Brand India organized a webinar to discuss Aatmnirbhar Bharat and contribution of CSR for making New India where Mr. Praveen Karn, Head Group CSR Minda Corporation Limited shared his views on the topic. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Sandeep Behera, Director Branding & Promotion Karunya Deemed University.
Throwing light on the history of CSR Mr. Praveen Karn said, “we see that the companies were originally established to make profits but later it was realized that it’s important to give back. Taking the concept of Mahatma Gandhi, “Model of Philanthropy” was started, which focused on giving donations and charities. In the late 70s, it took the shape of community affairs. Later in the 80s, it was called community corporate which was the partnership of community and companies for holistic benefit. In late 2010, it was reformed into a sustainable business model of CSR.”
Talking about amendments, the companies followed Nation Volunteer Guidelines (2007) and later the Companies Act he added, “In 2013, the government had formulated Section 135, Schedule 7, that prescribes a set of activities that I thought could be co-related to the SDGs.”
In my perspective, from the past 5 years, CSR is growing and benefiting people, developing partnerships, supplementing government programs, scaling up projects, it is participative, more innovative and he believes it has a long way to go.
The size of the CSR fund being spent is not big if it is compared with the GDP, education budget, and health care budget. I strongly believe that the CSR budget will change the narrative of participation, collectivity, collaboration and supplementation. I suggest that the idea is to spend according to the need assessment which can be identified only at the grass-root level. According to me, the solution for reducing the demand and supply gap has to be well assessed and well triangulated. I believe that miracles will not happen because of money and rather they will be done with involvement, partnership, collaboration, integrations with the government programs and NGOs at the grass-root level.
Reminding that sustainability is the broader agenda, we see how organisations are now following Environmental sustainability practices such as tree plantation, paper saving, energy and water conservation, using renewable energy and waste management. I believe that it will be a holistic approach towards sustainability as stakeholders and industries are also working together for it.
Aatmnirbhar India vision is not restricted to the metro cities but it extends to the rural pockets of India. Development of the nation starts from the very individuals of the underdeveloped areas. The underprivileged community members will become self-reliant only when they are given opportunities. Self-reliance is a holistic concept and does not limit to employment but it implies to various other segments like proper education and skilling.
