By Sandeep Pattnaik
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Bhubaneswar, 29/01/2015: Effective implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility Law is the need of the hour in India. This was the bottom-line of the discussion held today in a learning event organized by Centre for Youth and Social Development(CYSD) with the support of Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs(IICA), Global Compact Network India and Transparency International India in CYSD auditorium.
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“While 11 lakh companies have registered in India, only 16000 companies come under the CSR ambit. At the same time 33 lakh NGOs are registered in India. New CSR law will bridge the trust deficit between Civil Society organizations(CSOs) and Corporates,” Ms. Gayatri Subramaniam from IICA said. She highlighted the 9 step strategy for effective implementation of section 135 CSR law, 2013.
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The discussion was facilitated by Dr. S.K.Tamotia, Dean cum Director General and Vice chairman of Bhavan’s Centrte for Communication and management. Dr. Manoj Fogla, a noted chartered accountant highlighted certain legal and structural challenges pertaining to CSR.
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Among others, Shri Jagadananda, founder of CYSD, Mr. Ramesh Mahapatra, President of Utkal Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Ashutosh Mishra from Transparency International India, Mr. Pooran Pandey from Global Compact Network India and Mr. P.K.Sahoo chairman , CYSD also participated in the event.
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Speaking earlier in the morning during a Multi-Stakeholder dialogue on Corporate Social Responsibility [CSR], Odisha Chief Secretary Shri Gokul Chandra Pati said,”Corporate should consider CSR activities as part of their growth strategy. People’s participation in CSR is important as they are the key stakeholders in the process. In addition to that, Corporates, Civil Society organisations, State & Central Government should join hands to make CSR reach to the last mile.”
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The MSD on CSR was organised jointly by Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs [IICA], Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Govt of India, Centre for Youth and Social Development [CYSD] and National Foundation for India [NFI] with active participation of the Govt of Odisha and UNICEF.
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Speaking in the opening session of the conclave, Shri Jagadananda, Mentor, CYSD said, “Best Practices and standards should be followed in CSR. Despite Odisha having a stable political environment and a growth rate of more than 8.5% (above the National average) during the last decade, the economic growth of the State has not been matched by a commensurate positive transformation in the society at large.”
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“There are many and deep development challenges in the State like; extreme poverty, hunger and malnutrition, education, healthcare and sanitation, regional disparity and tribal development, which need to be addressed forthwith with proactive CSR measures,” he said.
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It is to be noted that, Odisha has a strikingly high poverty ratio with 32.59% of people living below the poverty line, in comparison to the national average of 21.91%, as per the latest (2011-2012) estimates of the Planning Commission, Government of India. The state continues to lag substantially in major economic and human development indicators published periodically by Central and International Agencies.
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As far as Livelihood & Poverty Challenges are concerned, Odisha has remained the second highest poor state in India out of 14 poor states in UNDP’s fact sheet. Its Human development Indicator is 22 out of 23. That indicates its poorest of the poor economic and human development status in the country. Malnutrition (higher cases of undernourishment of calories than national index), chronic hunger, MMR, CMR, malaria and low purchasing power are the major issues in the State, in connection to poverty.
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Speaking on the occasion Dr Bhaskar Chaterjee, DG & CEO IICA said, “India is the only country with CSR legislation. CSR should be outsourced to the civil society sector for its effective implementation at the grassroot level.”
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“Stakeholders should work collectively with a positive mindset and the approach for implementing CSR should be empowerment-based but not charity-based. Corporates should join hands with Government for last mile connectivity in CSR field,” Shri Sanjay K Panda, Union Textile Secretary said.
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“Tata Steel is all committed to spend a good amount towards CSR and corporate should bring in innovative processes to add value to CSR activities,” said Mr T V Narendran, MD Tata Steel, India & south East Asia.
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“Policy Commitments from Government should be there for protecting the rights of children that is part of CSR,” said UNICEF Odisha Chief Ms Yumi Bae on the occasion.
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There were four Sessions: Opening & Context setting; Business Session – highlighting issues & development gaps; Business Session-II – innovative approaches in collaboration, Business Session-III – way forward; led by a panel of representatives from the Corporates, Government and the Civil Society along with CSR experts.
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Speaking about emerging areas for potential CSR engagements Mr U N Behera, Development Commissioner Odisha put emphasis on CSR spending on agriculture and allied areas.
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“India is a food surplus Country but certain food security issues lie. They are chronic malnutrition, high infant mortality rate etc. Certain food security programmes like PDS,MDM are providing space for CSOs, Govt and Corporates to collaborate,” Shri Jan Delbaere, Country Director, World Food Programme, India said on the occasion.
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One of the major challenges before the State is how to build a disaster resilient community through a community based disaster preparedness programme, as Odisha is prone to natural disasters such as floods and cyclones that derail many development initiatives. The Climate Change effect is no more a rhetoric.
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Besides, ‘Tribal Underdevelopment’ is another major headwind for the poor economic state of affairs in Odisha, experts opined.
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It is quite evident as despite the state has 62 officially recognised tribes of India; only 15 to 20 % of the reserved employment is meant for the tribal population in Odisha so far. Education and health services in tribal pockets are amongst the most neglected area of development in Odisha. Only about 7% of tribal population use toilets. It is a regular feature of underdevelopment in this region that every year tribals die of unknown diseases. Since most of the tribal areas are concentrated in the hinterlands of the State in mineral rich districts, tribal culture, language and their way of life is under continuous threat from new mining projects and loss of forest habitats.
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Similarly, Sanitation and hygiene is a major social illness plaguing Odisha. Open defecation is a major problem with 78% of the households lacking toilets and sanitation facilities. While coverage of drinking water is higher than national average – equitable access to drinking water and safety of drinking water is an issue, according to a UNICEF report. Combined with poor sanitation practices and attitudes, it creates an environment of waterborne communicable diseases such as diarrhoea, gastroenteritis, anaemia and jaundice.
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“Nearly 88% of the global under five deaths are happening due to lack of access to water, sanitation & hygiene. 6.4% of India’s GDP is lost due to inadequate sanitation,” Ms Sunetra Lala of Unicef Odisha said.
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“Most of the power infrastructure exist in disaster prone areas and also not subject to preventive maintenance. Finally, Odisha Govt has come a big way in power sector reforms and now it is mandatory on the part of power generation, transmission and distribution companies to have a disaster management plan and adhere to Standard Operating Procedures,” Sri Santanu Rath, Director, HR, OPTCL said.
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On emerging areas of collaboration and synergy building in the field of CSR, Shri P K Sahoo, chairman CYSD said, “CSR should be people and community centric. Creation of a think tank is required taking into account all stakeholders i.e. Govt, Civil Society, Corporates, and last but not the least the people’s participation. Besides, periodic interface between Corporates and CSOs is required.”
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“CSR spending is subject to many headwinds like, no tax rebate available except donation to PM relief fund, manpower shortage to execute CSR programmes, 70% spending compulsory to be made for peripheral development etc. Besides, no database is available to choose to which NGOs to partner with for CSR implementation. Also more companies have to be brought down within the CSR ambit,” Mr Dilip Satpathy, Resident Editor Business Standard said.
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“Convergence of programmes relating to various social schemes should be done and the planning should be done with everybody’s perspectives,” Ms Shaifalika panda, CEO Bansidhar & Ila Panda foundation said.
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According to former CS Odisha Shri S B Mishra, while working towards CSR implementation, duplicacy of activities should n’t be there, as there are lot of NGOs operating in the State, mostly in Industrial areas like Dhenkanal and Angul. There is a trust deficit between Govt and Corporates on one hand and civil society on the other hand. This has to be bridged for effective implementation of CSR activities.
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