First Regional Conclave on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) organised

The first Regional Conclave on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is being organised by the CSR Hub in collaboration with Cochin Shipyard at Cochin in India on January 16, 2012. It is being chaired by Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) D.R.S. Chaudhary. This Conclave is the first of a series of Regional Conclaves being organised with Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) located in each region, in the next couple of months.

The Regional Conclaves on CSR aim to engage various stakeholders in an interactive discussion on further evolving CSR activities in a synergetic manner for inclusive growth and development of the society. All CPSEs will be required to participate in these conclaves to highlight the CSR activities being undertaken by them, share their views and experiences and give suggestions on making the CSR guidelines more clear, robust, effective and in tune with the trends and best practices in the fields.

A host of other issues are also slated for discussions in the regional workshops. Constitution of regional groups of CPSEs and formulation of a strategy for evolving a rapid response mechanism in case of emergencies and disasters is one such issue likely to come up for discussion. A Core Committee comprising of Director, CSR Hub and the CSR Heads of nine CPSEs, like, ONGC, GAIL, NTPC, BHEL, CIL, NMDC, OIL, Goa Shipyard and the Cochin Shipyard has been constituted to assist DPE in compiling and coalescing the suggestions that will crystallize from the discussions of the Regional Workshops.

The Secretary, DPE has also written to the Chief Secretary of every State to ensure active participation of the States in the Conclave. The State Governments play a vital role as stakeholders in CSR activities and also as facilitators in their selection, planning and successful implementation. An important issue on which the views of the State Governments are eagerly solicited is the evolving of a transparent and effective consultative mechanism between CPSEs and State Government/District Administrations for identifying developmental activities to be undertaken under CSR by the public sector.

CSR is an integral component of good governance. Although many CPSEs have done commendable work in CSR, some CPSEs have been found wanting in the desired level of initiative in this regard. Director, CSR Hub has informed the DPE that so far only 4 CPSEs have registered their CSR activities with the Hub. Even those CPSEs which have done considerable work in CSR have not registered their activities. The CSR guidelines of DPE clearly stipulate that all CSR/activity undertaken by a CPSE are to be registered with the Hub so as to be considered part of rating the performance of the CPSE for their annual MoU evaluation. The DPE has informed the CPSEs that it would not be in a position to give credit to any CSR activity not registered at the Hub, and as advised, all CPSEs to register and update their activities accordingly.

Relief for India Inc - Government of India unlikely to make CSR mandatory

In what could be termed as a relief for India Inc, a top Government of India official on June 20 said the government did not wish to make corporate social responsibility (CSR) spend mandatory, but would instead come out with ‘flexible', ‘directional' guidelines, reports PTI.

“There is no way the government wants to mandate it. If we make it mandatory there can be thousand and one ways to bypass it,” Corporate Affairs Secretary D. K. Mittal said at a meeting organised by the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry on CSR, here in Mumbai.

The government would come out with ‘forward looking' CSR spend guidelines, he said, adding, “It will be only directional and not mandatory. We want it to be flexible. But once the new norms are in, firms will have to disclose their CSR spends or non-spending.”

“Like elsewhere, we want the new Companies Bill to include the CSR code and we want corporates to mandatorily disclose in their annual reports the codes which they adhere to or do not adhere to,” Mr. Mittal said.

To the question what difference guidelines would make if CSR was not going to be made mandatory, he said the new Bill would make the whole process more transparent. The new Companies Bill would be tabled in the monsoon session of the Parliament scheduled to commence from August 1, 2011. The 2 per cent compulsory CSR spend proposal, mooted by Mr. Deora's predecessor Salman Khurshid, had sparked off an intense debate, with majority of corporates favouring voluntary CSR spend. 

At the same event, Chief Election Commissioner of India S Y Qureshi talked about CSR and highlighted the “double standards” of the corporates who were “generous only when it comes to political donations, because there is a lot to be gained from that.” He also said corporate India has no right to complain about governance deficit or political corruption “when you don’t even bother to get out of your homes on a polling day."

With the conformation from the top government officials, the year long discussions whether to make CSR mandatory or not has been put on rest for ever. Earlier in several occasions Government of India has advocated strongly to make CSR mandatory and published Voluntary Guidelines for CSR during late 2009.

Though the former minister Salman Khurshid advocated strongly for minimum two per cent spending for the cause of Environment or Sustainable Development for the society, the present minister may not be falling on the same line. The reason could be pressure from the big corporates on the present minister who may have succumbed under the repeated requests or threats and allowed companies to pollute environment. Whether Team Anna listening?