With Orissa attracting investments to the tune of Rs six lakh crore, the state has urged corporate houses to step up funding for CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiatives to ensure integration of community development with business interests and also to ensure inclusive growth.
“CSR is not charity or philanthropic activity but is a part of every business process for ensuring sustainable development. Industries should prepare clear corporate plans on a yearly basis and appoint teams completely dedicated to CSR activities for effective implementation and ensure inclusive growth”, said Saurabh Garg, the state industries secretary.
“The CSR guidelines specified by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs are voluntary at present but hopefully will be made mandatory with the passage of time. It is important that at least 3-5 per cent of the net profit should be used on CSR activities to ensure a much more harmonious relationship between the industries and people”, he added.
Garg was speaking at an interactive session on CSR organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Speaking on the occasion, S N Patro, the state minister for revenue and disaster management said, “A huge amount of money is rolling in the hands of the capitalists of our country but only two per cent of the amount is being used for developmental purposes. Ironically, in a state where more than Rs six lakh crore of investment is expected, which is the second highest in the country, at least 48 per cent of the people are below the poverty line.”
“Although, industries have been asked to earmark 3-5 per cent of their net profit earnings for CSR, the directive is not being followed. It is important that CSR is given its due importance and industries take initiative and give more emphasis to skill development in the state”, Patra stated.
Raghunath Mohanty, minister for industries, steel and mines and parliamentary affairs, said, “Each business entity should formulate a CSR policy to guide its strategic planning and provide a roadmap of its CSR initiatives, which should be an integral part of the overall business policy and linked with its business goals. The policy should be framed with the participation of various level executives, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and social reformers which should be approved by the decision making authorities.”
Mohanty added that each company is also advised to prepare a master plan of its own for peripheral development and spend their net profit for the development of health, education, communication, besides augmenting capacity of the existing technical institutions, assisting in upgrading of ITIs /ITCs, maximizing industries-institution linkage and higher training to promote MSMEs by subsidizing cost of training within a radius of 50 km of their operation.