M S Unnikrishnan, managing director and CEO, Thermax said 'Wealth creation is important to be able to distribute the wealth in the society," while addressing the Business Standard awards on Corporate Social Responsibility. The award in its third year was being presented along with Sinhgad Institute of Management (SIOM).
Unnikrishnan who was the Chief Guest at the event also gave a first-hand peek into what CSR means for corporates and how the MBA aspirants should look at this initiative in their professional life. The auditorium at SIOM full with MBA aspirant from the college also came to know how some of the companies in and around Pune have been investing in terms of CSR activities.
Philanthropic activity undertaken by corporate entities is mainly defined as corporate social responsibility (CSR). There are several companies in India have been actively spearheading CSR activities in the field of education, healthcare, community and livelihood and infrastructure development.
Recently the government of India came out with ruling that mandate companies to spend two per cent of their profits towards CSR. "In India CSR has been a mandate from the government. As industries we have responsibility towards the society," said Unnikrishnan while addressing the students.
The BS Awards were given to companies in three sectors-IT, banking and manufacturing. As part of the Awards, Business Standard evaluated more than 15 companies from these sectors and a jury evaluated the entries.
The jury members consisted of Abijeet Jog- MD Pratisaad communication, Yamaji Malkar- Ex- Editor Sakal Group., Chabi Chavan- Ex- Director Amity Management College. Advocate Sunita Pagey along with Nilesh Gokhale Director, SIOM.
The CSR activities of the participants were evaluated on the basis of five parameters viz. innovation in CSR, employee man hours spent on CSR, percentage of profit (last yearRs s) before tax spent on CSR project, impact of initiatives on society and Impact of initiatives taken towards environmental sustainability.
From the IT sector it was mid-cap IT services firm Persistent Systems that received the award for its work in the health, education and community development in Nagpur, Hyderabad, Pune and Goa. In terms of focus, the company has identified health, education and community development as its core. All the programmes run by Persistent Foundation are designed and planned by the employees or with support from NGOs.
For the year FY14 the company saw participation of 1,579 employees. In terms of work done, of the 39 projects 33 have been completed. A total of sum of Rs 32.88 lakh were donated to 32 NGOs and six individuals. A sum of about Rs 56.84 lakh was raised from Persistent employees.
Global manufacturing player SKF received the award for its work SKF Care-defining sustainability in SKF and turning it into practical actions. The guiding principle for SKFs India vision "To Create a Positive change in the life of the communities neighbouring our operation , and create a meaningful difference from recipients perspective ." Within this the company focuses on three main areas-education, empowerment and environment.
From the banking sector the award was won by Vishweshwar Sahakari Bank which has focused on community development and education. This has meant running water conversation projects in and around Pune district. The bank on a regular basis distributes school books to underprivileged students in remote areas.
