Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility: It was heartening to note that the first statement made by the new incoming President Mr. Niranjan Mohanty was about Corporate Social Responsibility. At the Outset the corporate world must realize that Corporate Social Responsibility is about inclusive growth and not about charity. The concept of all inclusive Growth has been well defined in Shanti mantra in Kato Upanishad at least FOUR Millenniums back. The Mantra reads as: “OM SAHANA VAVATU SAHANA BHUNATTU SAHA VIRYAM KARAWAVAHAI TEJASVINAVADITAMASTU MA VIDVISHAVAHAI OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI OM”

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Together may we be protected Together may we be nourished Together may we work with great energy May our journey together be brilliant and effective May there be no bad feelings between us Peace, peace, peace Mr. JRD Tata the visionary and industrialist, though much before CSR became a buzz word, observed “ In a free enterprise, the community is not just another stake holder in Business. But it’s in fact the very purpose of its existence. No truer words have been said about CSR much before this acronym gained coinage and became a popular jargon. Unlike several other acronyms and jargons parroted this has to delivered with hard core fundamental work. There is no particular definition of CSR. It has been defined by World Business Council for Sustainable Development a CEO led institution stated:“Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large" Internationally CSR is the responsibility of the Corporate world towards its customer and several segments of the society. In India it would stand modified to principally cover the under privileged class of society as target beneficiary. The Corporate World’s three primary considerations and in that order are Profit, People and Planet. Well Profit generation need not be elaborated upon. The third “P” i.e., Planet is covered under Pollution Control, Kyoto Protocol and several similar legal and quasi legal regulations. For the second and most important “P ” i.e., People there is no legal regulation. The CSR covers that second “P”. Through Globalization the Corporate India has recorded a healthy 9.4% growth. Yet the Rural Bharat distinct from this Corporate India lives at or below subsistence level. Whereas Economic Capital has had a tremendous growth, the social capital is required to be nurtured through CSR. The Vision 2020 of India becoming a super power by 2020 as perceived by our ex president Mr. Abdul Kalam is nearly impossible to achieve unless some hard core fundamental work is done amongst the under privileged class and they are brought into the mainstream and rendered productive and contributors to the GNP India is a very large country with a mega population of 1.2 billion people. The Corporate world rarely has the infrastructure and professionalism to deliver quality and cost effective CSR projects. There are several GENUIN NGO’s doing exemplary work in several fields. A marriage between these NGO’s and Corporate world could usher in a very different and vibrant India. A 2001 survey showed that 80% of the Public believed that the ‘ The Public interest’ could be best served by NGO’s and only 67% believed the Corporate world could do so. Hence as per popular perception and common logic, delivery and

execution by NGO’s and Corporate World’s participation in financing and supervision would be an ideal partnership. The concept of sustained growth and vision 2020 could become a reality only trough this cohesive effort.