The Government of India has made it mandatory
for Corporates to contribute 2% of their profits for Corporate Social
Responsibility. This month, Mr. Ashok
Sharma, involved in CSR activities, shares key insights with Calibre Creators.
CC-1 What
is the concept of CSR?
AS-1 Corporates,
like individual citizens, are an integral part of our society. Therefore, like individuals who do charity,
corporates, on their part also need to share the socially responsibility. Every
corporate is meant to serve the society to provide a service, earn a profit and
making that corporate successful social integration is needed. Since the
society has contributed towards the success of a company, it is becomes
obligatory for it to give back to the society, leaving a positive impact on
all, be it the environment or all stakeholders (customer, supplier, shareholder
or the government).
In
a nutshell, every organization should be socially responsible corporate
citizens. Corporate houses have the responsibility to contribute for the
betterment of the society through their action and deeds.
CC-2 Is
it something new to India?
AS-2 In
my belief, CSR is not at all entirely new to India. Knowingly or unknowingly,
this is a part of our culture. If we look back in our history, every village
used to be economically self-sufficient. It means all activities revolved
around for the betterment of the village. Every individual community member
cared for other members which promoted better livelihood amongst fellow
individuals in the society making them socially responsible.
Over
a period of time the systems were broken, the true value of CSR weakened with
the concept of industrialization overshadowing the old community self-help
system.
Therefore,
CSR is not new to India; it has been there since a long time. Only the term was not coined during that
phase in India, but community members were actively engaged and were
responsible citizens of the society.
CC-3 Why
is there so much of hullabaloo about CSR in India?
AS-3 The
concept of CSR was re-introduced using a different terminology by business
entities emphasizing that every corporate should be socially responsible,
although it is their moral responsibility. The focus of business entities was
more on profit maximization rather than being socially responsible. Majority of
organizations feel that it is an additional financial burden on their business.
Some companies view CSR as an activity designed to detract them from their core
business of doing business. They are focused on short term financial results
thus ignoring long term sustainability and competitive advantage.
CC-4 Is socio-economic development not the government’s
responsibility? Why do corporates have to get involved?
AS-4 According to me, it’s not just the government or corporates
responsibility alone, but every citizen must contribute to make a difference
through CSR/PSR activities. I’m sure the government is taking initiatives
towards CSR but considering India’s geography and demographics i.e. size of its
population, they have certain limitations.
Hence,
corporates need to get involved and they are encouraged to engage in CSR
activities to help the society. They employ local communities so that the reach
is effective and impactful.
CC-5 How
can CSR benefit the society in General?
AS-5 CSR
is a “win-win” situation for all. The
society benefits because corporates are funding developmental programmes, the
business of corporates expands as a good will is created, the burden on the
government is reduced since corporates share part of their responsibility and
the country as a whole makes progress, indicating a favourable change on some
social development measurement indicator.
For
example: In one of
the Organisation, their plant was located in the interiors of a Village.
Initially the Villages were not very cooperative and opposed the activities of
the Company. The company brainstormed as to how to win confidence of the
village members and gain their support for the smooth functioning of business
operations. They joined hands with the village members, studied the prevalent
needs and concerns of the village community and came up with likeable solutions
to curb the problems prevalent amongst members in the village.
The company with collaborative
approach of the village members amicably discussed their problems and the
villagers in turn mutually agreed to support their business activities. Some of
the measures initiated by the company to improve the standard of living of the
village people include providing education through schools, income generation
through employment in their factory, helping the farmers in their agricultural
practices to improve their farm productivity, ensuring potable drinking water,
water, provision of electricity, construction of roads, giving them access to
other markets, etc.
CC-6 Which
are the socio-economic sectors where CSR can really be helpful?
AS-6 Some
of the alternatives where socio-economic sectors can really be helpful
considering sustainable development include the agricultural sector, addressing
unemployment related issues that is the root cause of all underlying problems,
ensuring education for all, ensuring access to good and affordable healthcare,
sanitation & hygiene can all lead to improvement in the social living index
of the country.
CC-7 How
can CSR benefit the corporates themselves?
AS-7 Social
reputation of the organization is very important for an organization’s
sustainable growth. It also helps organizations to attract and retain talent, a
very important factor. This leaves a lasting impression thus creating a
positive image of the Company’s brand in the market. CSR not only benefits the
organization but all the stakeholders involved.
It’s a cycle where benefits are inter-dependent. This leads to growth
& development of the corporate houses as well as the society in which they
operate in.
CC-8 What
is the operational model for CSR between corporates and NGOs or Civil Society
as they are referred?
AS-8 Part I: The Corporate houses cannot undertake certain
social CSR initiatives on their own mainly because they only know how to do
business but are inexperienced for the real impactful social work. They therefore, cannot reach directly to the
ground level to the needs of every individual although there are exceptions to
this rule. Therefore, for their CSR initiatives, many Corporates tie-up with
local NGO’s since they have very strong
grassroots presence, have a deeper understanding of social issues, are aligned
with their teams to reach out to people in need. The NGOs in turn, get
financial support from the corporates to reach out to the masses.
Part
II: Corporates
prefer providing philanthropic assistance to NGO’s by getting them aligned them
with their CSR programs.
Part
III: Other Corporates prefer to work with various
government agencies at the Local, State and National level. e.g. providing
mid-day meals to school children, provision of children’s education through
formal & informal schools, awareness of pollution free environment, etc.
All
of the strategies mentioned above, largely depend on an organization’s focus,
presence of NGO’s or civil societies, government bodies and organizations
implementing various social development programs.
CC-9 Does
a 2% contribution of profits prove to be sufficient or is there a need to do
more?
AS-9 At
present very few corporate are contributing 2% of their profits for CSR. There
may be some who could be contributing more than the benchmark of 2%, but by and
large, there is a need to make this compulsory for all corporates as has been
done by the Government of India. A very
important move which will definitely increase the availability of funds for the
NGOs. Once the impact is seen, various
other incentives can be introduced by government. Of course, considering the
geographical size of our country and its
population, many more initiatives need to be taken.
CC-10 Do corproates really engage in CSR activity or is it a lip
service that they do to show case to the government?
AS-10 Engaging or contributing towards CSR activities varies from
organization to organization. Socially and ethically responsible organizations
are contributing beyond the provisions set by the government. Some of the
organizations may take it very lightly and avail the tax benefit. In fact, the
need of the time is to have some very strong measures to monitor the progress
and impact of CSR initiatives undertaken by the corporate houses.
CC-11 How can a corporate gainfully engage its employees in the CSR
activities and how does it help them professionally?
AS-11 There are many schemes nowadays implemented by the government or
private organizations under the CSR initiative such as Employee Self-Service
Scheme (ESSS), Personal Social Responsibility (PSR) programs and a few others.
It is therefore important to acknowledge the contributions of those employees
who are engaged in the society and encourage & reward such remarkable
achievements.
It
has been proven that socially responsible citizens are more engaged with their
work at their workplace. They are also
considered to be more responsible citizens in an organization.
CC-12 Tell us about your personal experiences in CSR. How did you
get involved in this?
AS-12 Part I: With great humility, I can say that I have been
privileged to get an opportunity to work on CSR related activities.
Understanding the needs of the people and helping them selflessly gives me
immense pleasure. Sometimes we need to put ourselves in the shoes of the masses
that are deprived of basic needs in life and be empathetic enough by lending a
helping hand and making them happy.
Part
II: I also have had
the opportunity to work in CSR program of a a very prominent organization.
Talking about it, we initially formulated a CSR policy by aligning our
organization’s business, prepared guidelines for CSR & ESSS where employees
were encouraged to participate in social initiatives in and around their
localities. Employees were also provided with specialized training in CSR and
those employees who had done significant work were provided with a token of
appreciation.
CC-13 You talked about PSR. Is that a new concept? Please elaborate.
AS-13 I was invited by various management institutes to conduct
sessions on CSR. My theme/topic of the
sessions would be “Corporate Social Responsibility to Personal Social
Responsibility”. The topic throws light on the introduction of CSR as a concept
& major initiatives undertaken by corporates, government and NGO’s.
This
would be followed by a quick scenario of the present economic system which
highlighted the country’s demographics with regards to population, the economic
conditions where 1/3rd of population is living below the poverty
line, many of them being physically challenged, and scores of underprivileged
children without basic necessities in life.
Thus,
PSR focuses on the people who are better off and have a personal responsibility
to support fellow individuals in the society. India as a nation cannot grow
until all of the above problems (Part I & Part II) of the society are taken
care of.
CC-14 Narrate a few instances during your CSR inter-vention which have
been personally fulfilling and gratifying? Something which has touched
your heart and left a lasting impression on your mind.
AS-14 I have worked with various NGO’s like the Bombay Leprosy project,
Cancer Society of India, supporting underprivileged school children, visited
home for the aged, orphanages and conducted Yoga sessions in corporate houses
to spread awareness and practices to maintain good health & overall
well being.
Every
incident is unique and touches one’s heart.
For Example: I was requested by the School principal to provide the
school children with uniforms, school fees, books etc., so that there is no
hindrance with their continuation in education. This was personally gratifying
and I was immensely happy to lend a small helping hand to these school
children. It gave me personal satisfaction and immense joy.
CC-15 Can you give us examples of other corporates actively involved
into CSR and bring about a positive change in the society?
AS-15 Some of the top corporate houses with their remarkable
contributions to CSR initiatives are the TATA’s where they keep track to
upgrade the standard of living of the masses living in their target villages;
the Mahindra Group through their environmental initiatives including greener
facilities, support education of girl-child and tree plantation initiatives
across India; Siemens believes in corporate citizenship through sustainable
development; Larsen & Toubro provides relief assistance in situations
during natural calamities and many social initiatives in partnership with the
government agencies & NGO’s, companies like Infosys and ITC focus on
women’s empowerment, providing supple-mentary education, integrated animal
husbandry programmes, Novartis, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Reliance Infrastructure,
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, are a few
reputed organizations that have a dedicated CSR arm, working for the socially
underprivileged and taking on a part of the government’s responsibility of
social welfare.
CC-16 What would piece of advice would you give to corporate and HR
heads with regard to CSR?
AS-16 My sincere advice to the corporate HR heads is that we need to
take this initiative whole heartedly, understand the needs of the people, the
hardships & troubles they face on a day-to-day basis.
I
strongly believe that we are today better off than we were yesterday because
everybody has, in some measure, contributed to it. These include our parents, family members,
our teachers, friends, neighbors, our bosses & colleagues and people whom
we know or don’t know, like our customers for example. They have helped us
grow, educate, become responsible, ethical and disciplined citizens. We owe it
all back, both backward and forward, so that this process will benefit their
growth & living too. Also, every successful corporate operates within a
society, so it their responsibility to contribute it back to the society.
Thus,
it is our moral responsibility to give it back to the society through CSR
initiatives or through any other means possible.
Ashok H Sharma, is the Head, Human
Resources at Mutual Industries Ltd., Mumbai, India.
Ashok Sharma has previously worked
with IPCA Laboratories Ltd., as General Manager-Corporate HR. He started his career and had a 25 year long
stint with Mahindra & Mahindra and his last position there was Head
Training & Organisational Development (location), HR Generalist: Head
Product-Unit HR & IR, QMS at its Kandivali, Mumbai Unit. He has been a Core Team Member of TPM
excellence Award by JIPM-Japan. He holds
a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts (Economics), Diploma in Mechanical Engineering, an
Associate’s Degree, Advance Technology Course in Tool Engineering (ATCTE) with
specialization in Design & Manufacturing Engineering. He also holds a Masters Degree in Human
Resource Development & Management from NMIMS as well as M.Phil. in Human
Resources Management from Annamalai University.
You can find more about him on
Linked-In.
This interview was published in the Calibre Creators LEARNING LETTER issue of May 2015, Vol. 3, Issue No.9.
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