• “Corporates, Governments and NGOs should innovate, collaborate and work in tandem towards a ‘common goal’ in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to bring about a positive change in the society”, urged Mr K K Sharma, Adviser to Administrator, Chandigarh Administration while addressing the CSR-CSO Bridge 2013 organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at its Headquarters in Sector 31, here today.
  
  “It is high time, CSR came out of the back rooms into the board rooms of the corporates to make a strong difference in the lives of the Have-nots in a more focused manner”, he strongly emphasised. Appreciating the role of SMEs and large corporates in providing jobs as well as pooling in money for Government funds for Social welfare through taxes, he said that there is still a lot of room for Research and creativity and each one of us should reflect upon the role one can play to eradicate poverty from the society. CSR Managers should critically analyse various issues and areas like drinking water, education, skilling, shelter, food etc and motivate their respective top managements to sincerely consider giving back to the society to sustain in the long run. He was also in favour of audits of CSR work done by corporates.
  
  He said that the Chandigarh Administration is very proactive to provide basic amenities to its residents but needs a collaborative effort from the industry to make Chandigarh a world class city.

• The UT Adviser also released a compendium of CSR initiatives by CII’s members.
• Dr Bhaskar Chatterjee, Director General & CEO, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), established by the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs highlighted the key points of the upcoming Companies Bill, whose section 135 covers the CSR Clause. The clause binds the companies having net worth of Rs 500 crore or having turnover of Rs 1000 crore or more or a net profit of 500 crore or more during any financial year to constitute a CSR Committee of the Board consisting of three or more directors, out of which at least one director shall be an independent director. Further, the CSR Committee shall formulate and recommend to the Board, a CSR Policy which shall indicate the activities to be undertaken by the company, recommend the amount of expenditure to be incurred on the activities and the Board of every company shall make every endeavor to ensure that the company spends, in every financial year, at least two per cent of the average net profits of the company made during the three immediately preceding financial years, in pursuance of its Corporate Social Responsibility Policy”.
  
  According to him, the bill has the potential to unleash the hidden potential of the private sector to work for society upliftment and wellness. “In the present industrial scenario, the CSR Bill be the game changer as it will evolve ethos of the CSR in India.
• Mr Harpal Singh, Past Chairman, CII NR & Mentor & Chairman, Emeritus, Fortis Healthcare Ltd & Founder Chairman, Nanhi Chhaan Foundation shared that “If the Companies Bill necessitating 2 % of the profits for CSR activities for large corporates is passed, CII would create a CSR Competency Centre, comprising professionals to provide expert guidance, advice and ideas to the corporates so that the resources are channelized properly. CII would enlist efficient and reputed NGOs with it and recommend them to partner with the member companies in a dedicated manner. We believe that safeguarding the environment is as important as earning profits, so we should put the ecological price of various products besides its actual price so that everyone realizes the loss to the environment and strives to protect it. One must take care of not just the needs of the present generation, but also the future ones, and there should be no depletion of natural resources,” he emphasised.
• “CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is not an option anymore. It is a necessary element of doing business these days. It is not just philanthropy, it’s something more than that”, expressed Dr Sudhir Kapur, Chairman, CII NR Committee on CSR.
  
  He elaborated on the concept of CSR by saying that, while philanthropy was charity, CSR is a duty. “Today, if you want the whole country to prosper and not just a few sections, then it becomes imperative for corporate houses to contribute their bit for the betterment of society,” he said, adding that development has to be holistic (social, economic and environmental) for social harmony. The other aims of CSR should be reduction of poverty, improvement in education, creation of employment, social justice, access to healthcare and removal of systemic evils like corruption. The benefits of CSR will accrue to all – business, society, and all stakeholders, he added.

• “Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is very much a corporate agenda and no more a voluntary role. The corporate sector treats it as an investment to organisational development, shared Mr Man Mohan Singh, Chairman, CII Chandigarh Council. Further, Calling for right partnership between Government, NGOs and corporates for CSR activities, he said that, “Integration between all the three is required at the grassroots level to achieve fundamental objective of equality and prosperity for all”.

• Mr Pikender Pal Singh, Regional Director, CII Northern Region, shared, “CSR has become an essential element of corporate culture today. No corporate house can afford to ignore the social and environmental impact of their activities. CSR is not a donation or charity, it’s a necessity today.” In Northern Region, CII is involved in many CSR initiatives like HIV/ AIDS intervention projects for migrants in Mandi Gobindgarh and has set up HIV / AIDS Toll free help lines in collaboration with State AIDS Control Society in Punjab and Haryana. Ability placement fairs for differently abled candidates are also organised to promote their employment with participation of NGOs. CII will continue to play its role in driving the promotion of CSR in the Indian business environment towards making CSR a core part of their business strategy.”

Objective:

Social innovation through Collaboration - establishing a bridge to strengthen the existing links between industry and voluntary organizations for sustained inclusive growth

Write Up:

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has come to acquire an important position in the corporate and business jargon over the last few years. CSR is now being looked at as a concept different from pure philanthropy and more in tune with strategic intervention that ultimately benefits industry itself and as a strategic intervention of giving back to the society.

Social innovation refers to new ideas that work in meeting social goals, simply ‘new ideas that work’. Social innovation also refers to new approaches, thoughts, ideas that meet social needs of local that extend and strengthen civil society. Social innovation discovers new approaches to deliver new solutions to global problems.

In sync, believing that a development paradigm that ensures sustainable growth is of paramount importance for India, CII Northern Region organized a conference on CSR- CSO Bridge 2013: “Social innovation through Collaboration: a lever for growth and sustainability” on Tuesday, 23 July, 2013 at Chandigarh.

CSR - CSO Bridge is CII’s flagship initiative to channelize the capacities of change makers; individuals and organizations, to catalyze social change, thereby giving impetus to India’s development. The programme was aimed at establishing a bridge to strengthen the existing links between industry and voluntary organizations for sustained inclusive growth. The programme comprised a conference that would bring together leaders from the Government, industry and voluntary sector for identifying strategies, policy interventions and other mechanisms for strengthening such connectivity.

Shri K.K Sharma, Adviser to the Administrator, U.T. Chandigarh had been invited as the  Chief Guest at the Conference along with a host of senior officials from corporate /government.

Dr Bhaskar Chatterjee, Director General & CEO, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, had been invited as the Guest of Honour in the inaugural session at the conference.

The seminar witnessed presence of more than 105 quality delegates from various sectors & segments of the industry, Government and NGOs.