Subir Raha pushes UN's Global Compact

Subir Raha, president of Global Compact Society of India & chairman and managing director of the Oil & Natural Gas Commission (ONGC), said the corporate sector would have to adopt the principles of Global Compact laid down by the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan four years ago.

Speaking at the seminar here on the subject today organised by CII, Raha regretted that few Indian corporate houses had signed up as members of the Global Compact Society of India.

Raha praised Tata Steel as being instrumental in adopting the principles of global compact thanks to the great traditions laid down by by the Tata family.

He said without development of society as a whole, no business could survive.

B Muthuraman, chairman of CII eastern region and managing director of Tata Steel, in his opening address said the Jamshedpur conclave was the first regional conclave in the world.

The conclave will focus onm business substainability, reducing poverty, fostering entrepreneurial development and employment.

Georg Kell, executive head of United Nations Global Compact, in his inaugural address, said only 2,000 companies in the world had become members of Global Compact of which only 64 were from USA.

The two-day conclave would deliberate on how corporate social responsibilty can be used as a sound business strategy to ensure business sustainability backed by good governance and ethics and entrepreneurial development.

The conclave will help companies align their business practices with the principles of Global Compact.

The conclave has participants from countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Philippines and USA.

Muthuraman read out a message sent by the United Nations secretary-general Kofi A Annan addressed to delegates at the Jamshedpur meet.

Arun Maira, chairman of the Boston Consulting Group emphasized that corporates should go beyond the principles of revenue generation and profit making, and should try to evolve as socially responsible, honest organizations.

He cited the example of the Tata Group, which, he said, has practiced CSR for social upliftment and community development.

Companies should take environmental concerns into account, while practicing efficient business methodologies, he added.

Kishor Chaukar, chairman of Tata council for community initiatives, said the Tata Group has reached all stakeholders and not remained restricted only to shareholders.

Shubhashis Gangopadhyay of India Development Foundation said CSR is necessary to achieve long-term, self-sustaining goals and standards.

Environment-friendly companies have a price advantage over its competitors, he added.

The Lafarge low-cost housing initiative in India and HLL's 'Shakti' project creating employment for rural, underprivileged women were discussed.

In a session titled "Governance and ethics", Robert Cerasoli of the USA spoke on anti-corruption efforts in the US and the role played by inspector-generals in controlling corruption in business and governance through the Association of Inspector Generals, USA, which lays down basic principles and business accountability standards to ensure that organisations emerge as ethical, socially responsible entities.

Ms.Lakshmi Venkatesan, founding trustee and executive vice-president of the "Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust", said India's young working population had to be tapped through new, productive jobs.

Kipper Blakeley talked about initiatives for rural development in Thailand while David Teller of Australia talked about the Global Compact cities programme for urban development and renewal.

Jamshedpur is the first Indian city to join the list.

Mellisa Powell of the United Nations Global Compact secretariat in New York highlighted the need to have a viable business model to sustain these kinds of initiatives and the need for more regional cooperation, while Georg Kell of UN Global Compact said change in south Asia depended on scaling up of this initiative.