of charity or ‘giving something back to society’ through Clause 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 on Commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Corporates are thereby obliged to focus on group advancement and group-driven projects such as schools, parks, clinics and so forth.
While our country has seen huge development over a period of time, it has, willfully or otherwise, neglected issues related to advancement that organizations can address through shared exertion. Indian lawmakers have the opportunity to change the Indian business approach, setting strong achievement coupled advancement goals which require tweaking their business objectives.
Best practices adopted by corporates are being acknowledged by consumers through their buying habits.
According to Edelman Goodpurpose (2012), consumers are not only making purchase decisions with a delineated purpose, but also advocating purchase of brands to serve specific intentions.
72 percent of consumers would recommend a brand that supported a good cause over one that didn’t, 71 percent would help a brand promote their products or ser- vices if there was a good cause behind them and 73 percent would switch brands if a different brand of similar quality supported a good cause. But that begs the question: how is the social sector going to change brand- ing, marketing and advertising while developing our nation at the same time?
When you look at it, there is no universal solution. But India has its own solution. Some people believe that ‘mandatory control’ is self defeating. They believe that lack of alignment as well as clear understanding of what that ‘mandatory’ implies is the driving force behind embezzlement of trust.
However, the Indian government is looking at potential from the ‘development’ angle and not any other. It understands better than its counterparts that the country needs ‘expert contribution’ rather than ‘monetary contribution,’ which should obviate ‘monetary compulsion by the government.
If it were monetary, why only two percent, it could more; it could be in the form of normal Tax. The perceived value contribution remains technical expertise. Contributions from international conglomerates will boost the social development of the nation which is its primary need. Rather than using CSR just to advertise business or oneself, we should create a systematic approach or our own definition of sustainability of business as well as individuals.
Understand the Magic of PPP
There is a need to understand the role and importance of public-private partnerships (PPP) in the social sector. Why is government important for engagements with corporate or how can corporate support government in creating solutions? I believe the power held by government is its reach or local presence.
Through local access from government help, corporates can put in efforts to establish social projects that will eventually open up future markets in other segments, as well as enhancing corporate resources.
By solving local problems and providing the corporate with opportunities to grow and empowering them in specific segments to have the deciding say, corporate can also build their brand and reputation within the local community. On the other hand, corporate can support government to develop each corner of the nation through the infinite power of technology and skills.
Need of Apparent Intent and Agenda
The principal step is to distinguish a cause that one could focus on, that offers opportunity for achievable exercises, and that all stakeholders of the corporate house can identify with. Indian CSR is not just about the money but the contribution of all the interested parties/ stakeholders. It’s time now to take the corporate generosity course along with or more than vital CSR, i.e., adjusting business operations to sustainability and magnanimity.
It is a learning curve and most us would need to learn and teach our- selves along the way.
While CSR is a business technique and speculation, it should be used in a positive manner rather than mitigating negative impacts; in other words, get over the habit of using it to just forestall or alleviate damage and cure hurt ONLY on the off chance that you can’t really avoid or moderate the impending.
The target of CSR is honorable and is expected to strike a balance by offering extra assets to the portions which merit money-related backing. Once the expectation is correct, a target can be set up and morals primed, making it one of the easiest assignments around.
The right to fairness is a coveted goal of the nation and the approach embraced ought to positively bring about profit for fragments of the nation that merit it. What we need to do at this time is to prepare and organize ourselves realistically, physically, and genuinely to compose, build and continue a magnificent responsible combat.
Generating Capacity Within and Outside the Organization
Yes, we agree that the hierarchy of dominants present in organizations need to lead CSR workshops and sessions and diverse exercises to comprehend and examine the developing nature of CSR. Moreover, with CSR being a difficult to comprehend field, circumspect mindfulness amongst the workers must be brought out appropriately through different mediums as a matter of leading importance.
One of my fellows from a reputed automobile company pointed out ‘youth for work’. I palpably felt and, in fact, encountered corporate not intrigued or upset by the lack of young labour, nor the reason for such behaviour. It is possible that they accept that this segment does not feel obliged to observe such instructions and learning.
However, it’s a phenomenally wide- open door for the adolescent era that has the knowledge in social sector practices to be utilised by the corporate sector for CSR exercises, which might end up in a request and then a demand to observe the law.
One additional breadwinner can spare one family anguish and a cluster of 30,000 such individuals liberate it, but this simple fact does not seem to be understood by everyone. I don’t understand how numerous certified courses or MBA in CSR would facilitate employment of students if companies are not willing to hire their expertise in spite of the need.
Enforcement and Control, Not Just the List of Rules
Despite India’s countless voluntary organizations, CSR Law has ended up with an ulterior motive behind their mushrooming development. The distressing part is that just few are operating with integrity and transparency. This aspect is as important as for corporate, i.e., controlling NGOs involved in false transactions, defalcations and government tax evasion, etc. Some of them simply begin for misusing Section 35ac to exploit tax exclusions.
There is a need for strong regulations to control misappropriation of funds and ‘enjoyment’ of legislation even by NGOs. Associations like Credibility Alliance and Development Alternatives are putting in a strong effort; however, with- out strong legislative power, its chances of success will always be minimal.
The Consultant Must Be a Good Pilot
Dr. Colonel Verma, DG, Saritsa Foundation mentioned to me that CSR consultants themselves have to be GOOD PILOTS of their companies to not waste time and concentrate on vexing issues with skill and steadfastness. It made me realize that organizations were putting resources into CSR which, instead, needed to be invested in social speculation.
That should be the mission in the absence of a road guide, best practices, and execution schema, where, we as consultants could steer companies through appropriate guidance rather than by inviting them to five star lounges for paid conferences and seminars that are more or less for business networking rather than productive learning objectives.
We ought to talk less but endeavour to comprehend more and meet expectations through dialogues on CSR rather than creating a ‘band-aid’4 patchwork approach. As experts in the market, consultants should motivate associations to opt for route to have any kind of effect and consider it as a splendid invitation for each of us to take ideology and implementation to the next level.
Realise, Feel and Accept the Responsibility!
H&M launched its closed loop collection which is made of 20 percent reused mate- rial from gathered pieces of clothing. Since 2012, H&M has been gathering discarded pieces of clothing worldwide, as reported by CSR Today magazine in its June 2014 issue. Similarly, when I see companies like Bombardier, the world’s only producer of trains and aeroplanes who are utilizing 95 percent recovered material to construct rails, I do feel on the off chance that, if more associations were to resort to such practices, it would an incredible commitment to the betterment of our destructively violated environment.
Some organizations have successfully understood CSR as a subset of manage- able business practice and diminishing the waste era rather than enjoying “occasions” under the garb of CSR. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is a case in point and another example of an organization that has created a cell that will help methodology ventures in order to guarantee corporate support in metropolitan tasks, according to a TOI report quoted in CSR Today, June edition.
60 percent of our populace is occupied in the farming sector in India. This is our root of sustenance as well as the spine of the nation. Advancement in training about nourishment, development of methods for optimal growth of the harvest is a concrete need in the business. We can see some corporate contributing to this sector, but we need a lot more. Personally, I feel this is the most important need for future generations’ sustainability, among others.
Without thinking, companies incessantly lose and leave the path of sustainability to win millions. The Indian system will give us all an opportunity to reconnect by way of togetherness and evoke passion towards co-creating a financial, ecological and socially imbued esteem with an intention to satisfy stakeholders.
If implemented with genuine intent, this issue can transcend into a prospect for structural and policy transformation, strategy and management planning as well as a strong economical framework that would boost profitability. If we are able to create true ownerships and deliver ‘responsibilities’, an automated system of opportunities for profit in long term sustainability for each enterprise and the business sector as a whole will indubitably emerge.
(Dr. Rupal Tyagi is author and consultant in area of Corporate Social Responsibility)

CSR: Companies cannot carry forward excess funds spent on CSR works

Excess amount spent by corporates on CSR activities in a particular fiscal under the companies law cannot be carried forward to subsequent financial years. With companies preparing to disclose details about CSR expenses in their annual filings, chartered accountants' apex body ICAI has issued detailed set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for its members with regard to reporting of such expenditure. "Any amount excess spent (more than two per cent as specified in Section 135) cannot be carried forward to the subsequent years," the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has said. However, the company is entitled to disclose in their annual reports of subsequent years any such excess spending of previous years while giving reasons for not spending in those later years, it noted. Section 135 in the Companies Act pertains to CSR. The compulsory Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) norms, part of the Companies Act, came into effect from April 1, 2014.Certain class of profitable companies are required to shell out at least two per cent of their three-year annual average net profit towards CSR activities. It said that any shortfall in spending in CSR should be explained in the financial statements and the board of directors have to state the amount unspent and reasons for the same. "Any such shortfall is not required to be provided for in the books of accounts.” However, if a company has already undertaken certain CSR activity for which a contractual liability has been incurred then, a provision for the requisite amount payable to record that liability needs to be recognised as per the applicable accounting standards," ICAI said. According to the institute, all social welfare spending expenses could be recognised separately as 'CSR expenditure' or under natural heads of expenses in the statement of profit and loss (P&L). In the latter case, there should be a break-up and the total amount spent on CSR activities during the particular year. "Some of the items which are charged to the P&L account in normal course, meeting the criteria for CSR expenditure, would also be eligible to be considered as a CSR expenditure," it added. CSR norms are applicable on companies having at least Rs 1,000 crore turnover or Rs 500 crore net worth or a net profit of Rs 5 crore in any financial year. Such firms are also required to set up a CSR committee, having three or more directors and out of them; there should be at least one independent director. Grant Thornton India LLP's Partner Yogesh Sharma said the FAQs shall prove useful in addressing most of their questions, especially for accounting and presentation of the CSR amounts in the financial statements of a company, he said.


Source: www.business_standard.com dt. 12.4.2015


CHINA USING CSR TO ACHIEVE GLOBAL COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

(3BL Media/Justmeans) – Much like the rest of the corporate world, Chinese companies embarked on their CSR journey somewhat reluctantly, following a variety of societal and market pressures. However, they seem to be learning more quickly than many of their western counterparts that their futures are inextricably linked to their CSR performance, and have begun viewing it as a potential competitive advantage. China has understood that in the prevailing global political and economic landscape, CSR will help the country to become a leader, not a follower.
Chinese businesses have continued to expand globally over the last decade in terms of sales and financial assets, but the spotlight has increasingly been on their CSR performance. As a result, leading companies from China have been compelled to make a fundamental shift in their strategic thinking. Today, these companies, which seek to become globally reputable brands, view CSR as a critical element of their transformation.
According to the United Nations Global Compact, several Chinese business leaders believe that being on the Fortune 500 list is not enough to maintain competitiveness in global markets, and that their companies need to evolve in the arena of CSR if they are to achieve their ambitious goals. With the growing presence of Chinese companies internationally, the host countries too, increasingly expect them to contribute meaningfully to their sustainable development objectives.
For instance, in Africa, Chinese companies are often negatively perceived as neo-colonialists. To counter this negative image and disconnect from local communities, some of the leading State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) – including Sinosteel, Sinopec, China Minmetals and CNPC – have begun to publicly disclose their social investment and impact in Africa through their CSR reports with committed efforts to address and showcase sustainability activities in the region.
Global Chinese companies are adopting a bottom-up approach not only to strengthen government relations with the host country, but more importantly, to forge long-term relationships with local residents, nonprofits and other stakeholders. An increasing number of Chinese companies are proactively leveraging two-way communications to respond to stakeholder concerns instead of remaining silent.
Some of these companies have established an “Open Public Day” when stakeholders and general public can visit the company and communicate their concerns and suggestions on their operations. A more open corporate culture has allowed CSR to further embed itself as a critical part of their businesses, particularly in cases where they aspire to succeed abroad.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

IndiaCSR Felicitates UPL Limited at IndiaCSR Awards for CSR Best Practices

Group photo of award recipientsDr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, Director General (DG) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Rusen Kumar, Managing Editor of IndiaCSR and CSR & COMPETITIVENESS handed over the awards to winning companies.
IndiaCSR News Network
NEW DELHI: IndiaCSR group, presented ‘IndiaCSR Community Initiative Awards’ at a function held here onMonday at PHD House, to celebrate Best CSR Practices based on case studies where leading corporates were awarded in various categories. Award winning case studies are featured in the Special Edition of CSR & COMPETITIVENESS Magazine, which was released at the function. The India CSR Awards is India’s most prestigious recognition awards function for Corporate Social Responsibility.
Bhaskar chatterjee at IndiaCSR awards 2014
Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, Director General (DG) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), Ministry of Corporate Affairs graced the function with his insightful keynote as chief guest.
The award function also witnessed gracious presence of Rusen Kumar, Managing Editor of IndiaCSR and CSR & COMPETITIVENESS; Dr. Jatinder Singh, Secretary of CSR, Education, Skill Development and Innovation Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce and industry; Dr. Ajay Kumar Singh, Paul Harris Fellow and President Divine Group of Institutions; Vijay Chadda, CEO Bharti Foundation and Sunil Ramdas Agrawal, Patron of IndiaCSR.
IndiaCSR Awards is an Endeavour to promote CSR reporting and communication: Rusen Kumar, Founder IndiaCSR
Addressing the esteemed gathering Rusen Kumar, Founder & Managing Editor, IndiaCSR and CSR COMPETITIVENESS said, “The vision of the initiative is to identify and recognize the corporate best practices of ongoing Corporate Responsibility initiatives in various domains in the country. The mission of the initiative is to inspire, encourage, and facilitate corporate social responsibility awareness and practices among corporate India.”
“We aim to recognize the best CSR and innovative projects, and translating best practices into concrete action on the ground. These Awards are an Endeavour to promote reporting and communication in the CSR domain in our country.” he said.
“It is a milestone and an iconic event that acknowledges the unique and extraordinary contributions in the CSR domain. This is a premium honor that recognizes the most admired and outstanding CSR initiatives and ventures in India. The awards acknowledges the noble contributions in the CSR domain that are raising benchmarks by bringing radical and transformative change in the development arena through innovation and excellence.”, he added
Rusen Kumar also said that, “CSR is a developing profession and it is evolving. It is a new profession so we need literature for this emerging profession. The literatures will help in establishing CSR as established profession. CSR is relatively newer subject in comparison with other subjects like marketing or manufacturing, and goes as per the company laws. The overall objective of this initiative is to give higher visibility to excellent practices in the field of CSR and to share such practices across the India, so encourage more enterprises to cooperate with their stakeholders to better meet their social responsibility.”
Dr. Rana Singh, Co-founder and CEO, IndiaCSR in his address said “CSR is applicable to all companies, all sectors, size does not matter, because CSR is not limited to the amount of money. Companies can contribute in the form of other capacities, including knowledge, services even through employee voluntarism. The journey of thousand miles starts with a single step. Awards are a culmination of sincere efforts driven towards success and excellence.
Awards are an evidence of the success to celebrate with one and all and inspire everyone. IndiaCSR Community Initiative Award aims to motivate, drive and catalyze the individuals, organizations, NGOs and the Government to pioneer innovation and excellence in their CSR activities orienting it to the various community driven initiatives by recognizing their excellent contributions in the area of CSR”
Award Winning Corporates:
Total of 19 companies were awarded at the function. Here is the list of the awarded corporates:
Raigarh based Korba West Power Company awarded for Best CSR Project in women empowerment (Livelihood Project).
Sesa Sterlite Ltd-Jharsuguda award for Best CSR Project in women empowerment creating livelihood (Subhalaxmi Project).
Fullerton India Credit Company awarded for Best CSR Project in Women empowerment (Jeevika).
ACC Limited- Maddukarai Cement works awarded for Adding Value to Local Community (Solid waste management)
UPL Limited- Valsad, Gujarat awarded for Best CSR Project for agriculture development (SR Shroff Ajivika Trust).
Bharat Aluminum Company (Balco), Korba awarded for Best CSR Project in Water conservation & Watershed development (Watershed Project).
Huntsman International (India) Pvt. Ltd-Vadodara awarded for Best CSR Project in Education (Anandi Project).
Huawei Technology awarded for Best Innovative CSR Project ( E-hope Project)
Essar Foundation awarded for Best CSR Project in Education (Project Indradhanush, Gujarat)
Jindal Power Ltd –Tamnar awarded for Best CSR Project in Skill Education (Utthan Project).
Haldia Energy- Best CSR Project in rehabilitation and resettlement (Rehabilitation Project)
Sesa Sterlite-Goa, Best CSR Project in promotion of sports in rural areas (Sesa Football Academy)
Essar Foundation awarded for Best CSR Project in promotion of sports & Culture ( Sports Nursery School at Malkangiri, Odisha)
Deepak Foundation-Gujarat awarded for Best CSR Project in Health for promoting safe motherhood ( Maternal Child care project)
Jindal Steel & Power Ltd-Angul awarded for Best CSR Project in adolescents Girls health (Kishori Express).
Vodafone India awarded for Best CSR Project for Vulnerable group (Project Drishti).
United Technologies Corporation awarded for Best CSR Project in Community development (Project Pehal).
Sesa Sterlite-Lanjigarh awarded for Best CSR Project in Environment Management (Green Concrete Project) and
Wockhardt Foundation awarded for Best CSR Project in Healthcare (Mobile Medical Vans)
Company representatives who received the award: 
Rishi Pathania 







Rishi Pathania, Head CSR, UPL Limited, received the Best CSR award on agriculture development (SR Shroff Ajivika Trust), on his Company behalf.

The IndiaCSR Award
IndiaCSR has played a major role in recognizing the noteworthy and sustainable initiatives in the realm of CSR. IndiaCSR Awards is initiated by IndiaCSR and CSR & COMPETITIVENESS. It honored leading corporate houses for their CSR best practices. It was exciting event leading to adaptable, motivated and responsive CSR Environment.
INDIACSR Community Initiative Awards’ is a milestone and an iconic event that acknowledges the unique and extraordinary contributions in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) domain. This is a premium honor that recognizes the most admired and outstanding CSR initiatives and ventures in India. The awards acknowledge the noble contributions in the CSR domain that are raising benchmarks by bringing radical and transformative change in the development arena through innovation and excellence.
At the same time IndiaCSR has successfully established itself as national platform to disseminate information about such path breaking initiatives, encouraging others to customize and replicate the successful solutions.
The INDIACSR Awards was opened to all organizations registered in India that engage in social responsibility. The Awards invited nominations from all companies, corporate funded foundations and partnerships operating in CSR arena. We are sincerely thankful to the corporate who participated and given overhauling response to the initiative.
The event received very motivating feedback from the participants. In India such kind of events and initiatives need to be organized from time to time and IndiaCSR is exploring the opportunities, because CSR profession is taking new roots. Professionals from various sectors are joining CSR sector and they require quality training to understand various dimensions of CSR.

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