CII meet on CSR issues & challenges of PSEs, under the aegis of CII Council on Public Sector Enterprises, today brought together policy makers, CMDs & CSR Heads of PSEs to discuss and arrive at solutions to the various constraints faced by PSEs towards CSR implementation. This meet provided a platform to share experiences both from private as well as public sector, and have the policy makers address concerns in this area.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr O P Rawat, Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), said, “Awareness of what CSR entails is a challenge. The new CSR guidelines from DPE say you must conduct your business ethically, and in the spirit of concern for the community & the environment. In 1970 Milton Freedman said that the business of business is to maximize profit, however, given the societal change over the years, there is a need for organizations to proactively engage in betterment of society. The new CSR guidelines have been prepared in a consultative manner with points of view of the PSEs & concerned ministries.”
He further added, “The new CSR guidelines will encourage PSEs to join hands to undertake bigger projects and spread the financial outlay over a period of time. And as the business environment has become volatile, 5% of CSR allocation may be earmarked towards meeting the emergency requirements of employees of sick & loss making PSEs.”
Mr Ashok Pavadia, Joint Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises, while elaborating on the new guidelines said, “CSR needs to be internalized and not be restricted to CSR departments. Both internal & external stakeholders are equally important. CSR & sustainability go hand in hand and social impact is more important than following procedures. CMDs of PSEs have to lead CSR initiatives and show the way.” He further added, “CSR initiatives should be based on strong ethical foundations.”
Stated Mr A K Garg, CMD, MTNL, “800 to 850 employees, in the 48 PSEs surveyed, are dedicated towards CSR activities. This is a significant overhead at a time when PSEs are looking to be globally competitive.”
PSEs have been implementing CSR since their inception in the 1950’s, but the term CSR was coined recently and got a fillip when CSR was inducted in the MoU which PSEs enter into with their administrative ministries. The public sector at large faces challenges while implementing CSR activity such as legal constraints, transparency in CSR spends, selection of NGO’s, taxation and signing of agreement etc.
Mr B P Rao, Chairman, CII Council on PSEs & CMD, BHEL, said, “CSR activity should be recognized as a basic requirement of business. PSEs should integrate and align their CSR & sustainability policies and activities with their business goals, plans & strategies. I am looking forward to the day when we would not require a separate CSR department in the company, CSR would be part of every activity that we do.” He added, “CSR implementation processes within the organization need to be faster, and the onus is on the organization to hasten the pace.”
Also added Rear Admiral (Retd) Vineet Bakshi, CMD, Goa Shipyard, “We support educational institutions locally in Goa, where children of our employees happen to study. We found that this made a palpable difference to the employees. Hence, there is need for flexibility in earmarking backward areas for CSR implementation.”
Mr Rana Som, past CMD, NMDC, while sharing his experience said, “The new guidelines will help empower both the PSEs and communities. At NMDC, education & employment generation initiatives were implemented at 300 villages, in a Naxalite affected area in Bastar, Madhya Pradesh. There were clear benefits that accrued to the tribals there, so much so that they offered their land to NMDC for its facility as the tribals wanted to partake of the development they saw taking place and be a part of their project.”
A compilation of success stories in CSR of PSEs was shared at the meet to promote best practices in CSR. The success stories represented a cross section of initiatives across India, from PSEs that included HAL, BHEL, NMDC, Cochin Shipyard, Indian Oil, ONGC, RCF, Neyveli Lignite, UCIL, HPCL, MMTC, SAIL etc. Additionally, success stories were shared by both the public and the private sector, and these ranged from conserving eco-diversity by saving the whale sharks in Gujarat to the concept of ‘Total Village Management’ which emphasizes on public-private people partnership and developing societal change-makers from within the community, to reducing green-house emissions and mitigating pollution through a system of cost-effective “green cremations”.
In the new guidelines which will come into effect from April 2013 and will provide a wider canvas, baseline survey will not be obligatory and CSR projects can be formulated based on need assessment. At least two projects need to be done well, one of which should be in a backward region.