Industry should partner with the Indian Army in its CSR initiatives mandated by the new Companies Act 2013, Lt Gen K J Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Command said today.
The Act makes it mandatory for large scale companies of various categories to spend at least 2 per cent of their profits on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.
"It is learnt that around 8,000 Indian companies would fall in this category and it is expected to raise around Rs 25,000 crore for CSR activities.
"Indian army will be a strong contender to get a good share out of this huge amount in order to continue its social initiatives for the Have-nots like building schools, skill building, hospitals, providing infrastructure support, micro hydel projects etc even at areas where civilians could not reach," he said.
He further appealed to the corporates to "Pay back" to the society and invest in CSR as your duty and responsibility and not just a favour, otherwise there will be a destructive imbalance in the society.
The corporates should not just concentrate on earning profits but also try to safeguard the environment, support government in providing basic amenities to the poor and aim at raising the living standards of the huge BPL population in India, he said.
"We are also very keen to partner with industry in skill building and employment of retired Army officials retiring between the ages of 36 - 39 because the army has to be kept young. I am ready to train them with the skills and fields, as required by the industry and I appeal to the industry to employ them under its Corporate Social Responsibility," he said.
