Digital edition july 2015 csr&competitiveness indiacsr magazine by CSR & COMPETITVENESS

Volume 02

Issue 08

July 2015

DIGITAL EDITION

Dainik Bhaskar Group on a Mission

Save Birds 'Save Birds' an initiative being undertaken by Dainik Bhaskar Group, every year, aims at creating awareness in the society to help and save birds during summer season. It motivates people to place birdbaths (sakoras) at their homes and terraces so that birds can have 'Daana- Paani' (food grains and water).

Annual Rs. 1200/-

CSR

Community Initiative

Awards 2015

Recognizing CSR Good Practices

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;INDIACSR Community Initiative Awardsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is a milestone and an iconic event that acknowledges the unique and extraordinary contributions in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) domain. This is a premium honour that recognizes the most admired and outstanding CSR initiatives and ventures in India.The awards acknowledge the noble contributions in the CSR domain that are raising benchmarks by bringing radical and transformative change in the development arena through innovation and excellence. The awards acknowledge the noble contributions in the CSR domain bringing radical and transformative change in the development arena. The INDIACSR Community Initiative Awards, in various categories, is open to all companies and organizations registered in India that engage in social responsibility. The Awards are open for nomination by all companies, corporate funded foundations and partnerships operating in India. If you have made incredible achievements and have actualized CSR in true sense, then the award and recognition is made just for you.

EDITORIAL

CSR Corporate Social Reform

SR can also be construed as corporate social reform. The corporate world should focus on understanding the challenges, issues and problems in the society so as to recommend the suggested measures to overcome the social problems. The corporate world should also focus on implementing the plans to overcome the social problems. Social reforms are very very important to bring a change in the society.The first step towards bringing about a reform in the society is to conduct a deep and focused research into the various problems, challenges, factors, issues and dimensions causing the problems in the society. The organisation may dedicate a team of professionals to understand the causal and causative factors leading to various social problems. The team of professionals should also identify the root causes along with the evidence to justify the root cause of the problems, if feasible and possible. It is important to understand the social problems and challenges from a holistic view angle so as to structure a robust program and plan to overcome the social problems. The main challenge lies in identifying the social problems and its root causes. Once the social problem and the evidence underlying the social problem is collected to justify the root cause of the social problem, it becomes easier for the team to evolve a plan or program to overcome the problem. The team of professionals may structure various possible alternative solutions/plans/policy or program for discussion and finalisation of the best possible solution. The team which has identified the problem may also work on finalising a policy, program and/or a solution to overcome the problem in the

most cost effective way with a focus on maximising the overall impact on the society. The proposed program or solution may be made available to the various internal and external stakeholders to seek their views, ideas and / or suggestions and inputs to evolve the solution to the most optimal solution. The proposed solution or program should be subjected to multi dimensional analysis to ensure that the various dimensions of cost benefit analysis and the overall impact analysis is done. This will go a long way in ensuring the overall impact maximisation of the recommend solution or program to overcome the identified social problem. Identifying a social problem at a local level requires focused and concerted efforts of the various internal and external stakeholders. The identification of social problems and solutions followed by financial and manpower planning plays an important role in defining the success of the proposed program to overcome the social problem/s. In a diverse country like India, various states have different nature of social problems at the local level. In such a scenario, the organisations are advised to do sufficient homework in the process of identifying the social problems at the local level and their cost effective solutions. This will make the program and its implementation effective and successful. Let us join our hands together to identify the various social problems and their cost effective solutions. This will bring about the desired corporate social reform in India. I wish all CSR professionals a grand success in planning, implementation and control of new and innovative CSR programs in the times to come.

CSR&COMPETITIVENESS I JULY, 2015 I 03 www.csrcompetitiveness.org

RUSEN KUMAR MD & Editor rusenk@indiacsr.in

In a diverse country like India, various states have different nature of social problems at the local level. In such a scenario, the organisations are advised to do sufficient homework in the process of identifying the social problems at the local level and their cost effective solutions. This will make the program and its implementation effective and successful.

EDITION COVERS

Organization Covered CREDAI CSR India Corporate Social Services Pvt Ltd Dainik Bhaskar Fiinovation Gionee Mobile IICA IndiaCSR Indian Merchants Chambers Infosys Science Foundation International Institute of Information Technology m Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalurur m Lavasa Corporation m Ministry of Corporate Affairs m m m m m m m m m m

m Ministry of State for Skill Development and m m m m m m m m m m m

Entrepreneurship & Parliamentary Affairs NASSCOM National Housing Mission National Skill Development Fund Nity Aayog NTPC Ltd SEBI SEED Infotech South East Coalfields Ltd Vedanta Group Vodafone India Water Health India

Issue m m m m m m m m m

Cancer Clean Drinking Water Constitution of India for All Corporate Social Responsibility CSR & HR Development of Anganwadis Environment Housing for All HR Management

m m m m m m m m

Mobile Banking Promotion of Science Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Save Birds Skill Development Sustainability Swachh Bharat Abhiyan Woman empowerment

Personality Covered m m m m m m m m m

Abhishek Rajan Anil Agarwal Deepak Kapoor Dr Arup Roy Choudhury Dr Bhaskar Chatterjee Dr Raman Singh Jagdeep Kaur Justice P Sathasivam Maneka Sanjay Gandhi

m m m m m m m m m

Narendra Barhate Narendra Modi Nikhil Pant Piyush Goyal Rajiv Pratap Rudy Rantan Tata Rohit Tandon Rupesh Gupta Rusen Kumar

m m m m m m m

SD Shibulal Soumitro Chakraborty Suresh Sethi Upendra Sontakke Vikas Shah Vikas Singh Vinay Maheshwari

Authors m Jagdeep Kaur m Rusen Kumar

m Nirbhay Lumde m Rana Kapoor

CSR&COMPETITIVENESS I JULY, 2015 I 04 www.csrcompetitiveness.org

CSR & COMPETITIVENESS Foremost Monthly Magazine on CSR & Sustainability Resource Mobilisation I Partnership Development I CSR Advisory & Support I Recognition

globalsanitationsummit.indiacsr.in

Supported By

Organizers

Participation I Speakership I Sponsorship I Award Nomination 99 810 99 555 conference@indiacsr.in

Extend Your Support to Make Maharashtra a Model State for Sanitation and Toilet Facilities in the Country.

Source of Inspiration

Narendra Modi Honâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ble Prime Minister of India

Devendra Fadnavis Honâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra

INDEX TEAM Mentors Sunil Ramdas Agrawal Dr. Ajay Kumar Singh SK Patra Swaran Jaggi

CONTENTS Gionee Launches Leukemia Crusader Campaign

PAGE NO. 7

PM Reviews Progress of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan

Celebrating the Science’ with Infosys Science Foundation

Vedanta Group to modernise the Anganwadi structure in the country

10-11

Editorial Board

Kempegowda International Airport, Bangaluru, The Sustainability journey and beyond 12-13

Rusen Kumar | Editor rusenk@indiacsr.in

Govt should have policy on printing of Constitution of India

14-15

Dainik Bhaksar Group on a mission Save Bird

16-17

Vodafone M-Pesa Partners with WaterHealt India to Serve the ‘Bottom of the Pyramid’ Customers

18-19

Is CSR well integrated by Jagdeep Kaur

There should be guidelines to monitor Spending of CSR fund

Housing for All by 2020 gets nod from Cabinet

22-23

IICA partners with Seed Infotech to start CSR Training programmes

NTPC commits to train 25000 youths

Interview: Upendra Sontakke, Head CSR, Lavasa Corporation

26-27

Interview: Soumitra Chakraborty, CEO, Fiinovation

28-29

New Schemes to take Education in India to newer heights

30-31

Vodafone Foundation Launches Mobile for Good Awards 2015

32-33

Pratap Bhanu Singh Consultant | pb@indiacsr.in

Govt of start 6 new IIMs

B. Narayan | Layout Designer

Corporate are expected to spend over Rs 25000 Cr on CSR: Study

S. Tauheed | Correspondent

CCI imposes penalty on KFEF and FDA for contravening Competiton Law

Advisory Board Jatinder Singh | Secretary- Innovation, CSR, Education & Skill Development Committee PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry Rani Wemel | Co-Founder & COO LTT Global Communications Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia Anil Taneja | Resident Director | Uttarakhand PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dr. Hishmi Jamil Husain | Environment Superintendent | Rio Tinto, India Dr. Sanjay Kumar Singh | Associate Prof. & HOD-Humanities | OP Jindal Institute of Technology

JSPL and NACO works together to Control HIV-AIDS control in Odisha

Freudenberg Group: Managing Talent through CSR

38-39

Social Audit in the Context of CSR-Conceptual Understanding by Nirbhay Lumde

40-41

Unlocking value in India’s natural capital through financial inclusion by Rana Kapoor 42-43 Nestle pays Rs 20 Cr to Ambuja Cements to Destroy Maggi Packets

SEBI Asks Govt to Appoint Women Directors on PSU Boards

Report on Bangalore CSR Roundtable

46-47

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NEWS

Gionee Launches Leukemia Crusader Campaign Leukemia is the cancer of the white blood cells. When a child has leukemia, large numbers of abnormal white blood cells are produced. These abnormal white cells cannot perform their proper role of protecting the body against diseases because they are defective.

Leukemia or leukaemia is a group of cancers that usually begins in the bone marrow and results in high numbers of abnormal white blood cells.

ionee Mobiles along with The Bansi Vidya Memorial Trusthas initiated a cause for supporting children suffering from Leukemia under its initiative called 'Leukemia Crusaders'. Gionee has been involved with various charitable causes on a global scale, and the same is reflected in its endeavors. For every mobile phone sold in India, Gionee has pledged to donate a certain amount of money to 'Leukemia Crusaders'. Every child has a Right to Life and the initiative â&#x20AC;&#x153;Leukemia Crusadersâ&#x20AC;? is an effort to channelize this belief into action. The Initiative: The Bansi Vidya Memorial Trust (BVMT) is an initiative that was formed to work and contribute towards providing assistance to leukemia afflicted, under-privileged children, below the age of 10. Gionee believes that children are the future of India and that there should be no reason why we should lose this future for a lack of awareness, funds or capability. The 'Leukemia Crusaders' logo is designed to signify that with timely

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detection and proper medical care, the illness can be conquered and children can lead a normal and happy life. There are currently 44 children under care. The children are being treated in the following hospitals. They are recovering well and have progressed substantially. n Indraprastha Apollo Hospital (Delhi) n Jupiter Hospital (Mumbai) n BLK Memorial Super Specialty Hospital (Delhi) n Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Medical research Hospital (Mumbai) Leukemia is the cancer of the white blood cells. When a child has leukemia, large numbers of abnormal white blood cells are produced. These abnormal white cells cannot perform their proper role of protecting the body against diseases because they are defective. Leukemia is classified into two types, acute (rapidly developing) and chronic (slowly developing) forms. Leukemia is the most commonly occurring cancer amongst children.

NEWS

PM Reviews Progress of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Narendra Modi reiterated his call for an aptitude test to be conducted for all students. He also called for greater synergy between the Digital India initiative, and related programmes of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

rime Minister, Narendra Modi, has called for each school in the country to plan its own targets, which it aims to achieve by 2022, India's 75th year of independence. Reviewing the progress of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan at a high-level meeting, the Prime Minister reiterated his suggestion for Swachh Bharat â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Swachh Vidyalaya competitions among various schools. Prime Minister asked concerned officials to explore the possibility of a twinning arrangement between one class of a school in an urban area, and one class of a school in a rural area. He said best teaching practices should be identified, and a repository of the same created, for wider dissemination. Prime Minister said basic data for all school teachers, such as Aadhaar numbers, email IDs and mobile numbers should be maintained in a database. Narendra Modi reiterated his call for an aptitude test to be conducted for all students. He also called for greater synergy between the Digital India initiative, and related programmes of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The Minister for Human Resource Development, Smriti Irani, and senior officials from the Ministry of Human Resource Development, NITI Aayog, and PMO were present on the occasion.

Basic data for all school teachers, such as Aadhaar numbers, email IDs and mobile numbers should be maintained in a database.

Narendra Modi Prime Minister of India CSR&COMPETITIVENESS I JULY, 2015 I 08 www.csrcompetitiveness.org

NEWS

'Celebrating the Sciences' with Infosys Science Foundation Infosys Science Foundation The Infosys Prize is awarded under the aegis of the Infosys Science Foundation, a not-forprofit trust instituted in 2009. The Infosys Science Foundation is funded by a corpus which today stands at over Rs 120 Crore, contributed by the trustees and Infosys.

There has been tremendous growth in academic facilities at all levels of education in Kerala in the past few decades. It is heartening to note that the Government of Kerala is focussing on creating opportunities for people to take up research as a career and their support is remarkable. We hope that the Infosys Prize winners will serve as role models for Young India.'Celebrating the Sciences' is an attempt to highlight excellent research in India, especially Kerala.

S.D. SHIBULAL President of the Board of Trustees 2015 Infosys Science Foundation

n its quest to spread the culture of Science and Research and create pathways for India's collective future, the Infosys Science Foundation brought together great minds with a view to 'Celebrating the Sciences' in Trivandrum. The event was inaugurated by the Governor of Kerala - Justice P. Sathasivam. This unique event was organized by the Infosys Science Foundation with an objective to provide students a glimpse into inspiring research, as an endeavor to champion the cause of securing India's scientific future by motivating young minds to take careers in the field of pure and social sciences. The event commenced with a welcome address by S.D. Shibulal, President of the Board of Trustees, Infosys Science Foundation. This was followed by an engaging talk by Prof. Ayyappanpillai Ajayaghosh, Director, National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), CSIR, Trivandrum and Winner of Infosys Prize 2012 for Physical Sciences and Prof. Shamnad Basheer, Founder and Managing Trustee, Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access,

and Founder, Spicy IP and Winner of Infosys Prize 2014 for Humanities. During keynote address, the Governor Justice P. Sathasivam emphasised the transformative power of Science as a powerful medium to feed innovation and progress in society. He also dwelled upon the need for recognition and encouragement for researchers in Kerala to carry out world-class research and lauded the Infosys Science Foundation for epitomizing these virtues in the country. The event provided an opportunity for the audience to interact with two reputed scientists from Kerala, and gather glimpses of their association with the Infosys Science Foundation, their current research work, achievements so far and opportunities in their fields. The session concluded with discussions on current trends in the field of education and the future of research in India. The event was well attended by students, faculties and researchers from universities in Trivandrum, who got insights on the importance of science and research in a country like India and opportunities to explore viable career options in the field.

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REPORT

Vedanta Group to modernise the Anganwadi structure in the country The 'Nand Ghar' is an extension to the existing Anganwadi initiative and will be Vedanta Group's endeavour to provide a better environment to the children of India. Healthy children and empowered women will eradicate poverty and malnutrition, and make a prosperous nation. Our Nand Ghar project aligns with our honourable Prime Minister's vision and commitment to providing quality education for children and skill development for women, in the entire country.

Anil Agarwal Chairman, Vedanta

WCD and Vedanta Group have come together to construct 4000 Anganwadi buildings in different parts of the country. The model Anganwadi, called 'Nand Ghar' was inaugurated by the Minister for WCD along with Anil Agarwal, Chairman of the Vedanta Group, on 24 June at Hasanpur village, District Sonepat, Haryana.

nion Minister of Women and Child Development, Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, in a first-of-itskind Public Private Partnership, has joined hands with the Vedanta Group to develop and modernise the Anganwadi infrastructure in the country. Anganwadi is the service delivery unit established under the Integrated Child development Scheme (ICDS), the flagship programme of the Ministry. Every year, the Ministry keeps a separate budget to develop infrastructure of Anganwadis so as to improve the overall functioning. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Minister for Women and Child Development (WCD) has been emphasising the need for these buildings, as places where the women in the villages can gather and discuss their issues and find solutions through collective action. "The problem of malnutrition is a huge national challenge and the ministry is going to launch the national nutrition mission. This Nand Ghar model will provide targeted delivery of supplementary nutrition services along with related healthcare services for both mother and child including skill training for women,â&#x20AC;? said Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Union Minister for Women and Child Development. She stated that, training of Anganwadi social workers and construction of Anganwadi buildings are essential components of the mission. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And we are

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delighted that corporates as Vedanta have entered into this unique partnership to construct 4000 Anganwadis," said Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Union Minister for Women and Child Development. She has also stressed on the need of having toilets in these buildings for women to further the objectives of Swachh Bharat Mission.

14 lakh Anganwadis Under the Anganwadi programme, supplementary nutrition is provided to children in the age group of 6 months to 6 years and to pregnant/lactating mothers. The main objective of ICDS is to fight the problem of malnutrition. In order to reach out to every corner of the country, a network of over 14 lakh Anganwadis have been established in every village, town, city and other habitations. These are manned by social workers who are trained for delivery of nutritional services and are paid an honorarium.

Building 4000 Anganwadis WCD and Vedanta Group have come together to construct 4000 Anganwadi buildings in different parts of the country. The model Anganwadi, called 'Nand Ghar' was inaugurated by the Minister for WCD along with Anil Agarwal, Chairman of the Vedanta Group, on 24 June at Hasanpur village, District Sonepat, Haryana. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi has informed that

REPORT Vedanta's first “Nand Ghar” inaugurated by Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi the Anganwadis will be developed in some of the high burden districts where the Ministry is proposing to launch the National Nutrition Mission shortly. She informed that the proposal has already been submitted to the EFC after an inprinciple approval by the Finance Ministry. She further informed that the Mission will involve more nongovernment partners contributing collectively to one common objective of eliminating malnutrition.

Unique Partnership In this unique partnership, WCD and Vedanta will share the cost of construction of the buildings, which are prefab structures with solar power. The land for the Anganwadis will be provided by the Gram Panchayats and the construction will be undertaken by NBCC. These Anganwadis have been named as "Nand Ghar" by the Prime Minister and a singular design will be followed for these Anganwadis at all locations. Through Vedanta Foundation – the philanthropic arm of the Group, Vedanta has already collaborated with over 3000 Anganwadi Centres in Rajasthan and Odisha by supplementing the services of the government and addressing the nutrition and as well as the educational needs of over 1 lakh children. This number is set to rise in the years to come.

Nand Ghar Vedanta Group's 'Nand Ghar' initiative adds to the existing Anganwadi model of the Ministry's 'Integrated Women and Child Development Scheme' and this centre will act as a focal area for immunisation, gender sensitisation and maternal care. It also aims to enhance the learning environment through an e-

learning module and skill enhancement program for women. The 'Nand Ghar' centres are proposed to be run as a shared space in which 50% of the time will be devoted to children's education and the remaining half will support women's skill development. 'Building as a Learning Aid' a concept piloted by UNICEF, which will feature learning concepts embedded within the structure, will attempt to increase attendance of children. In addition, the Centre will be equipped with solar panels, TV, toilets and water supply. The cost of one 'Nand Ghar' centre, involving an area of 780 sq ft, is estimated to be around Rs 10 lakhs. It is proposed to have a gap funding model where the WCD ministry will allocate a funding of up to Rs 4.5 lakhs per 'Nand Ghar' for its construction using eco-friendly material. Construction of the 'Nand Ghar' centres will be under taken by National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC), a central government PSU, as per the guidance of the WCD Ministry. The NBCC is a Navratna company having expertise in Project Management Consultancy (PMC), Real Estate Development & EPC Contracting. NBCC would coordinate with the respective state government for site allocation. Post construction, the constructed 'Nand Ghar' centres will be handed over to the respective Panchayat/ local urban body.

Vedanta Foundation Registered under public charitable trust, Vedanta foundation, funded by Vedanta Group of Industries was initiated on 15th September 1992 for the development of the less privileged, Child care, Education, Health, Women Empowerment and Tribal welfare project. The Foundation is

striving for the betterment of the underprivileged population of the country through focused social development programs culminating into transformation of one million lives each year.

Earn While You Learn The Foundation has a Vedanta PostGraduate Girl's College at Ringus, Rajasthan and a Vedanta College of Management and Information Technology at Vitthalwadi, Mumbai that offers degree courses and imparts training into various vocational skills. Call centers have been installed at both the colleges to support the initiative of 'Earn While You Learn'. Vedanta's E-Shiksha @ Schools have been instituted in the interiors of various states catering to over 4683 government schools across India. Vedanta Gurukul provides primary education to children and the Anganwadi programme with over 76 centres across country is designed as a day-care to manage the children from 2-6 years. The MR and the disabled school for the differently abled children has also been established at Vitthalwadi and Bharatpur. The Foundation is actively involved in women empowerment programmes like Sakhi, and many others like Rojgar Avsar, Computer Literacy Centers. Umeed aims to train jail inmates with basic computer skills and provide them with suitable placement opportunities upon their release. The Foundation's Charitable Hospital and Research centre is one of the notable contributions in Ringus, Rajasthan. Prominent amongst the community welfare activities, Rajai Distribution and Mass Marriage ceremony have been conducted at a larger level by the Foundation.

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NEWS

Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru

The Sustainability Journey and Beyond

xtension of the airport's green footprint includes the 100 acres landscape that it is surrounded with. With over 100 acres of green cover, 135 distinct variety of trees and plants and a hundred thousand square meters of lawn, the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru flaunts a spectacular landscape that is based on Bangalore's reputation as Garden city. Today, airports understand that besides being a worldclass infrastructure that provides optimum services to its passengers they should incorporate philosophies that ensure the long-term well-being of the community and environment around it. As this change happens it also necessitates a shift in the approach towards sustainability of the airport and makes it imperative for the airport to relook at how it engages with the society, improve the communities around it and redefine how operations are done. Embracing a green behaviour has laid the foundation for the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru. In a way, this airport stands for Progress â&#x20AC;&#x201C; not just as a sudden change â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but as a long-term promise for the city. 'Sustainable progress' is a thought that sets the direction not just for the airport, but for the city.

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NEWS The airport has implemented solutions to reduce their environmental footprint – improved on their energy efficiency, adopting renewable energy in its ground operations addressing the concerns of environmental impact. As a conscientious and responsible entity it shoulders the responsibility for the carbon emission at the airport and makes constant efforts to reduce the impact wherever it can. Another extension of the airport's green footprint includes the 100 acres landscape that it is surrounded with. With over 100 acres of green cover, 135 distinct variety of trees and plants and a hundred thousand square meters of lawn, the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru flaunts a spectacular landscape that is based on Bangalore's reputation as Garden city. The widespread landscape is also aimed towards maintaining ecological balance and minimizing adverse impact on environment, by controlling erosion and reducing loss of soils in waterways and also assists in reducing in evaporation and soil degradation. The green cover has been carefully selected to cover plants and trees indigenous to the region. The 'airport in a garden' is not only captivating but also technologically progressive, with a well- equipped climate control green house for Indoor plants, a 5 acre plant nursery, open space for warehousing facility and a decentralized automatic irrigation system. KIAB is equipped with a state-of-the-art 2 MLD (million litres per day) sewage treatment plant and a rain-water harvesting system that has ensured zero discharge and 100% recycling, complying with Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and Ministry of Environment & Forests norms. The STP also facilitates 100% utilisation of sludge, which is used as bio-fertilisers for over 100 acres of landscaped area. Additional efficiencies are achieved through the use of power-saving extended surface aerators that automate the process. The treated water is used entirely in-house, for landscaping, firefighting and HVAC after softening.

Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru takes pride in being socially and environmentally responsible. Two things it believes are intrinsically interlinked. The idea is to promulgate green in a way that lays the roadmap for sustainable development, growth and progress for the city. The airport has ambitious plans where sustainability is concerned, one that has tangible outcome not just for the airport but to the city and the region it serves. A well-defined path has been chartered. As the airport work towards its goals, working in collaboration with its stakeholders and the community it serves it is excited about the road ahead. It is well on its way to being a role model for sustainable progress.

Green Laurels Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certified infrastructure by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), 2013 ACI Airport Carbon Accreditation Level-2 – 2013 GreenCo award for one of the 9 GreenCo rated company by CII – 2013 ACI Airport Carbon Accreditation Level -3 – 2013

Milestones First airport in the country to use bio-diesel in its ground vehicle operations in comparison to fossil fuels. Use of battery operated vehicles for cleaning /baggage handling, reducing air pollution Creating Common Mobile Passive Infrastructure platform & Common Data Centre for all the mobile service providers saving resources like monopole tower, power & Air conditioning & other related infrastructure Plastic free Terminal with all food and beverage outlets as well as retails concessionaires on the airport premises.

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RESPONSIBILITY

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Govt. Should Have Policy on Printing of Constitution of Indiaâ&#x20AC;?

Government should also work on ensuring that Constitution becomes a part of the curriculum at the school and the college level as a part of general education course so that all citizens are optimally aware of the constitution and the legal framework.

RUSEN KUMAR Founder Constitution of India for All Movement

ovt. of India does not have any specific written policy and directives to print and periodically publish the supreme document Constitution of India, a RTI reply revealed. The reply said, Govt. publishes pocket and A4 sized editions of 'Constitution of India' on time to time basis. However, there is no any fixed time frame to print or publish it frequently. To make it available to the common people, the Department of Legal Literature Publication, Ministry of Law and Justice, Govt. of India, is responsible to print, publish and sale of 'Constitution of India'. The reply also said, "There is no specific guidelines and policy on paper and printing quality etc." Letter no.3/58/2015-RTI dated 15.04.2015 of the Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice, Govt. of India says "Constitution of India is being published by Ministry of Law and Justice when it receives demand or request from Controller-Publications and Law Literature Publication, Legislative Department, bodies working under the Ministry of Law and Justice, New Delhi" Letter no.3/57/2015-RTI dated 15.04.2015 says that the Ministry of Law and Justice has also not given any specific directives and guidelines for private publishers to print and publish Constitution of India. Rusen Kumar, a resident of Raigarh, Chhattisgarh who asked about the guidelines and policy to print and publish the Constitution of India, said that Govt. is not very much concerned about the standards and quality of the supreme document. "Constitution of India is world's finest and lengthiest written live and alive document. Ours democracy depends and takes inspirations from the Constitution. It is the mother document that governs the state and whole system. We are all guided CSR&COMPETITIVENESS I JULY, 2015 I 14 www.csrcompetitiveness.org

by this constitution. So, why Govt. should not have a written directive and policy on frequency of publication, size, font size, paper quality, ink standard, page thickness, binding etc.? The government and its relevant ministries should work at the earliest to make the people our country aware of their legal rights and duties for creating a peaceful and judicious India.", Rusen Kumar said. "I have been purchasing Constitution of India to spread awareness on its significance in daily life of common people. I have copies of pocket sized English-Hindi, 2011 edition of Constitution of India and found that the paper and printing quality is very poor and texts are not readable and overall it seems there is no quality check.", Rusen Kumar said. "The government should work sincerely towards ensuring the printing and distribution/circulation of the Constitution to all the citizens of the India. The government should distribute the printed copies of the constitution free of cost to all its citizens.", he added. "The government should also work on ensuring that Constitution becomes a part of the curriculum at the school and the college level as a part of general education course so that all citizens are optimally aware of the constitution and the legal framework.", he said. Rusen Kumar has written to the Govt. to publish the Constitution of India frequently in large numbers insuring high level of printing quality in esteemed manner, so that it can be restored for many years to come as the supreme document is intimately linked to every citizen of India. The government should also look on the issue related to free accessibility of Constitution of India, printing in large numbers and its availability in various regional Indian languages.

PSU

NTPC & SECL to Give 100 Crore Each

For Govt. Medical College & Hospital at Naya Raipur The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy, Piyush Goyal with the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Dr. Raman Singh unveiled the plaque to inaugurate the new building of IIIT, in Naya Raipur on June 23, 2015.

he IIIT has been established at the cost of Rs 200 crore by NTPC as part of the CSR initiative in the area of education The IIIT campus is spread over 50 acres land situated in Naya Raipur. In the first phase of 25 acres, has various Infra structure facilities to give the best to the students. National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) will set up a medical college and hospital in Chhattisgarh, Union Minister of State for Power, Coal and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal recently announced. Addressing a press conference here after reviewing the functioning of energy, mining and industries departments in Chhattisgarh with Chief Minister Raman Singh, his ministers and other senior officials, Goyal said NTPC and SECL would provide Rs 100 crores each for the medical project which would have special wing for cancer patients. Earlier, Piyush Goyal inaugurated the International Institute of Information

Technology (IIIT) at Naya Raipur capital built jointly by the Chhattisgarh government and NTPC at a cost of Rs 200 crore. Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Raman Singh named the institute after the first Union Industries Minister Dr Samapada Mukherjee to mark the leader's death anniversary today. The academic session of the institute spread over an area of 50 acres, is scheduled to start from August 10. He also announced an assistance of Rs 20 crore by NTPC for developing an engineering college near its Super Thermal Power Project at Sipat in Bilaspur district and a Trauma centre at Korba. The largest thermal power generating company in the country, Goyal said, had also decided to fund for setting up of an Innovation Lab in the IIIT campus to help students take up scientific research training and innovation projects. The Union Minister said mineral rich Chhattisgarh state would earn Rs 1,10,990 crore as royalty from coal mining in the

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next 25-30 years following fresh auction of coal blocks in the state under the new policy. He criticised the previous Congress-led UPA government for giving away coal blocks to its partymen and others across the country free of charge. Goyal also expressed satisfaction over 12.3 per cent growth in production of coal by Coal India Limited. He also praised the Chhattisgarh govt. for having developed energy efficient pumps for irrigation, smart meters for elecricity consumers and LED bulb programme to light streets and households in order to reduce burden on consumers. IIT academic session will start from August 10, 2015 . The first batch of 80 students will get a fee waiver in the first year academic year after which in the following years 100% fee waiver for 50% of all the students for 2nd year and subsequent years 33% of all the students for 3rd year and 25% in the 4th year. After which the Institute completes four years that is 2109-20, 25% students from all the batches will be given 100 %tuition fee waiver.

MEDIA

Dainik Bhaskar Group on a Mission to

here was a time when we used to hear the melodious chirping of sparrows in our balconies and terraces. They used to visit us regularly. This is one childhood memory that most of us cherish till today. But this shall not be so in the times to come. According to Great Backyard Bird Count 2015, India reported the second highest number of bird species 735 (After Ecuador: 784 species). Out of this, a large number of species of birds in India are declining at an alarming rate. Sparrows are amongst these bird species that we have been seeing since childhood but, their numbers are also declining.

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'Save Birds' an initiative being undertaken by Dainik Bhaskar Group, every year, aims at creating awareness in the society to help and save birds during summer season. It motivates people to place birdbaths (sakoras) at their homes and terraces so that birds can have 'Daana- Paani' (food grains and water). The initiative, this year, started in the beginning of May and will continue till June end. The Campaign was flagged off with World Sparrow Day celebrations on March 20, 2015 in Mahim Nature Park, Mumbai. Recognizing our efforts in this campaign, Department of Post released a Special Cover with special cancellation.

MEDIA Targeted at people from all walks of life and in different geographies, the initiative is being executed in 34 Indian cities spanning 10 states. Under the aegis of this campaign, Dainik Bhaskar will be distributing 1 million bird baths (Sakoras) apart from driving awareness sessions in and around 500 schools, 700 residential colonies and 100 odd parks. Art and craft workshops in schools were hugely successful in motivating children to make bird feeders based on 'Best out of waste concept'. A special booklet has also

been created on importance of bird conservation and ways to save birds. To promote the cause and to engage more and more people, Dainik Bhaskar is also running a contest where it has urged people to join hands in their initiative of Saving Birds. The contestants need to install bird feeders / bird baths at their house and then click pictures of birds visiting them having food grains and water. A total of 10 best pictures from each city will be rewarded.

We, at Dainik Bhaskar Group believe that, Media, being an important and resourceful part of the society, has an important role to play in addressing our nation's social and environmental problems thereby helping the government achieve inclusive growth and enrichment of natural capital. Given the magnitude of our reach, we have undertaken an integrated approach of both making people aware about saving birds and engaging them with on ground activations in form of organizing school level art and craft workshops, awareness sessions and meetings at religious places, housing societies and colonies.

Being cognizant of the fact that barometer of any social campaign's success is not only dependent upon mere awareness building but also on ground implementation backed by measurable outcomes. Dainik Bhaskar Group, apart from driving it extensively on print and social media medium, has also partnered with credible NGOs such as WWF India and Nature Forever Society to utilize their volunteer base and technical expertise in the areas of Bird Conservation. The inclusive nature of such kind of partnerships has helped in promoting a sense of ownership and enhancing the overall sustainability of the campaign.

VINAY MAHESHWARI Senior VP- Sales and Market Development & Brand Marketing, Dainik Bhaskar Group

Vikas Singh Associate Vice President Brand Marketing Dainik Bhaskar Group

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TELECOM

Vodafone M-Pesa Partners with WaterHealth India to Serve the 'Bottom of the Pyramid' Customers WaterHealth India's business model involves setting up of Community Water Systems (CWS') called WaterHealth Centers (WHCs) within underserved communities through Public Private Community Partnerships; these WHCs are located in diverse locations across the states. Given the decentralized nature of its operation, one of the biggest challenges faced by the Company is Cash Management.

odafone India, one of India's leading telecommunications service providers has partnered with WaterHealth India (WHIN), a wholly owned subsidiary of US based WaterHealth International, to facilitate its cash collection process across 450 locations in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. WaterHealth is a global leader in setting up decentralized water purification systems that provides safe drinking water to over five (5) million people globally.

780 million people don't have access to clean drinking water A large part of the world faces an acute water crisis today, in that about 780 million people do not have access to clean drinking water which leads to serious health, economic and social repercussions. Water related diseases account for maximum mortality rate

among children under age five (5) and about 50% of the world's hospital beds are occupied by patients being treated for water borne diseases. Apart from this, women and girls who are expected to fetch water for the household (in many countries) have to trek long distances and spend hours of their time ferrying water. Distressed by the suffering caused by water-related issues, WaterHealth International embarked on the noble journey of providing safe and clean drinking water to the underserved regions of the world. WaterHealth India's business model involves setting up of Community Water Systems (CWS') called WaterHealth Centers (WHCs) within underserved communities through Public Private Community Partnerships; these WHCs are located in diverse locations across the states. Given the decentralized nature of its operation, one of the biggest challenges faced by the Company is Cash Management.

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We see a natural synergy between Vodafone M-Pesa and WaterHealth India (WHI) to offer services to the less privileged community of India. We are delighted to partner with WHI to facilitate their cash collection process using MPesa's safe, secure, and cashless transaction capability. We are confident that M-Pesa will bring transformational benefits to WHI and further drive financial inclusion at the bottom of the pyramid.

Rohit Tandon Business Head Andhra Pradesh & Telangana Vodafone India

TELECOM

Currently WHIN manages its cash collection through an inhouse team of Collection Executives who are exposed to significant risks as they carry large amounts of cash while traveling through public transport and also waste substantial amount of their time in depositing the (collected) money into the bank. Through this partnership, WHIN plans to address its cash collection issues with the help of M-Pesa whereby Vodafone's Distributor Sales Executive [DSE] would visit each WaterHealth Centres (WHC) and collect physical cash from the Operator/Business Associate (managing the center). The DSE will then load M-Pesa balance (equivalent to amount of cash collected) to the Operator/Business Associate's mobile number from where it can be remitted easily in the form of e-money to the WaterHealth Account. This process would result in instant transfer of money from the Business Associate to the Company's account thereby reducing the risk to cash in transit.

This solution will increase the operational efficiency of the Company and reduce the cost, time and effort devoted for cash collections. We will continue to use this service as we expand our presence in other parts of the country to achieve our audacious goal of serving 100 million consumers by 2020.

Vikas Shah

Innovative, safe and secure Vodafone India provides customers with a new currency in the form of M-Pesa, the world renowned mobile wallet and money transfer service. Vodafone M-Pesa is an innovative, safe and secure mobile wallet enables complete suite of services like money transfer, bill payments, and recharge on the move from the mobile. It caters to all segments of the society, from the unbanked to the under banked and to the net-savvy and evolved customers.

3 million customers Today, with a pan-India distribution of over 90,000 agents and more than 3 million customers, Vodafone M-Pesa is the largest banking correspondent in the country and is playing a vital role in enabling financial inclusion and mcommerce. Over 50% Vodafone base is rural and Vodafone already has a strong distribution and mobile penetration and the ability to provide banking services on mobile.

Vodafone M-Pesa in AP and Telangana In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Vodafone M-Pesa was launched in April 2014. In a very short span, the service has reached out to 923 mandals in 23 districts through a network of 4915 authorized agents and 839 Vodafone exclusive stores, in the region.

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Chief Operating Officer WaterHealth International

Vodafone M-Pesa association with WaterHealth International demonstrates our commitment to use mobile technology to support community/social initiatives in the country. We are delighted to partner with WaterHealth International and ease their collections processes significantly. To that extent it is a unique solution for the decentralized business.

Suresh Sethi Business Head - M-Pesa Vodafone India

ARTICLE JAGDEEP KAUR

Is CSR Well Integrated? SR is commonly understood as a way for private companies to address the social expectations by increasing their contributions to CSR in ways which are profitable for their own businesses.This is in no way wrong until it fulfils the agenda of a win-win situation. New Public - Private partnerships, regulatory frameworks, policies and guidelines have evolved over time ever since CSR has been picking up in India. CSR has given a new dimension to the word Business Charity and philanthropy thereby transforming the relationship between the business houses and Indian society at large. CSR is helping in minimizing the 'negative' impacts of the business. It is paving way to enhance their contributions to socio-economic development or the sustainable development. I personally feel that the CSR wave is pervasive globally but the high tide is seen more at the moment in India (or developing countries). The awakening amongst the business tycoons to fulfll their moral obligation of giving back something to the society is picking up well but still needs to go a long way. They have been able to join hands with the government and nonprofit organizations to tackle the daunting developmental challenges of India and are on a rising spree to cater to more and more avenues . While this synergetic view of business-society interdependencies is common to the global CSR agenda but replicating the model in India or any developing economy in general will be quite beneficial. Though CSR as a concept has been rightly defined yet I believe policy makers, analysts and professors, however, have different views on what truly constitutes CSR, so the idea of implementation differs amongst all. The phase of CSR is still in its nascent stage in India as compared to global standards.

Doing CSR projects should be preferred over just acting responsibly but this has to really sync into the systems of the Corporate sector at large. Promises and principles are often lost in translation when it comes to implementation. India needs to work at the grass root level to bring in philanthropy in the right spirit and to the right societal advantage. The need of the hour requires an integration of CSR techniques that can promote sustainable development in a more enhanced practical sense. If we closely examine CSR integration in the day to day business activities happens in many different ways, not providing a clear picture or tendency. There is a lack of common CSR strategy or instruction that means how to act socially responsible is unclear. CSR is currently depending highly on individual circumstances and there is no 'one size fits all' approach. It is an interesting fact to put forward that Corporate in the West incorporated CSR into their systems primarily because of the top and the middle management initiative and is being taken forward respectfully till date.External factors like public pressure, legal requirements, media coverage and campaigning played a very little role. On similar grounds the Indian Corporate sector has also taken its first steps though external factors seem to be playing a relatively bigger role in the Indian scenario. Still it seems going good as its always tough to break the ice.The problem is, the impact of CSR is never quantifiable. There would be a handful of companies who can talk about a measurable impact of CSR on their core businesses. While talking about India, it is too early to realise its impact. We have miles to go before we could sit with a pen and paper or keeping environment in consideration just use the paperless offices to list out the steps Indian Philanthropists have undertaken to fulfil their CSR agenda. CSR&COMPETITIVENESS I JULY, 2015 I 20 www.csrcompetitiveness.org

Jagdeep Kaur, Partner, Van de Molen Consulting, Amsterdam Jagdeep Kaur, is a Commerce graduate from Delhi University and has pursued her Masters in Human Resources from GGS Indraprastha University, Delhi, India. She is also a UGC NET qualified professional and holds a Diploma in Training and Development from Indian Society for Training and Development, Delhi. She works as Partner at Van De Molen Consulting.The company deals in Global recruitment, CSR Consulting, Global exchange programs and couple of other local programmes in The Netherlands. She is also an Advisory Consultant to HR Globe Consulting for the company's services in CSR arena in India.

So just to give a way to benchmark our approach, I would like to bring forward following three areas which on careful analysis I personally believe can help in tracking CSR benefits to any company's core business. These three key areas have been marked relatively easier to be identified when the CSR surge has reached to some level within an organization. These include: First, percentage reduction in pollution. Second, how efficiently have the companies used their resources and Third, how many efficient forms of production have they added in the production line. This is just a walking stick for those who are taking small steps and are wanting to look into the relatively quicker returns from CSR. This shall give them an eye over where they are and where they have to reach. Accordingly the management principles of planning, organising, directing, coordinating and controlling could be put into action in a justified manner with CSR as a centre of HR directives.

VIEWS

There Should be guidelines to monitor spending of

CSR funds by corporates

ata Sons Chairman Emeritus, Ratan Tata says there should be some guidelines to monitor spending of CSR funds by corporates as there might be some companies either 'wasting money' or 'siphoning in some form'. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) must come form one's heart,the business leader added. “I don't think you can make it (CSR) into a tax which is 2% of your net profit. We don't expect that there should be a penalty (for not adhering to),” he added. “There are companies that will make great contribution to the country and there would be some companies which would be either wasting the money or siphoning in some form,” Ratan Tata said at the 107th annual general meeting of Indian Merchants Chambers held at Mumbai. He also said that country's greatest weakness is inequality in enforcement of governance and called for same right to govern a billionaire and a street vendor. “I think our greatest weakness today in the country is fact that there is inequality in enforcement (of governance). It depends on who you are, what you are, what your money and value is,” Ratan Tata said. “And the hope, one would have for new India would be total equality that whether you are a billionaire or a street vendor you have the same rights to be governed by law and order in the same manner.” He said if the country improves on equality, then the governance will take more transparent position to just ensure that one is operating within the law of the land. “Governance is merely to ensure that you are within the law of the land and enforcement should be the driving force of keeping people within that sphere. We are not there as yet…” Tata said. He also said that he spends a lot of time in mentoring tribal schools in Maharashtra.

I think our greatest weakness today in the country is fact that there is inequality in enforcement (of governance). It depends on who you are, what you are, what your money and value is.

RATAN TATA If the country improves on equality, then the governance will take more transparent position to just ensure that one is operating within the law of the land. CSR&COMPETITIVENESS I JULY, 2015 I 21 www.csrcompetitiveness.org

ARTICLE

Housing for all by 2022 Gets Nod from Cabinet This move has to be regarded as a milestone for the housing sector as every stakeholder of the industry is sure to get benefited. Currently, taking 10.50% as an average interest rate on housing loan, EMI on admissible loan value of Rs 6 lakh for a15 year loan duration comes out to be Rs 6,632 for each month. Now with the cabinet approving on the credit linked subsidy to 6.50%, the monthly EMIs come down to Rs 4,050 thereby, offering a saving of Rs 2,582 per month.

n what could be a path breaking news for the Indian housing sector; the cabinet has approved launch of 'Housing for all by 2022' programme, which is primarily aimed at rehabilitation of slum dwellers and promotion of affordable housing for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and Lower Income Groups (LIG), through credit linked subsidy. As per an official statement issued, a central grant of Rs 1 lakh per house, on an average, would be made available under the slum rehabilitation programme. “The much awaited mission of Housing for all by 2022 is finally underway. The government has begun from the correct direction. Enhancing the standards of

living by giving proper homes and subsidised interest rates to EWS and LIG groups will not only aid in fulfilment of their social needs but also help everybody associated with the real estate sector. We are thrilled with this decision and welcome it wholeheartedly”, expresses Deepak Kapoor, President CREDAI Western U.P. and Director, Gulshan Homz. This move has to be regarded as a milestone for the housing sector as every stakeholder of the industry is sure to get benefited. Currently, taking 10.50% as an average interest rate on housing loan, EMI on admissible loan value of Rs 6 lakh for a15 year loan duration comes out to be Rs 6,632 for each month. Now with the

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cabinet approving on the credit linked subsidy to 6.50%, the monthly EMIs come down to Rs 4,050 thereby, offering a saving of Rs 2,582 per month. Ashok Gupta, CMD, Ajnara India Ltd says, “A saving of Rs 2,500 per month means Rs 30,000 saved in one annual year. This will greatly increase the purchasing power of people falling under EWS and LIG categories. With this money saved, they will be able to spend it on their children's education, personal vehicle, better fooding or clothing thus helping them in a big manner”. Overall, an assistance of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2.30 lakh per beneficiary would be provided under different components of the National Urban Housing Mission

ARTICLE The real estate sector in particular is gearing up to deliver its goods to fulfil the government's dream of providing a shelter to every citizen of the country. For affordable housing plan to succeed, it is most crucial that affordable houses are developed and offered to the correct target audience. With almost 30% of our country's population falling under LIG and EWS groups, the current price trend in Indian real estate cannot be afforded by them. Thus, schemes like these are major incentives for this section of the society along with development of affordable homes.

(NUHM) in urban areas to build 2 crore houses to meet the housing shortage, over the next 7 years. As per the earlier approval of the Union Cabinet, there are four components to the NUHM: n In the first category under the redevelopment plan for slums with the participation of private developers using land as a resource component, a central grant of Rs 1 lakh on an average per beneficiary would be provided. n In the second category, affordable housing through credit linked subsidy scheme, an interest subsidy of 6.50% on each housing loan to EWS and LIG by central government. n For third component of affordable housing through private and public sectors, central assistance of Rs 1.50 lakh to each beneficiary would be provided to promote housing stock for urban poor. n For the fourth category of subsidy for individual beneficiary led construction or enhancement of houses, a central assistance of Rs. 1.50 lakh would be provided to each eligible urban poor to build an own house or renovate the existing ones. “It is imperative to understand that Housing for all by 2022 is a bigger term than what is being understood by the common public. There is lot more to it than just providing houses to everyone. With various schemes planned under NUHM, an overall benefit of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2.30 lakh per beneficiary is assured along with a plan to build 2 crore houses to meet the housing shortage. Thus, the government has planned to not only build more houses, but redevelop slums, decrease interest for poor section, involving private sector and also aid urban poor for renovating the existing

homes”, states Rupesh Gupta, Director, JM Housing. The real estate sector in particular is gearing up to deliver its goods to fulfil the government's dream of providing a shelter to every citizen of the country. For affordable housing plan to succeed, it is most crucial that affordable houses are developed and offered to the correct target audience. With almost 30% of our country's population falling under LIG and EWS groups, the current price trend in Indian real estate cannot be afforded by them. Thus, schemes like these are major incentives for this section of the society along with development of affordable homes. “Releasing of inexpensive land parcels, land acquisition to become easy, interest rates to be dropped, raw materials to cost less and other such steps will make sure that developers are provoked to construct houses coming under affordable segment and target audience to be EWS and LIG groups primarily. Once these plans start running parallel to each other, Housing for all by 2022 will see visible activity”, enumerates Kushagr Ansal, Director, Ansal Housing. Welcoming the move and hailing Union Cabinet's decision, Vikas Bhasin, MD, Saya Homes concludes “This is a welcome move for not only the urban poor of the society but also for realty sector. Real estate as a sector is associated with various other key industries and thus, everybody associated to it will get the benefit. LIG and EWS groups have got news of a lifetime and now we will not only see homes for them, but a boost to their living styles as well, which is one of the key drivers of human and economic development”.

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NEWS

IICA Partners with Seed Infotech to Start

CSR Training Programs India is the only country to have such CSR legislation for the corporate sector. CSR is not mere charity, if CSR projects will be carried out with responsibility, transparency and accountability in the deficient areas of country like skill development, health care, cleaning and sanitation, then it will not only benefit the society but also the corporate firms by improving their prospective in the society exponentially.

Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee Director General and CEO Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs

The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs has partnered with SEED for special training programs in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for corporate sector.

he Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), an institution working under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, have partnered with SEED for special training programs in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for corporate sector. IICA has partnered with SEED Infotech for offering these programs in various cities starting with Pune. A Memorandum of Understanding to this effect was signed on June 12, 2015 by Nikhil Pant, Chief Program Officer, IICA and Narendra Barhate, CEO, SEED Infotech. Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, Director General and CEO of Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India graced the occasion. Under this tie-up IICA's training programs pertaining to CSR for various levels in corporate sector shall be offered through the branches of SEED Infotech. These programs will be ideal for three different levels of management including Director, General Manager and Program Manager. The training programs will enable them to acquire skills and competencies required for the effective implementation of CSR policies and practices in accordance with the new legislation. Commenting on the need for such programs, Nikhil Pant said, “As per the legislation, companies are required to spend 2% of their profit in CSR related activities. However, due to lack of trained CSR&COMPETITIVENESS I JULY, 2015 I 24 www.csrcompetitiveness.org

manpower this mandatory job is not getting implemented effectively. To overcome this problem IICA has created these programs.” “These programs will broadly cover 360°overview of CSR in alignment with the new legislation, translating CSR legislation into practice, in-depth study of CSR strategy and policy formulation and detailed analysis and understanding of CSR. Each programme category will deliver training in relevant areas that leads to optimum CSR performance as per need,” he added. Narendra Barhate, CEO, SEED Infotech, said “With these training programs, we shall aim at reducing the gap that exists for trained CSR professionals in the country. Due to the lack of trained personnel in this regard, companies fail to understand the key focus areas of the CSR process flow, delivery, evaluation and reporting as required by the new legislation. These programs will be offered through our network of 54 branches spread across various cities of the country. To begin with we shall start from Pune.” These contemporary programs will surely help professionals in providing cogent input on CSR policy-making in corporate entities and implementing agencies thereby benefit the society and organizations. Course fee of these programs will range between Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000.

NEWS

NTPC Commits to Train 25000 Youth in Services & Manufacturing Sectors in Five Years â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are committed to the people of our country. Skill workforce is the backbone for every industry as we cannot progress until unless we have skilled workforce. I would like to congratulate Shri Rudy on the kind of work his ministry is doing. We expect his ministry to work at the grass-root level and polish all the talent in the country to be job ready for not only industries under my ministry but across sectors. We collectively want to set an example for others to follow through this MoU". Piyush Goyal Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy

rogram will target underserved areas in Bihar. Focus will be on skilling 15000 persons in Services related sectors like Retail, Banking, IT/ITES and Telecom and 10000 persons in Manufacturing related sectors including self-employment. Private training providers empanelled with NSDC will deliver training. NTPC, a Maharatna Company under the Ministry of Power, has signed its second MOU in a span of two months with the National Skill Development Fund (NSDF) and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) . The MOU, which is a corporate responsibility initiative towards Skilling India was signed in the presence of Piyush Goyal Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy and Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (IC) & Parliamentary Affairs in Patna today.

Under the tripartite agreement NTPC will contribute its CSR funds to support a project to skill 25000 persons. All programs offered will be aligned to the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF), which organizes qualifications according to a series of levels of knowledge, skills and aptitude. The tripartite MoU was signed by Jyotna Sitling, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Govt. of India (NSDF), U.P. Pani Director (HR), NTPC and Dilip H Chenoy, MD & CEO, NSDC. Dr Arup Roy Choudhury, CMD NTPC was also present. According to the agreement, NSDC through its Approved Training Partners will facilitate providing quality training and placement to the trainees through its Training Partner network, with focus on self-employment related training where relevant.

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It gives me immense pleasure to see how big organizations are coming up to support the skill initiative in the country and thus aiding in the achievement of our Hon'ble Prime Minister's vision of a Skilled India. Agreements like these will empower the youth and make them employment ready. I would also like to thank my colleague Shri Piyush Goyal for coming forward and recognising the importance of skilled workforce in the countryâ&#x20AC;?.

Rajiv Pratap Rudy Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (IC) & Parliamentary Affairs

INTERVIEW RUSEN KUMAR

Lavasa Focuses on Protecting and Conserving the Environment Upendra Sontakke Head CSR-Lavasa Corporation

pendra Sontakke is heading community development (Corporate Social Responsibility) at Lavasa Corporation. He shared his company’s vision and works towards Corporate Social Responsibility. Rusen Kumar talked with Upendra Sontakke. Here is the edited excerpts of the interview: Tell us about Lavasa Journey and its business philosophy? Lavasa is India’s first planned hill city. Being developed by HCC, the city is one fourth the size of Mumbai. Based on the principles of New Urbanism, it brings together all the components essential to daily life in a more organized manner thus creating spaces within walking distance from each other. It has many firsts to its credit – technology leadership, e-Governance, the first Indian city developed using Geographical Information System (GIS), use of Bio-mimicry as a science in town planning and use of innovative techniques like hydro seeding in environment management. The city will have a wide range of residences, to fit any budget across socioeconomic classes. Aimed to be a ‘365day economy’ , a complement of global leaders in the fields of Hospitality, Health and Wellness, Education, Tourism are setting up their institutions at Lavasa. Upendra sontakke LavasaThe city offers diverse work possibilities designed to appeal to the IT and biotech industry, KPOs and R&D companies, as well as the world of art, fashion and animation. Lavasa is planned for a permanent population of 3 lakh residents and a

tourist inflow that is envisaged to be 20 lakh per annum. With all urban advantages in a natural setting, Lavasa is envisioned to be a more livable city of the future where residents can live, work, learn and play in harmony with nature. Can you discuss your company’s CSR journey? Lavasa Corporation Ltd (LCL) has always been conscious of its responsibility towards the local villagers and low income group as the important stakeholders in the Project. The community development initiative (CSR) for the upliftment of these groups include health, education, drinking water supply, housing, employment, providing basic infrastructure and gaothan development. Lavasa has a number of development initiatives in place to nourish and nurture the society we live in. During the course of this project, a close rapport with the community has been established, for its betterment and well-being. The CSR initiatives of Lavasa aim to protect the interests of individuals present in these communities and the community as a whole, as well. The philosophy of the various CSR measures is to make local villagers and contract workers self-reliant through self-help, rather than have them dependent on Lavasa always. It seeks to enhance their quality of life. Do you have a CSR policy? Yes, we have a well-defined CSR policy in line with the Company Act 2013 What is the implementing method of CSR? CSR programs are planned as per the need of the community, villagers are involved in planning process as they are CSR&COMPETITIVENESS I JULY, 2015 I 26 www.csrcompetitiveness.org

Tree transplantation and conservation of top soil is regularly done. All major environmental parameters such as air, water, soil are monitored regularly and are well within the prescribed pollution limits.

INTERVIEW one of the main stakeholders. Implementation of the project is done through reputed organizations like Apollo Hospital, Tara Mobile Creche, WOTR [Watershed Organization Trust], etc. CSR team is monitoring project progress on day to day basis and provides required inputs to the implementing organizations. Any issues arising during the implementation of any project is taken up with villagers who extend support in resolving it. The progress and outcome of these projects are shared with community to develop their understanding of it. Do you have a CSR director as per CSR Law? Yes, we have CSR committee which includes His Highness Gaj Singh (Chairman) as the independent director along with Mr. Ajit Gulabchand and Ms. Shalaka Gulabchand Dhawan. What is your CSR team strength? A team of four professional staff is leading the CSR agenda of the company under the guidance of Lavasa Management. What are the Environment friendly measures being adopted at Lavasa? Lavasa lays great stress on protecting and conserving the environment. Its two fold objectives are: a. Protecting the existing natural habitat b. Further enhancing the habitat This is accomplished through several measures, like mass Plantation of over 7 lacs indigenous trees saplings. Ecologically important areas are conserved. Fire lines are laid all across to prevent forest fires. Tree transplantation and conservation of top soil is regularly done. All major environmental parameters such as air, water, soil are monitored regularly and are well within the prescribed pollution limits. We focus on reducing existing barren areas and increasing vegetative cover, improve and enhance the overall natural ambience, visual impact, vegetation and ecology. Segregation of waste at source is compulsory. Biodegradable waste is converted to manure and re-used for landscaping and plantation. What is Christel House project at Lavasa? Ensuring quality education for the economically disadvantaged sections of society is the need of the hour. This is where Lavasa city with its underlying social commitment has set an example and will hopefully become a role model for other education hubs to emulate.

Instead of providing financial assistance, the guiding philosophy behind the organization called Christel House International that has opened its doors at Lavasa is to enrich childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lives by imparting quality education. By doing this Christel House empowers them to improve their quality of life in a sustained manner thus enabling their capacity of gaining secure employment. Learning is an important tool to inculcate self sufficiency in these young children and make them part of the mainstream, as contributing members of their societies. With monthly family incomes being below Rs. 3,500, the future seemed bleak for these children until Lavasa Christel School stepped in. There are 445 (201516) children enrolled across age groups spanning right from kindergarten up to Grade VII at the Lavasa centreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s campus. Obviously this process requires active participation from both the Parents and the community at large. In order to facilitate this, the school has come up with a unique initiative whereby parents are made a part of the school programs. School addresses the gap between the aspirations and existence of children from families that belong to the economically weaker class. Lavasa Christel School provides these students with an undifferentiated environment along with the best of Educational and extracurricular activities completely free of cost. By including children right from their formative years itself, School provides them with mainstream education imparted by excellent, well trained Faculty. They also enjoy the privileges of their financially better off counterparts like

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pick-ups and drops, uniforms, nutrition and health care, community involvement and many more. What are the key objectives of carrying such projects? The CSR initiatives of Lavasa aim to protect the rights and interests of individuals in project areas; To meet their basic needs; To ensure health, Education, livelihood and drinking water for needy people within their reach and improve their socio-economic status. What are the communication strategies to inform stakeholders at Lavasa? Transparency is one of the core values practiced by Lavasa. We have monthly meeting with villagersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; committee which has representatives from 18 villages of project area. CSR program updates are shared and suggestions are taken for further improvement or inclusion. Our annual report reflects the CSR program. We also share the updates through notice board at Lavasa; progress reports are circulated through mail to all stakeholders. A half yearly report is submitted to the Ministry of Environment, Govt of India where a detailed report on CSR activities including environment initiatives are updated. What is your annual CSR budget? We plan required projects to meet our objective of serving community in need and accommodate our budget accordingly. There is always a scope for incorporating new initiatives if found appropriate and necessary even in between the financial year. Our average annual budget for CSR works out to approximately Rs. 7 Crores per year.

INTERVIEW RUSEN KUMAR

Fiinovation Works on the Principles of Sustainable Solutions

SOUMITRO CHAKRABORTY CEO, Fiinovation

oumitro Chakraborty is the CEO at Fiinovation. He shared his company's vision and works in the CSR research & Consultancy Rusen Kumar, Editor IndiaCSR talked with Soumitro . Here is the edited excerpts of the interview: Tell us About Fiinovation? Fiinovation was established in 2008 as a research based organization. It is an integrated solution enabler for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability. It is known for having Asia's first proposal research laboratory primarily focused on health, education, livelihood and environment. With the help of the team, Fiinovation aims to enhance quality through innovation and extensive work across organizational value chain. Over the years, the organization has successfully created a niche for itself in the CSR domain. Tell us about the Company's journey under your leadership? The journey started about seven and a half years back , in 2008 , where a small team of three individuals led by me. The journey was put forth in motion with the

Fiinovation has been working for almost seven years with the sole objective of bringing change on ground and not only on paper. Its initiatives are based on the triple bottom line approach wherein Fiinovation ensures that positive impact is being created in social, economic and environmental areas. The initiatives are designed on the result based management framework with special emphasis on sustainability.

idea that maybe its tomorrow or day after but corporate social responsibility will have to take the centre stage, with this theme and spine the company involved itself at micro levels of engagements in various social development sector paradigms but keeping the focus on primarily in engagements with corporations involved in Corporate Social Responsibility domain. Also the focus was on raising the awareness for companies to get involved into Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives as a part of not philanthropy giving but as a part of accountability management. To add to this, Company's Act which got embedded in 2013 only, facilitated and catalyzed the growth of Fiinovation into many folds. We started our journey with engaging on Policy Advisory level, Initiative Designing level but later on with a realization that the corporation were not only seeking advice but were seeking partnerships with Fiinovation in order to implement and direct their social responsibility initiatives, Fiinovation got involved in 2010-11 with Project Implementation as well. This lead to the second birth of Fiinovation and team expanded to 50-60 CSR&COMPETITIVENESS I JULY, 2015 I 28 www.csrcompetitiveness.org

odd individuals. Meeting this demand we scaled new heights following which it was understood that corporations will have to look at collaborations, mergers and long term sustainable partnerships with civil society organizations which was the third phase of Finnovation's growth story and hence forth in 2012, the team expanded to about 100 individuals and we started our journey again with a new spirit, with a new understanding. Today where we are , with the kind of base of clients and base of corporations as partners, is largely because of the journey and constructive engagement led by Chakrborty and his team has enabled the overall sector to gather a substantial meaning. We are glad that within a short span, the company has been appreciated and acknowledged for its efforts in the social arena both nationally and internationally. It has also been given opportunities to share platform with large institutions as knowledge partners at various occasion. wehave given an opportunity to be a Committee Member for the CII Northern Region: Regional Committee on Affirmative Action. Certainly, steering this 'Ship of Hopes' has been a ever learning phase which each member

INTERVIEW endures. What is the business philosophy at Fiinovation? Fiinovation is based on the principles of innovation, practicality and simplified solutions. Our belief is to provide simplistic, yet effective solutions which are implementable and would sustain for societal development in the long run. Our service-methodologies has supported us in assisting corporations to design, implement and report projects through civil society organisations (CSOs). Alongside, the assistance is also provided to the CSOs on facilitating funds for the projects, optimum utilization of available resources and capacity building of their staff for greater impact. The developing economy of India is experiencing a widening gap between human development index and industrial profits. In order to bridge the gap between the two, the government of India introduced the new Companies Law. This has opened doors for a wide spectrum of opportunities for the CSOs and corporations to work collectively on a common platform and find implementable and simplified solutions to societal issues. What are the key areas of Fiinovation research consultancy? Fiinovation is proud to be Asia's first CSR research consultancy. The practices at Fiinovation include CSR portfolio management, CSR-CSO partnership, initiative design, initiative management, monitoring & evaluation, impact assessment and sustainability reporting. Having a pool of over 4000 NGOs, Fiinovation has been working towards facilitating a connect between the right NGO with the corporation. Throw light on mission and motives of operation? The corporations have today realized the necessity of developing the society in which it operates besides generating profit. This has increased their involvement in lending funds for improvement of the community at large. However, their good deeds face bottlenecks due to lack of expertise in monitoring, implementation and evaluation of utilization of funds, which are crucial in assessing whether any real change is being brought on ground. Similarly, the CSOs or the organizations working for societal development on ground, are unable to implement the projects, and thus, are forced to discontinue their operations. This is where Fiinovation stands as a link between the

requirement and the need. Based on modern concepts and tailor made projects, Fiinovation suggests corporations on ways of allocating funds in a particular project – from implementation, monitoring and evaluation to its assessment – Fiinovation ensures funds are followed by on-ground impact. Tell about the area and aspects of CSR consulting? Fiinovation has been working for almost seven years with the sole objective of bringing change on ground and not only on paper. Its initiatives are based on the triple bottom line approach wherein Fiinovation ensures that positive impact is being created in social, economic and environmental areas. The initiatives are designed on the result based management framework with special emphasis on sustainability. We have different practices (as mentioned earlier) that help ensure these objectives are met. As part of a niche industry such as CSR, which has only started to gain ground, it is understandable that it will take time for the change to really take effect, but the process has started. Why you chose the area of CSR consulting? Our social development sector experience suggested that in order to create greater impact, there needs to be proper research and consultation towards creating a platform to channelise the CSR investments in the right direction. Today, many corporations are finding it difficult to align their business objectives with the CSR goals. Whereas many civil society organizations are languishing without funds. It is important to strategize a plan that addresses the challenges of all the stakeholders. How it bridged the gap between businesses and communities? When we develop a CSR policy for a corporation, we try to align their business objectives with social imperatives. We also advise them to implement their CSR initiatives with the help of civil society organizations who are experts in their own domain like the corporations who are experts in their own field. Thus, we forge a partnership between corporations and civil society. This partnership directly impacts the communities who are the ultimate beneficiaries of the CSR initiatives. What are the challenges you faced? Every start up faces its own set of challenges and so did we. But what made our hurdles even more challenging was CSR&COMPETITIVENESS I JULY, 2015 I 29 www.csrcompetitiveness.org

we came from a very niche domain, where in we not only had to make people aware about our services but hand hold them towards comprehending the importance of CSR. One can gauge the difficulty from the fact that a handful, of about 100 companies, were involved in CSR. It proved to be a task for us to make others take the social development sector seriously. We concentrated our focus on sectoral research in our in-house proposal research laboratory bringing in sectoral professionals in our team. To further spread the word around, we shared our views at various national and international conferences while lending views on the importance of CSR and sustainability with industry leaders and CSR professionals. This interactions helped us in bringing out the best research and strategies. What are the recent achievements of the research firm? Within a short span of time, we have been acknowledged at international and national platforms. We have been declared 'CSR Team of the Year' at the Global CSR Excellence & Leadership Awards 2015 and 'Caring Company Award' at the World CSR Congress 2015 in Mumbai. Apart from this, we were adjudged the 'Manager of the Year' & 'Best Enterprise of the Year – in the field of Health, Education, Environment and Livelihood with a focus on CSR & Sustainability' Socrates Awards by European Business Assembly – Summit of Leaders 2014 at Oxford. We were also adjudged the 'Best Innovation: Product or Service' for CSR & Sustainability at the World CSR Congress 2014 held in Mumbai, India. How do you visualize the future of CSR consultancy in India? CSR is here to stay, especially after the recent mandate by the government. Even though it is still evolving and at a nascent stage, corporations will now actively get involved on ground while CSOs have been presented with a huge opportunity to get the support they have been looking for. As a CSR consultancy, we also have to continuously evolve with time with new innovative ideas and strategies that are implementable. We also need to meet the expectations of both the corporations as well as the civil society organizations. It is a talked about sector and a much needed one for the degradation that the society at large is facing, the effects of which will be witnessed in times to come if nothing is done now. We believe CSR is the way forward.

ARTICLE P. SUNDERARAJAN

New Schemes to Take Education in India to Newer Heights The digital library, in turn, will be set up by IIT, Kharagpur, and a sum of Rs. 10 crore has already been released to the institute for the purpose. In addition, technology is being used to identify geographical pockets which fared poorly in terms of education among girls, particularly of those belonging to marginalised sections of society so that corrective measures could be taken. The digital atlas project developed in partnership with UNICEF was launched on March 8 on the occasion of the World Women's Day.

he Rs. 900 crore schemes were launched by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on the occasion of the Good Governance Day on December 25. An executive committee chaired by HRD Minister, Smriti Irani and a project approval board chaired by Secretary, Higher Education and cochaired by Secretary-School Education and Literacy to monitor the mission have been established. As part of the scheme, the first inter-University centre for teacher education has been set up by University Grants Commission at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. Setting up of a national digital library, provision of scholarship for differently abled to pursue technical education, connecting institutions of higher education to villages so as to solve the problems of the latter. These are but some of the new initiatives that have been taken by the new Government at the Centre headed by Narendra Modi in the area of human resource development over the last one year. One year is not a long time in the history of a country. But, going by the slew of measures taken by the Government within this period it seems quite clear that the country could be on the threshold of a sea change in the field of education. Even while being aware of the need for fiscal prudence, the Government has launched a long list of new schemes and projects covering the various aspects of human resource development. Interesting, none of the on-going programmes have been sacrificed too. A key feature of the new initiatives is a focussed attempt to utilise the modern tools of information technology in the best possible manner. For instance, a project has been taken up to create a national digital library of ebooks and other e-contents on various

subjects and topics and another to set up a platform through which highly qualified faculty of centrally sponsored institutions like IITs, IIMs and central universities would offer online courses free of cost. Called Swayam`', the mass-scale online open course platform would be hosted on a virtual cloud and have provision for the beneficiaries to get certificates following tests at the end of the courses. The digital library, in turn, will be set up by IIT, Kharagpur, and a sum of Rs. 10 crore has already been released to the institute for the purpose. In addition, technology is being used to identify geographical pockets which fared poorly in terms of education among girls, particularly of those belonging to marginalised sections of society so that corrective measures could be taken. The digital atlas project developed in partnership with UNICEF was launched on March 8 on the occasion of the World Women's Day. Further, a separate portal has been developed by the All India Council for Technical Education to enable prospective students to make informed choices about which colleges to pursue admission in. The searchable database of all accredited colleges in the country provides detailed profiles for each of them. The `Know Your College Portal' was launched on November 11 and has so far received 1.63 lakh hits. The Ministry of Human Resource Development has also taken an initiative to map the entire country on a GIS [Geographic Information System] platform to identify habitations which still do not have elementary and secondary schools. A total of 28 States and Union Territories have so far provided the necessary data and the National Informatics Centre has mapped them on the platform. Central Board for Secondary Education [CBSE] has also developed an innovative online self-assessment tool that could be used by schools to look at their

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ARTICLE

performance at an aggregate level as also at the level of each student and compare them with regards to all CBSE schools at various levels. Called '`Saransh'', the tool covers data for 2.02 crore students and 1.5 lakh teachers across 15,000 schools for a period of seven years. Apart from initiating schemes to make effective use of the latest tools of technology, the new Government has also come out with new schemes and projects to make the education system sensitive to the needs of the differently abled children and also children with special needs. Among other things, it has launched a scheme called ``Saksham'' under which differently abled students will be provided with a scholarship of upto Rs. 30,000 per year to pursue diploma and undergraduate level courses in technical institutions approved by All India Council for Technical Education. In all, 1,000 such students would be provided the scholarship every year. They would also be provided with an additional sum of Rs.2,000 per month for 10 months as contingency allowance. Likewise, a handbook has been brought out to guide teachers on how to take care of children with special needs. All primary school teachers across the country are to be given the handbook. The aim is to provide for inclusive classrooms. The new Government at the Centre has also come out with a special scheme called for Udaan for girl students. It is a mentoring and scholarship scheme to enable meritorious girl students to transit from schools to technical education without much difficulty and also aims to enrich and enhance teaching and learning of mathematics and science at senior secondary school level by providing free online resources for all. Pre-loaded tablets with text and video material, a helpline to enable the students to clarify doubts, along with 50 mentoring centres across the country which will have virtual classrooms have been made available. The first batch of 950 students was selected by CBSE in November for the scheme. Of them, 307 girls belonged to

families with income of less than Rs. one lakh. The focus of the project is to address the low enrolment ratio of girl students in prestigious engineering institutions and enable them to receive special incentives and support so that they can join these institutions and go on to take leadership roles in the future. Another interesting step is the launching of a mission named after freedom fighter and educationist Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya to build a strong professional cadre of teachers by addressing all the issues related to teachers, teaching, teacher preparation, professional

The Central Government has also launched a scheme called Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan to revive interest in science, mathematics and technology among youth through support for innovative learning based on observations and experimentation.

development, curriculum design, design and development of more effective pedagogy and better assessment and evaluation methodologies. The Central Government has also launched a scheme called Unnat Bharat Abhiyan to promote the transfer of technologies from the laboratory to the land. Under the scheme, institutions of higher education would connect with villages in their neighbourhood and address the various problems faced by them. The scheme would particularly focus on offering solutions for water

management, organic farming, renewable energy, infrastructure and livelihood. IIT, Delhi is the coordinating institute. About 130 villages have so far been adopted by IITs, NITs and IISERs across the country under the scheme.. Besides a new scheme called `Gian`[Global Initiative for Academic Network] has been launched which will bring world class educators from across the globe to teach in India. Indian American mathematician, Manjul Bhargava, has agreed to spearhead it. Prof. Bhargava is a winner of Fields Medal, which is considered as the highest honour for a mathematician in the world. `Gian` is aimed at tapping the talent pool of scientists and entrepreneurs internationally to encourage their engagement with the institutes of Higher Education in India so as to augment the country's existing academic resources, accelerate the pace of quality reform, and elevate India's scientific and technological capacity to global excellence. Among other things, the Central Government has also launched a scheme called Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan to revive interest in science, mathematics and technology among youth through support for innovative learning based on observations and experimentation. The thrust would be on learning outside the classroom through direct interaction with the environment around the educational institutions. Further, a campaign called `Pade Bharat, Badhe Bharat' has been launched to ensure that learning levels of class I and II students in reading, writing language comprehension and numeracy is at par with the world. The campaign will also seek to ensure that every school provides teaching-learning for 200 days in a year, with 800 instructional hours. With year one taking off on such a sound note the expectation is that more benefits will accrue to the cause of education in the coming years thus taking country at a much faster pace towards the goal of a developed nation.

CSR&COMPETITIVENESS I JULY, 2015 I 31 gro.ssenevititepmocrsc.www

P. Sunderarajan is a freelance journalist.

NEWS

Vodafone Foundation Launches 'Mobile For Good Awards 2015'

he Mobile for Good Awards 2015 initiative is led by the Vodafone Foundation; powered by NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum as Implementation Partners; Grant Thornton India LLP as Knowledge Partners and NextGen as Mentorship Partners. Vodafone Foundation today, launched the fifth edition of their flagship initiative 'Mobile for Good Awards 2015', in partnership with NASSCOM Foundation, through the NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum. The Awards recognise and support emerging talent and innovative mobile solutions from NGOs and 'For profit' enterprises that facilitate community empowerment and inclusive growth. This year, 11 winning innovations will be recognised across two categories – 'Leading Change Maker – NPO' and 'Leading Change Maker – For Profit'. Innovative mobile driven solutions in four critical areas of Health, Education, Agriculture & Environment and Women Empowerment & Inclusive Development will be selected from both the categories. This year, there will also be a special award for a Government led solution for achievement in the NPO category. Vodafone Foundation will provide a grant of INR 1.2 million to five winning NGOs/NPOs in addition to structured mentoring, monitoring and impact evaluation support from partner institutions, incubators etc. for them to achieve a larger impact. All winning projects will also be featured in the soonto-launch, first of its kind – 'Social Apps Marketplace' by Vodafone. Applicants from NGOs / NFPs and for profit organisations can submit their entries on the portal www.vodafone.in/mobileforgood until 31 July 2015. Speaking about the Mobile for Good Awards, P Balaji, Director- Regulatory &

External Affairs, Vodafone India, said, “This year, 'the Mobile for Good Awards' a marquee proposition from Vodafone Foundation, enters fifth year of its successful social initiative to recognize innovative mobile solutions in the country. Our mission, in line with the government's vision of Digital India, is to build a platform for these innovators, recognize them and support them further for scalability and sustainability through funding and mentorship. This year with a new partnership with NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum, we intend to reach out to the mobile innovations across India and provide them with the necessary help for a greater impact.” This year, NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum (NSIF) will power the Mobile for Good Awards. NSIF is NASSCOM Foundation's program that has been honouring, mentoring and providing catalytic grants to social innovations across technology platforms, since the last 8 years. Shrikant Sinha, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation, said, “We are glad to collaborate with Vodafone Foundation to enable the most powerful tool in people's hands today, help improve their lives” He further added, “We are hopeful that Mobile for Good will act as a catalyst to bring forward break through innovations in mobile technology from across the country and these innovations will help integrate social objectives with technology to fuel social development in India.” For more information about the Awards, to apply and read about the past winners and their successful applications, please visit www.vodafone.in/mobileforgood

Scheduled Events Road shows 25 June 2015, Hotel Vivanta by Taj – President, Cuffe Parade, Mumbai

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r Funding grant of

INR 60 lakh plus mentorship to 5 winning NGOs/NFPs r Awards recognize innovative solutions for mobilizing social change in India r New award category introduced – innovation in mobile domain by government r Partnership with NASSCOM Foundation, through NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum, enhances reach and makes the selection process more robust

NEWS Grant Thornton India LLP with its presence in 11 major cities in India (Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Noida and Pune), is a leading firmproviding assurance, tax and advisory services to privately owned, not for profit organisations, public listed and public sector clients and help them find solutions to their business.

2 July 2015, Hotel Taj Banjara Hills, Hyderabad The final winners for the 2015 Awards will be announced on 3 December 2015 in New Delhi

Mobile for Good Awards The Mobile for Good Awards aim to recognise, promote and support mobile innovations for driving social change in India. Since 2011, we have recognised 21 diverse NGOs & social enterprises in India. Winning NGOs receive critical funding & mentorship. The Awards are back for the fifth consecutive year in 2015. The M4G 2015 Awards will recognise 11 winning mobile solutions in 2 categories that are addressing issues in education, women empowerment & inclusive development, agriculture & environment, health, government solutions. The Mobile for Good Awards 2015 initiative is led by the Vodafone Foundation; powered by NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum as Implementation Partners; Grant Thornton India LLP as Knowledge Partners and NextGen as Mentorship Partners.

Vodafone Foundation The Vodafone Foundation in India recognises the power of mobile technology to address some of India's most pressing challenges relating to education, health, equality and access. We are committed to enable people and technology to drive innovation, disseminate knowledge, and create shared value to improve lives. By leveraging our mobile technology in the four areas of m-women, m-education, m-health and m-agriculture, we work in partnership with key charities, development agencies and the community

to drive social change on a large scale in India. As part of our social investment programme, the Vodafone Foundation in India also focusses on disaster relief and implements the World of Difference programme, an unique employee engagement. In countries in which Vodafone operates, a unique footprint of 27 Vodafone Foundations operate to deliver our social investment programme. These programmes are directed and chosen by the Foundation Trustees and receive funding from the Vodafone Foundation in the UK as well as their local Vodafone company. For more information, please visit www.vodafone.in/foundation

NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum In line with NASSCOM Foundation's vision of enhancing lives through technology, the NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum (NSIF) identifies, Awards, showcases and supports innovative initiatives that have used Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for positive social impact. NSIF provides ecosystem support to social innovators, to aid and enhance the development and reach of technology based solutions. With an aim to address the key gaps in inclusive development, NSIF focuses promoting solutions on education, skills development, health, financial inclusion, disaster management and Assistive Technologies (for Persons with Disabilities). Through this platform, NSIF, aspires to build a systematic commitment to social innovations and inspire change-makers in Corporates and Not-For Profits to leverage technology to deepen social impact.

Grant Thornton India LLP CSR&COMPETITIVENESS I JULY, 2015 I 33 www.csrcompetitiveness.org

Grant Thornton India LLP is a member firm within Grant Thornton International Ltd which is one of the world's leading organisations of independently owned and managed accounting and consulting firms which presence in+130 countries, having +700 offices and with +38,500 consultants/ employees. Grant Thornton India LLP with its presence in 11 major cities in India (Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Noida and Pune), is a leading firmproviding assurance, tax and advisory services to privately owned, not for profit organisations, public listed and public sector clients and help them find solutions to their business. Within the Advisory practice, Grant Thornton India LLP has a dynamic team of professionals dedicated to Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) (Climate Change & Energy, Quality, Environment Heath, Safety, Social, CSR & Energy, Sustainability & Social Responsibility, Third Party Audit and Assurance Services) perspective of businesses and compliance thereof.

NextGen NextGen, previously incubated at NSRCEL, IIM-Bangalore and TBI, BITSPilani is one of India's fastest growing cleantech companies. NextGen operates in 6 countries with Fortune 500 clients across 16 different sectors. NextGen's passionate team from the best universities across the globe delivers innovative and best in class solutions across sectors and geographies. The genesis of NextGen was from a research paper developed at BITSPilani when the Founders were students then. NextGen evolved into two broad domains of Sustainability Management and Waste to Energy.

NEWS

Govt to Start Six New

Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) These new IIMs will be located at Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Bodh Gaya (Bihar), Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh), Nagpur (Maharashtra), Sambalpur (Odisha) and Amritsar (Punjab).

he Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its its approval for setting up of six new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) in the country. These new IIMs will be located at Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Bodh Gaya (Bihar), Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh), Nagpur (Maharashtra), Sambalpur (Odisha) and Amritsar (Punjab). These IIMs will begin functioning from assigned temporary campuses and shift to their permanent sites after construction of their campuses. It is intended that these six new IIMs will commence their first academic session from 2015-16. Each Institute will start with an intake of 140 students in the Post Graduate Programme (PGP) courses. It is expected that the annual intake will increase to reach a level of 560 students each year by the end of seven years. The PGP in Management would be the flagship programme of these institutions. Admission to the PGP will be through the open and competitive Common Admission Test (CAT) being conducted by the IIMs. The Institutes would train young graduates to undertake management responsibilities and carry out research and consultancy in the field of management and allied areas. Their programmes will provide the country, potential leaders in diverse fields of endeavour and enterprise. A commitment was made by the Government of India in the Budget speech of the Finance Minister in July 2014 to establish

five new IIMs in Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Punjab. In addition, the reorganization of the State of Andhra Pradesh into the two States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has necessitated the setting up of an IIM in Andhra Pradesh, consequent to and in pursuance of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014.

IIMs in India Indian Institute of Management Calcutta 1961 Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad 1961 Indian Institute of Management Bangalore 1973 Indian Institute of Management Lucknow 1984 Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode 1996 Indian Institute of Management Indore 1996 Indian Institute of Management Shillong 2007 Indian Institute of Management Rohtak 2010 Indian Institute of Management Ranchi 2010 Indian Institute of Management Raipur 2010 Indian Institute of Management Tiruchirappalli 2011 Indian Institute of Management Udaipur 2011 Indian Institute of Management Kashipur 2011 Indian Institute of Management Nagpur 2015

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NEWS

Corporates are Expected to Spend

Over Rs 25,000 Crore on CSR: Study “Perhaps time is ripe to compare the exact CSR expenditures as companies would complete filing their returns for the financial year 2014-15 in the near future,” the paper says. The paper, by Prof Satish Deodhar, is titled 'India's Mandatory CSR, Process of Compliance and Channels of Spending'. According to the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, around 16,352 companies fall within the purview of Section 135 of the Companies Act.

orporate charity is not new to India. But now that this voluntary act has been made mandatory by the New Companies Act 2013. Indian corporates are expected to spend over Rs 25,000 crore this year on corporate social responsibility (CSR). According to a working paper by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), corporate tax — in line with the Union budget of 2015-16 — will amount to Rs 470,628 crore for the financial year 2015-16. “Perhaps time is ripe to compare the exact CSR expenditures as companies would complete filing their returns for the financial year 2014-15 in the near future,” the paper says. The paper, by Prof Satish Deodhar, is titled 'India's Mandatory CSR, Process of Compliance and Channels of Spending'. Companies that are covered under the new Act must form CSR committees from among the board members; formulate CSR policies; and announce, execute, and monitor their CSR activities. If companies fail to do so, penalties will result. The study reveals that it was felt that industry may view the imposition of the provision as coercive, impinging on profitability and hence on stock prices. “However, event analysis conducted on big and small food companies shows that the imposition of the CSR provisions has had no negative impact on stock prices,” the study says. Highlighting another apprehension about the Act, the study points out research conducted by Prof

Deodhar's IIM-A colleagues Naman Desai and Viswanath Pingali that if firms were spending more than 2% of net profits during the pre-Act period, they may now anchor their spending on the legal requirements. And thus become content with spending only 2% of net profit in the postAct period. According to the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, around 16,352 companies fall within the purview of Section 135 of the Companies Act. According to sources, before the new Companies Act was implemented, the total spend by Indian companies was less than Rs 10,000 crore. Effective 1 April 2014, India's newly amended Companies Act made it mandatory for certain companies, private limited or public limited, listed or unlisted, to spend a certain minimum amount on corporate social responsibility activities. The Act applies to companies which have had a net profit of Rs 5 crore or more or net worth of Rs 500 crore or more or a turnover of Rs 5,000 crore or more in any financial year. Such companies must spend a minimum of 2% of the average net profit made during the three immediately preceding financial years. The Act applies to a holding company, its subsidiary, and even a foreign company with a branch or project office in India. Companies like Tata Group, Infosys, Ambuja Cement, Persistent Systems, are among the companies that are known to be best in fulfilling CSR.

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NEWS

CCI Imposes Penalty on

KFEF and FDA for Contravening Competition Law Accordingly, CCI held that by controlling and limiting the distribution of movies to predetermined release centres in Kerala through an agreement, OP1 and OP-2 have infracted the provisions of section 3(3)(b) read with section 3(1) of the Act.

CI also found that during the period of contravention, the President and General Secretary of KFEF and FDA were actively involved in the affairs of their respective associations and as such they were responsible for the anti-competitive decision making by their respective associations. Accordingly, financial penalties were imposed upon them under section 48 of the Act. Competition Commission of India (CCI) has found Kerala Film Exhibitors Federation ('KFEF'), an association of theatre owners, and Film Distributors Association, Kerala ('FDA'), an association of film distributors, in contravention of Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2002 ('the Act'). The Informant, Kerala Cine Exhibitors Association ('KCEA'), had approached CCI alleging anticompetitive conduct by KFEF and FDA in not allowing screening of new films in the theatres owned by members of the Informant. Consequent upon detailed investigation by Director General, CCI concluded that the conduct of KFEF and FDA in agreeing on the number of theatres where the new movies would be released resulted in restricting/ limiting the release of new movies. CCI found that KFEF ensured that despite having necessary infrastructure and appropriate classification/ grading from the Committee appointed by the Government of Kerala, the theatres owned by members of the Informant were not getting fresh releases/ new movies. It was

observed by CCI that any industry player who flouted the said mandate of KFEF was boycotted by the members of KFEF. Accordingly, CCI held that by controlling and limiting the distribution of movies to predetermined release centres in Kerala through an agreement, OP-1 and OP-2 have infracted the provisions of section 3(3)(b) read with section 3(1) of the Act. Further, CCI imposed a penalty of Rs. 56,134/(Rupees Fifty Six Thousand One Hundred Thirty Four only) upon KFEF calculated at the rate of 7% of its average income. Keeping into consideration the mitigating factor that FDA succumbed to the diktats of KFEF to protect the commercial interest of its members, a penalty of Rs. 45,189/- (Rupees Forty Five Thousand One Hundred Eighty Nine only) was imposed upon it, calculated at the rate of 3% of its average income. CCI also found that during the period of contravention, the President and General Secretary of KFEF and FDA were actively involved in the affairs of their respective associations and as such they were responsible for the anti-competitive decision making by their respective associations. Accordingly, financial penalties were imposed upon them under section 48 of the Act. The order of CCI was passed in Case No. 45 of 2012 and a copy thereof has been uploaded on the website of CCI at www.cci.gov.in.

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NEWS

JSPL and NACO work together to Control HIV-AIDS Control in Odisha

Being a socially responsible Corporate, we are working towards HIV/AIDS control since 2011. We organise awareness and councessling programme regularly. Collaboration with OSACS will further strengthen our effort and we hope with the technical support from OSACS effectiveness of our programme will increase.

DINESH KUMAR SARAOGI Executive Director and Location Head JSPL, Angul

indal Steel and Power Ltd. (JSPL), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) to implement the Employer Led Model (ELM) on HIV/AIDS to undertake preventive and care activities for the workers in its Angul Facility. The MoU , signed by CD Mathew, VicePresident & Head (Human Resource) was duely delivered for execution to Babaji Charan Das, Project Director, OSACS for mutual execution by Dr. Brajendra Kumar Das, Chief Medical Officer of JSPL and Puspalata Satapathy, DGM – CSR, JSPL Angul. Signging the MoU, the Project Director OSACS said, “This initiative of JSPL will certainly help in controlling HIV/AIDS at Angul and also in reducing the stigma and discrimination against PLHIV. This collaboration between JSPL and OSACS will certainly encourage other Companies in Odisha for implementing ELM at their respective plant/factories.” ELM is a public private partnership programme by NACO and it envisages integration of HIV/AIDS prevention to care programme within the systems and structures of the industry for the benefit of workers. This programme will increase the awareness among migrant workers,

truckers, employees, etc. working in the industry. The ICTC located in JSPL will facilitate in availing the Government programme and schemes through the nodal officer designated for this programme by JSPL. " JSPL's CSR and Medical Team are well poised to undertake awareness and prevention campaign to address the vulnerability of HIV since 2011 "said S.K. Sharma Head of CSR Angul . As per the MoU, JSPL will form a Coordination Committee to look after the extension of the services like Awareness and Information dissemination as well as the HIV/AIDS/STI services. OSCAS will be committed to extend Training and Capacity Building to Integrate HIV/AIDS/STI Services in the systems and structures of Industry by providing Mentoring to all related coordination and facilitation and to ensure Zero infection and HIV related death in the district due to HIV/AIDS. JSPL in collaboration with NACO has been operating an Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre for HIV Prevention, Control , Awareness and Voluntary testing in its Angul Plant premises and so far have undertaken testing of 1.40 lakh persons, who have volunteered for HIV testing as per NACO guidelines.

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NEWS

Freudenberg Group

Managing Talent through Corporate Social Responsibility

orporate Social Responsibility (CSR) manifests itself in the form of noble programs initiated by forprofit organizations. In a world where markets shift constantly and customers' preferences become more unpredictable and complex, adopting a CSR strategy could be a powerful tool for survival. The Freudenberg Group, which has been in existence in India for about almost 100 years and consists of 14 entities all across the country, considers its corporate social responsibility as the true effort to earn the trust and respect of stakeholders and society. With around 3,500 associates employed at more than 30 facilities in India, the Freudenberg Group has a longterm commitment to the Indian market and society. CSR has become increasingly prominent in the Indian corporate scenario because organizations have realized that besides growing their businesses it is also vital to build trustworthy and sustainable relationships with the community at large. That's why the government implemented

mandatory two per cent of net profit on CSR spend and India has become the only country in the world with legislated corporate social responsibility. The Freudenberg Group considers employees and local communities to be key stakeholders and takes responsibility as a good neighbor wherever it holds full management control. This positive focus has been embedded in the way Freudenberg works for decades.

A Building Block of Development at Nagapattinam Immediately after the tsunami disaster of 2004, Freudenberg started a major initiative by identifying opportunities for providing aid and an appropriate location. Finally, the area around the city of Nagapattinam in Southern India, one of the hardest-hit regions, was selected. There, the Freudenberg Group is providing sustained support in the form of an Industrial Training Center under various trades like welders, machinists, motor vehicle mechanics and fitters.

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The Freudenberg Group considers employees and local communities to be key stakeholders and takes responsibility as a good neighbor wherever it holds full management control. This positive focus has been embedded in the way Freudenberg works for decades.

NEWS The Freudenberg Group also embarked on a journey of Talent Management and created opportunities for exchange of high potential employees between Business Groups by holding Talent Dialogues across the globe â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in Germany, China, North and South America and India. The goal is to identify the top talents within the regions and open up opportunities for them to develop and apply their talent and skills.

Close to the Freudenberg site in Mysore the Bandipur National Park, an area of 874 square kilometers, is home to an estimated 100 tigers living in their natural habitat. Tigers are one of the most endangered species on earth. Freudenberg employees have committed themselves to the preservation of this rare animal and support the forest rangers in the vital area of fire protection.

The special feature is that the young people receive both theoretical and practical training in line with the German dual vocational education system for a period of one or two years based on the course one opts. Following the completion of their course, the trainees have good prospects in the labor market. The Freudenberg Training Center is wellestablished and highly respected by companies in the region. 90 percent of the trainees find employment immediately after the completion of their course. The training center has shaped a career of about 350 young people from the region.

Good Neighbor Close to the Freudenberg site in Mysore the Bandipur National Park, an area of 874 square kilometers, is home to an estimated 100 tigers living in their natural habitat. Tigers are one of the most endangered species on earth. Freudenberg employees have committed themselves to the preservation of this rare animal and support the forest rangers in the vital area of fire protection. Freudenberg employees also organize help for people in need. Teams of associates in Pune spend a free day during Diwali, working for an NGO such as an orphanage, a nursing home or a school for HIV positive children. All around the world, Freudenberg assumes social responsibility â&#x20AC;&#x201C; especially for environmental protection and educational prospects for children and young people.

A Journey to the Best Talents Education is also key for Freudenberg as an employer. A few years ago, the company started its FIELD (Freudenberg India Entrepreneurial Leadership Development) program. The intention of FIELD is to train and develop Freudenberg's future managers in the areas of sales, operations and finance.

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The participants of the program are mainly recruited from the Indian Institutes of Management in Bangalore and Kozhikode, Indian School of Business and the National Institute of Industrial Engineering. The program starts with cross-functional training lasting six to nine months in one or two Freudenberg companies in India. This is followed by the opportunity of doing project work for twelve to eighteen months in other Group companies within India, Europe, and other countries of Asia or the USA. Upon completion of this stint, participants take on their first job responsibilities. Freudenberg offers its graduates a global perspective from the beginning of their career and the opportunity to take on management positions. The Freudenberg Group also embarked on a journey of Talent Management and created opportunities for exchange of high potential employees between Business Groups by holding Talent Dialogues across the globe â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in Germany, China, North and South America and India. The goal is to identify the top talents within the regions and open up opportunities for them to develop and apply their talent and skills. Besides, such an exercise also develops great focus among people leaders with regard to potential competencies and developmental needs of their team members. The Freudenberg Group is a family company offering its customers technically challenging product solutions and services. The Group develops and manufactures seals, vibration control components, filters, nonwovens, products for surface treatment, release agents and specialty lubricants, medical and mechatronic products. Especially for midsize companies Freudenberg develops software solutions and IT services.

ARTICLE NIRBHAY LUMDE

Social Audit in the Context of CSR – Conceptual Understanding Social Auditing enables an organization to assess and demonstrate its social, economic and environmental benefits. It is a way of measuring and evaluating the extent to which an organization or an entity has lived up to the agreed common social objectives.

NIRBHAY LUMDE Associated with Corporate Social Responsibility

n the context of welfare state, Social Audit has become a key component of evaluating democratic governance and a tool to implement anti-corruption strategies. It is also one of the ways of understanding the quantity and quality of public resources including public services, policies and decisions. The Centre for Good Governance in its social audit toolkit defines Social Audit as, “an independent evaluation of the performance of an organization as it relates to the attainment of its social goals. It is an instrument of social accountability of an organization.”In the governance process, the executive and the legislature are evaluating newer ways of Social Audit to evaluate their performance. In general, Civil Society Organizations undertake 'Social Audit' to monitor and track achievements of the institutions that claim social development. Community Based Organizations use Social Audit as an information tool to influence in governments' decision making processes. In the historical context, Social Audit has been associated with measuring the impact of an organization's non-financial objectives through systematic and regular monitoring processes and interacting with key stakeholders. These stakeholders include, funders, employees, volunteers and the beneficiaries impacted by the intervention. The World Bank considers Social Audit as a process, “that collects information on the resources of an organization. The information is analyzed and shared publicly in a participatory fashion. Although the term 'Audit' is used, Social Auditing does not merely consist in examining costs and finance – the central concern of a social audit is how resources are used for social objectives”. The current paper examines various

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aspects of Social Audit with special reference to CSR Act, and provides a rough road map to structure and plan Social Audits for CSR projects.

Social Audit Social Audit refers to a process for measuring, understanding and improving the social performance of an activity of the organization. It also measures and reports the social performance in order to achieve improvement and suggest course correction. It is also an independent evaluation of the performance of an organization and an instrument to measure social accountability. Social Auditing enables an organization to assess and demonstrate its social, economic and environmental benefits. It is a way of measuring and evaluating the extent to which an organization or an entity has lived up to the agreed common social objectives. The CSR Act 2013 mandated Companies to undertake the programs on a project mode in accordance with its approved CSR policy, Social Audit becomes even more prominent to track and report the progress. Therefore, every corporate company has to evolve mechanisms to track and report the progress of social development programs mentioned under Schedule VII of the Act. In the context of the Act, Social Audit is a tool through which companies can plan, manage and measure CSR sponsored social development projects. It also helps monitor consequences of the intended and unintended impacts of social development projects their geographies. Social Audit initiated by the Corporates may also include financial audit geared towards verification of reliability and integrity of financial information.

ARTICLE

Scope and Objectives of the Social Audit

The Social Auditor will use a mixture of techniques that will facilitate the researcher in capturing both quantitative and qualitative information. The Social Auditor will also verify books with respect to the specific CSR project vis-Ă -vis sanctioned budget.

Social Audit is a transparent process to measure and report the social objectives of the CSR project. It is expected to identify inconsistencies between agreed objectives and the final implementation of the CSR project. It will aid Companies to understand the current impact and limitations to expected impact. It will also provide multi-stakeholder perception of CSR projects and inputs to the CSR policy. Internally, it helps ensure greater verifiability of data and accountability. It's important to have strict and accurate monitoring and evaluation plan as part of any successful project implementation and CSR projects are no exception. It not only helps to be assured of implementation of policies as planned but also helps address intense public scrutiny and legal compliance. Social Audit helps: n Track, assess and report the progress of the sponsored project and undertake course corrections. n Facilitates CSR team to understand how each stakeholder has met assigned responsibilities. n Assist CSR Sub-Committee plan and execute CSR activities in a transparent and fair way. n Assess the capabilities of implementing partners and plan future CSR projects based on their strengths.

Social Auditor The auditing process may be conducted internally by the donor company. However, it is advisable to have conducted by an outside consultant or agency to reduce biases. Social Auditor could be a not for profit organization or a private entity specialized in conducting social audits. It is a matter of fact that the financial audit conducted an outside auditor will brings credibility to the evaluation. The credibility is essential if the donation tranches are subject to audit reports. It would be appropriate to hire an agency that has worked with United Nation bodies or World Bank or large scale organization that has undertaken impact assessments as they have one of the strongest and detailed social audit tools in built in to undertake audits. The audit report also helps in drafting Board of Directors report in compliance to the

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Company's Act 2013 and an integral of part of company's annual report devoted to social responsibility activities.

Social Audit Report The donor company may decide to have a framework of the social audit report with some of the following components: n Context of the social audit n Techniques of analysis n Status of social accounting and book keeping n Perception of the Company and implementing stakeholders n Perception of the beneficiaries n Summary and conclusion n Implications for policy, program and implementation The essentials for an unbiased social audit lies with the company sharing as much information about the project with the social auditor such as, CSR policy, background of the project, objectives, agreed milestones and budget allocations. The Social Auditor will use a mixture of techniques that will facilitate the researcher in capturing both quantitative and qualitative information. The Social Auditor will also verify books with respect to the specific CSR project vis-Ă vis sanctioned budget.

Conclusion In the context of managing of large scale projects, it's time that the CSR personnel have to level-up their conceptual clarity in differentiating traditional ways of monitoring and evaluation vis-a-vis social audit practices for better project management. It is essential for every CSR personnel to understand the significance of Social Audit in the context of managing CSR projects. It also helpsin providing timely project updatesto CSR SubCommittee,senior management and inputs to CSR policy. Snippets from the Social Audit report are an excellent way of updating internal communication channels. It's time to incorporate CSR project proposals with built-in components for regular tracking, monitoring and reporting for successful social development projects. Nirbhay Lumde is associated with Corporate Social Responsibility.

ARTICLE RANA KAPOOR

Unlocking Value in India's

Natural Capital through Financial Inclusion our forests are natural capital assets that provide a slew of undervalued ecosystems services to the economy at large.

orestry and wildlife conservation often do not rank high on the priority list of investments for the sustainability of the Indian economy. However, the imminent threat of climate change and the extreme vulnerability of India's agricultural, forest and coastal communities to resulting droughts and rising sea levels respectively, the Indian financial sector faces an existential risk due to its exposures across the country's geographical landscape. Scientists at Oxford University recently concluded that the cheapest technology for climate change mitigation and adaptation are tropical and sub tropical rainforests as they sequester a vast quantum of the planet's carbon dioxide, drive the global freshwater cycle, regenerate soil, strengthen river banks, protect shorelines, support bio-diverse ecosystems and sustain the livelihoods of millions. Hence, our forests are natural capital assets that provide a slew of undervalued ecosystems services to the economy at large. In essence, economies can only thrive if natural capital is invested in and nurtured so that it is able to provide sustained returns for generations to come. To drive these investments and essentially transform our collective perspective towards forests, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has designed the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Land Degradation (REDD+) mechanism which aims to financially compensate sustainable forest management (SFM) practices led by forest communities and that ensure biodiversity conservation in developing countries.

RANA KAPOOR MD & CEO â&#x20AC;&#x201C; YES Bank and President Assocham CSR&COMPETITIVENESS I JULY, 2015 I 42 www.csrcompetitiveness.org

ARTICLE

Given that India is the seventh most biodiverse country on the planet with approximately 24% forest cover, home to 17,000 species of flowering plants and about 5400 endemic species, the country stands to benefit a great deal from the REDD+ program. However, India's gross deforestation rate stands at -0.43% (20092011) which implies that India will lose its entire forest cover in 100-150 years unless urgent action is taken. Our forests are stressed by expanding agriculture and industrialization, in comparison to which the forest economy is regrettably considered more fragmented, informal and therefore perishable. Astonishingly, approximately 300 million Indians directly or indirectly depend on the forests for their livelihoods, indicating the need for India's forest economy to come out of the shadows and actively contribute towards GDP growth. Going beyond eco-tourism, timber, fruits and nuts, the forest economy of India must also include key ecosystems services mentioned earlier, such as soil conservation, carbon sequestration and watershed management. The valuation of these ecosystems services is underway through various studies conducted by the The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) program and the Indian Institute of Forest Management, but more needs to be done on this front. Key to driving investments in this exciting space is the need for ecosystems valuations and innovative mechanisms for monitoring and measurements over time, working towards a Green National Product, a more holistic measurement of the health of the economy. Resources have been mobilized to this effect by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change using satellite imagery and remote sensing to measure India's forest cover and carbon sequestration baselines at the state level. Furthermore, India's unique Joint Forestry Management program is a outstanding example of a state and forest community partnership in managing and monitoring forest activities. Despite these innovative institutional structures, in the air and at the grassroots level, due to the largely informal nature of India's forest economy most forest dwelling communities suffer from a lack of recognition and endemic institutional corruption which pushes them further away from the mainstream economy and government subsidy channels. Pushing these communities to the furthest fringes

presents obvious threats to national security where the country currently faces an onslaught of extremist left wing terrorism in the forests of some of India's poorest states. The financial exclusion of our forest dwelling communities is a problem we must tackle immediately if they are to feel valued and be compensated for their efforts in nurturing our life sustaining ecosystems. Hence, I foresee a tremendous role for the financial sector in facilitating payments for ecosystems services between state governments, the private sector and forest dwelling communities by using Aadhar caards to set up 'Jan Dhan' accounts and activating mobile banking solutions, dubbed as the J.A.M. Trinity by the Honorable Finance Minister, as a first step to formalize India's forest economies. This will ensure that REDD+ funds and assigned government subsidies trickle down to the last mile in a cashless manner, in line with the Honorable Prime Minister's vision to execute direct cash transfers to the poor. Coupled with the RBI's recent categorization of overdrafts on Jan Dhan accounts as 'priority sector lending', the banking and financial sector will now be able to directly offer credit lines to forest dwelling self help groups (SHGs) and enterprises, which may trigger a wave of entrepreneurship in our forest hinterlands. This comprehensive approach will ensure that forest dwelling communities are financially included in the country's growth, thereby unlocking the value of this potentially lucrative sector. Through the National Agroforestry Plan, which has an ambitious target of increasing India's tree cover to 33% through agro-forestry practices, an exciting livelihood option that will encourage forest dwelling communities to keep forests intact and earn revenue from tree based farming practices. Furthermore, a INR 5300 crore allocation for the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), a critical drive to transition to sustainable agricultural practices, could help states to potentially explore the application of these funds for agroforestry projects. Since agro-forestry helps achieve the Green Indian Mission, funds for accelerating agro-forestry could also come from the National Clean Energy Fund, which will see a marked increase in size since the Honorable Finance Minister mentioned an increase of the coal cess from INR 100 to INR 200

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per ton of coal. Going forward, creating and supporting a lucrative market for sustainable forest produce must also become a key policy focus where forest communities that strive for value adding international eco-labels, such as Fair Trade, Forest Stewardship Council and Rainforest Alliance, must be able to access more funds through the PMKSY scheme. Eco-labels ensure a premium that will encourage forest dwelling communities to produce using sustainable methods. The INR 20,000 corpus Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Bank announced by the Honorable Finance Minister to enable SC/ST enterprises through MFIs may also propel forest produce processing, enabling forest communities to add value to their produce and sell them for a premium in the domestic and international markets. It is hoped that these funds will also be used to finance energy efficient cook stoves and decentralized clean energy solutions for forest dwelling communities, ensuring a substantial reduction in their dependence on the forests for fuel wood, which leads to severe forest cover degradation. It is about time the financial sector begins to sharpen its lens on forest economies that impact hundreds of millions of lives, addresses climate change and conserves biodiversity. This cannot be done just under the guise of Corporate Social Responsibility but rather using a more acute business focus since natural capital cannot sustainably grow on grants alone. To those who believe that the commoditization of nature goes against the very idea of conservation, I ask them to carefully analyze the current situation and reflect on whether our forests will thrive against the backdrop of reduced budget allocations for forest conservation. In my view, leaving the responsibility of conserving our forests to the state is an abhorrent case of passing the buck where Indian corporations must do their bit, through their business models, and thereby fulfill their ecological licenses to operate in this great country. It is about time we put our jungle boots on and venture into the forests, leading the financial inclusion mission and directing capital where it is critically needed to sustain India's economic growth and tackle the greatest existential threat to human civilization, climate change.

NEWS

Nestle Pays Rs 20 crore to Ambuja Cements to Destroy Maggi Packets The recalled packets of Maggi noodles will be burned at the cement plant in Chandrapur in Maharashtra.

estle India has paid Rs 20 crore to Ambuja Cements for destroying Maggi instant noodles, which were found to be harmful for human consumption by the food regulators in the

country. Ambuja Cements, formerly known as Gujarat Ambuja Cements, is believed to have been paid the amount for burning the recalled packets of Maggi noodles at its cement plant in Chandrapur in Maharashtra. When contacted, a Nestle India spokesperson told PTI, “Gujarat Ambuja Cements is... helping us destroy the Maggi noodles being withdrawn by us from the market.” The controversy and subsequent banning of Maggi noodles in India has wiped out over $200 million or nearly Rs 1,300 crore from Nestle's brand value, Brand Finance said. Nestle withdrew all varieties of Maggi noodles on June 5 amid countrywide scrutiny on Maggi for high content of monosodium glutamate (a taste enhancer) and lead in some samples. While the spokesperson did not confirm the cost involved in burning Maggi at Ambuja Cements plant, he said: “In addition to the value of stocks being destroyed there will be additional costs to take into account, for example bringing back stock from the market, transporting the stock to the destruction points and destruction cost etc.” Nestle India said that these costs and other unforeseen costs associated with the withdrawal will be dealt with in line with the applicable accounting standards at the time of announcing the financial results on the due dates. Last month, Nestle India said it is in the process of destroying Maggi instant noodles worth Rs. 320 crore after it was banned by the central food safety regulator FSSAI due to presence of lead and taste enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG) beyond permissible limits. On June 5, FSSAI banned Maggi directing Nestle to immediately withdraw and recall all nine variants of Maggi instant noodles from market. Nestle India has also recalled the product from the market. Nestle India has challenged the ban order in the Bombay High Court.

Nestle Says tests done at non-accredited labs

estle India has hit back at Food Safety Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) for its June 5 ban on the popular 2-minute Maggi noodles by stating that the laboratories where noodle samples tested positive for excessive lead content "lacked accreditation, and are thus inconsistent and unreliable". It also questioned the grounds of "emergency" for a pan-India ban. The company, which has now filed its rejoinder in the Bombay high court to the affidavit filed by the FSSAI, a central government authority governing food items, attacked the validity of the government lab test results. "The FSSAI and its CEO wrongly claim in their affidavits that reports of analysis, before passing the June 5 ban on all nine variants of Maggi noodles, were on the basis of an analysis conducted in accredited and notified laboratories," it said, highlighting the importance of accreditation of a lab by NABL — National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories — in the context of the complex testing for lead, which requires "highly proficient, clean labs, special equipment and highly trained analysts". "All equipment for sampling, water, all reagents are also potential sources of lead," said Nestle, adding that the Kolkata referral lab where the UP samples were sent and showed an "absurd 17 PPM leaded content" was also stripped off its accreditation. The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 itself requires labs to be NABL-accredited. "The FSSAI order to ban Maggi on the basis of tests conducted in non-accredited labs is arbitrary, illegal and liable to be set aside," Nestle said. It added, "The very fact the results were inconsistent should have been sufficient to suggest that results are suspicious..." Nestle said in contrast, 90 samples it had tested in its own and external laboratories abroad showed Maggi was safe to consume, with lead only around 0.016 ppm to 0.074 ppm. It said "food authorities in UK, Canada and Singapore found Maggi noodles to be safe". The company's challenge against the ban, which the HC has not stayed, will be heard on July 2014.

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NEWS

SEBI Asks Govt to

Appoint Women Directors on PSU Boards

o ensure parity between listed PSUs and their private sector peers, regulator SEBI has asked the government to fill all vacancies for women and independent directors at the central public sector enterprises. All listed companies, whether PSUs or from private sector, are required to have at least one woman director on their board, deadline for which expired on March 31, 2015. Along with many private sector companies, quite a few PSUs also failed to meet the deadline and they are liable to pay penalties, which would be minimum at Rs 50,000 for those who ensured compliance by June 30. The stock exchanges are soon expected to make public the names of the entities who have been penalised in this regard. The penalties would increase further for the companies which remain in default for longer period. The SEBI rules also require all listed companies to have at least one-third members of their respective boards to be independent directors. The new Companies Act also has these provisions for at least one woman director and a minimum one-third independent directors. The issue of non-compliance by the CPSEs on these matters was discussed by the SEBI board in its last meeting. According to a board memorandum, SEBI took up the matter with the Cabinet Secretary last month regarding filling up the posts of independent directors or appointing a woman director at the CPSEs. SEBI is of the view that there should not be any exemptions for PSUs when it comes to compliance to norms for listed companies.

Earlier, PSUs were given extra time to meet a requirement of minimum 25 percent public shareholding, from 10 percent earlier, but eventually the rules were brought at par with their private sector peers. After the board meeting last month, SEBI's Whole-Time Member S Raman had also said that the new regime for every listed company to have at least one woman director came into effect from April 1 and the companies that failed to comply will face penal action. On another proposal for allowing more companies to tap the fast-track issuance of shares through follow-up offers or rights issues, SEBI said its Primary Markets Advisory Committee had recommended exemptions from the applicability of conditions for such fast-track issuances for CPSEs. However, the regulator decided against such exemptions on the ground that "the rules for the market should be uniform across all companies whether in private or public sector". "SEBI should be seen to be treating all kinds of issuers or promoters uniformly when dealing with an issue. The Government of India has shown its willingness to be treated uniformly by amending the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules, 1957 to increase the minimum public shareholding from 10 percent to 25 percent to be at par with other issuers or promoters," the regulator said in the board memorandum. In response to SEBI's draft guidelines in this regard, the regulator said that respondents had said the rules should be promoter-neutral and hence no carve-out should be there for CPSEs.

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BSE Fines 530 Firms for Not Appointing Woman Directors Asks them to cough up Rs 50,000 each for missing first deadline; further defaults will invite escalated penaties.

he BSE, Asia's oldest stock exchange, has penalised 530 firms for not appointing women on their boards. Similarly, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has sent notices to 260 companies, an NSE spokesperson said. Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSEI), formerly known as MCX Stock Exchange, has sent notices to three companies, its spokesperson said. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the capital markets regulator, had asked all listed companies to make these appointments by March 31, 2015. Sebi had prescribed an escalating penal structure for those not meeting the deadline. Those complying between April 1 and June 30, were to pay a fine of Rs 50,000. The BSE has 5,711 companies listed on it, while the NSE has about 1,300. MSEI has 108. Sebi had ordered a daily penalty of Rs 1,000, in addition to Rs 50,000 fine, on those who miss the June deadline. Those missing the September 30 deadline would be required to pay Rs 1.42 lakh as fine, in addition to a daily penalty of Rs 5,000 till a woman director is appointed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For any non-compliance beyond September 30, 2015, Sebi may take any other action, against the noncompliant entities, their promoters and/or directors or issue such directions in accordance with law, as considered appropriate,â&#x20AC;? the Sebi circular had said.

EVENT Integrating Two Worlds: Corporates & Communities.

Bangalore CSR Roundtable: Move from Social Responsibility to Responsivity CSR Leaders and NGOs of Bangalore decided to join hands and create 'Collective Impact' and move more mere responsibility to 'Responsivity'

otary Jeevanbimnagar organized 'Bangalore CSR ROUNDTABLE 2015'. This roundtable brought out perspectives of both the donor and the receiver on implementing CSR. The focus was on best practices, success stories, CSR act with the focus on NGO-Corporate Partnership. The theme of the roundtable was “Integrating Two Worlds: Corporates & Communities." The Session was chaired and moderated by CSR Head of Brillio Technologies, Abhishek Ranjan. The roundtable attended by prominent speakers for instance with the CSR Heads and NGO Reps from Infosys, Brillio, Rotary, Alliance University. LabourNet, Cry, Tesco, EMC, Cognizant,Philips and others. Speakers/ Panelists of the Roundtable n Roundtable Chair: Abhishek Ranjan, Head-CSR, Brillio n Ronnie Vincent, President Rotary Club JB Nagar n Shalini Gambhir, Head Community Services & Communication - Rotary Bangalore TTK Blood Bank and BMST

Kirti Vardhana, Head - Consulting & Products, LabourNet n Suma Ravi, Regional Director – CRY n Sai Prakash, Chief Coordinator - Erin CSR Consortium n Sumathi Rao, Director - Brand Communications and Digital and CSR- Philips India n Deepak Prabhu, Director – Operations and CSR Leader- Banaglore, Cognizant Technology Solutions n Aniisu K Verghese, India Corporate Communications and CSR Lead, Tesco HSC n Meher Taj, Head - Employer Branding, Infosys n Leela Karkaria, Assistant Professor and Manager - CSR, Alliance University, Bangalore The Panel discussed how the Companies Act, 2013 have transformed CSR in India and how CSR has evolved over the years. And, while CSR has gained considerable acceptance over the years. Its scope has broadened, and for the better. CSR for some is Sustainability, and some define it is as Responsivity and so on. It means different things to different n

CSR&COMPETITIVENESS I JULY, 2015 I 46 www.csrcompetitiveness.org

EVENT NGO and CSR reps felt the need of short-term programs on CSR to increase the availability of trained manpower. NGOs requested CSR Heads to support in training, skill development of Social Sector resources while CSR Heads felt that NGOs can improve their CSR Implementation and help in Impact measurement.

organizations. India being the first country to mandate it, it has its starting challenges. The Session Chair, Abhishek Ranjan started the panel discussion with a quote from William Clay Ford Jr. “Creating a healthy business and building a better world are not conflicting goals – they are both essential ingredients for long-term success.”

Key Highlights of the panel discussion Deepak Prabhu who leads CSR for Cognizant Bangalore, talked about challenge of selecting an NGO. With so many NGOs in India and the funding involved in the CSR spend it is a significant challenge to identifying a right NGO. NGO and CSR reps felt the need of short-term programs on CSR to increase the availability of trained manpower. NGOs requested CSR Heads to support in training, skill development of Social Sector resources while CSR Heads felt that NGOs can improve their CSR Implementation and help in Impact measurement. CSR is mushrooming the minds of youths. More than 3.5mm LinkedIn members have signalled on their profile that they want to serve on a non-profit board or use their skills to volunteer. Employees are the backbone of successful CSR. The investment and latitude from the company are obviously

significant but without committed volunteerism from the employees and their donation of time, the program will fail. Therefore, it is important to engage the employees and have them adopt a mantra of 'Individual Social Responsivity' (ISR), wherein employees invest their skills and time toward the community service that has been agreed to by all. Meher from Infosys shared some innovative ideas to encourage sustainable ISR Program. CSR-CSR and CSR-CSR-NGO partnerships – Audience felt that corporates are not partnering enough for a bigger cause, and many suggested having a joint long-term CSR programs. The Magic of PPP – One of the examples quoted by Rotary President Ronnie Vincent, was how India became Polio Free. He asked the panel, can we see the same magic with Swachh Bharat? Everyone present at the roundtable felt that government should engage more proactively with corporate and corporates should support government in creating solutions. With loads of food for thought, the 1st series of the roundtable was able to establish the need of 'Collective Impact' where it is CSR-CSR, NGONGO or CSR-CSR-NGOs partnerships. It was decided to hold such event every six months and partner for a bigger cause for a Better Bangalore!

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