A robust and thriving development sector is key to India’s quest for equitable, inclusive and sustainable growth. The private sector is a strategic partner in this endeavour capable of rendering profound impact on pressing developmental issues. With the mandate of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) formally introduced, the sector has a key role to play in addressing the socio, economic and environmental problems of the country.
Continuing its legacy, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organized the Eighth edition of the Corporate Social Responsibility Meet 2015 at The Gateway Hotel, Kolkata on 16th December 2015. The meet themed as “Partnering the Development Agenda” presented innovative and successful models of social entrepreneurship, community development and livelihood creation to the government and corporate representatives attending the meet. Re-emerging World was one of the attendees of the meet.
Why eastern region demands a greater CSR engagement?
Foroogh Fayouzat,UNICEF India, called for greater CSR engagement highlighting the depressed socio-economic landscape in the region. According to a study conducted by Oxford University, there are 1.6 billion people living in multi-dimensional poverty across the world and nearly 440 million of them are in the eight large Indian States. Four of out of these eight states namely West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha are from Eastern India, thus presenting the skewed nature of poverty with respect to geographical concentration. Given this context, the corporate sector has a leading role to promote various avenues of development in order to achieve shared progress in an inclusive, sustainable and scalable way.
Are the innovative CSR models working?
Linking innovative CSR models with features like sustainability and scalability, a few of them are working but they are limited in size and scale. A number of CSR models were presented by corporates including Apollo, TATA Motors, COAL India and ITC. One of the interesting models that stood out in the meet is Skill Gurukul Model driven by the PanIIT Alumi Reach for India (PARFI), a social enterprise running technical training schools for rural underprivileged with assured placements in blue collar jobs. The highlight of the model is that it’s a self-sustainable model with minimal CSR funding to support its ongoing operations.
Events like the CSR 2015 meet are imperative to build the much needed trust, network and partnership among various players of development so that we can all partner the development agenda.
