Tag: CSR

SBI Foundation invites applications for Youth for India Fellowship programme; Details here

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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SBI Foundation, the CSR arm of the State Bank Group, has invited applications for the upcoming 12th batch of the SBI Youth for India Fellowship programme.

Inspired by the US PeaceCorps, this 13-month-long programme will provide a structured opportunity for educated urban youth, both graduates and young professionals, between the 21-32 age group, to collaborate with rural communities and 13 reputed NGOs around the country to drive meaningful change in the society, read a statement.

The organisation is looking for applicants who are Indian citizens or Overseas Citizens of India (OCI), a citizen of Bhutan, or a citizen of Nepal committed to advancing sustainable development objectives in the rural areas of the country.

The SBI Youth for India Fellowship programme works on 12 thematic areas, including health, food security, rural livelihood, environmental protection, water, education, technology, women’s empowerment, self-governance, social entrepreneurship, traditional craft and alternate energy.

Based on the area of their interest, the fellows work on one of these 12 thematic areas during the fellowship program.

Sanjay Prakash, Managing Director & CEO of SBI Foundation said the program aims to fill the gap that exists between “urban youth’s aspiration to contribute to the development sector and the rural reality, as also supplement the lack of qualified human resources with diverse educational and professional backgrounds in the NGOs working at the grassroots level.”

“With 10 successful editions behind us and the 11th underway, our program remains committed to empowering youth to create transformative change in rural communities. This initiative is the flagbearer of hope for those seeking to shape a brighter future for themselves and rural India,” Prakash added.

How to apply?

Eligible candidates can apply for the SBI Youth for India Fellowship program by visiting the official website at www.youthforindia.org/register.

The programme has witnessed engagement from several young Indian applicants from different metropolitan cities in the countries along with OCI and citizens of Nepal and Bhutan.

It has made a significant impact with a growing alumni network of more than 580 individuals, impacting over 1,50,000 lives through the interventions of the fellows in over 250 villages spanning 20 states in the country.

Some of the notable alumni are Siddharth Daga, Co-founder of NeoMotion, and Shriti Pandey, who founded ‘Strawcture’ in 2018.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Companies spending on COVID jabs for individuals except staff to be considered CSR activity

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Companies spending funds on COVID vaccination for individuals other than employees and their families will be considered as a CSR expenditure. The corporate affairs ministry, which is implementing the Companies Act, 2013, has issued a clarification in this regard.

In March 2020, the ministry had said that spending on COVID-19 would be considered as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity. “… it is further clarified that spending of CSR funds for COVID-19 vaccination for persons other than the employees and their families, is an eligible CSR activity,” the ministry said in a circular on July 30.

The activity is eligible to be considered as a CSR work under Section VII of the Act relating to promotion of healthcare, including preventive healthcare and pertaining to disaster management. “The companies may undertake the aforesaid activity subject to fulfillment of Companies (CSR Policy) Rules, 2014 and the circulars related to CSR issued by this ministry from time to time,” the circular said.

Under the Act, certain class of profitable companies are required to spend at least two per cent of their three-year average net profit towards CSR activities in a particular financial year.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Setting up hospitals, COVID care facilities to come under CSR

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Building and nurturing businesses with social responsibility

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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As what might be a direct economic consequence of the pandemic, 19.65 percent of Indian companies who were profitable in Q4 2019-20 reported losses in Q1 2020-21. The dip in business profitability led to job loss with the country’s unemployment rate shooting up from 8.8 percent in February 2020 to 23.5 percent in April 2020.

According to data from CMIE, there has been a drop in wage income across occupations, indicating that many employees who did not lose their job had to take a pay cut. Further, the companies’ losses pushed down their mandatory CSR spend for the year as well.

A crisis such as the current one has thus clearly negatively impacted both internal and external stakeholders of companies. Ironically, this is at a time when the government will need corporates to contribute to fighting the pandemic and supporting communities now and catalysing a post-Covid recovery later.

If the current crisis of COVID-19 is anything to go by, companies need to have social good embedded within their business models instead of being random acts of kindness and green-ness that stop when profitability dips. Unless operations, processes and products contribute positively to stakeholders (beyond shareholders) sustainability can not be sustainable.

A traditional approach to social good especially amongst family-owned companies in India has been that of promoter-driven philanthropy. For example, the Jindal and Piramal families have excelled in philanthropic CSR for uplifting communities that is led by the vision and effort of the owner of the company.

A second traditional perspective is to make a business case of doing good, which emphasises that the latter is important primarily because satisfying stakeholders reduces risks and improves business. Several companies where the sustainability department—often clubbed or even synonymous with the company’s CSR department—reports to the company’s Chief Financial Officer, mostly have such an approach.

A third undesired approach is to pursue sustainability within an organisation for publicity.

And finally, a fourth ineffective traditional approach is to limit business sustainability largely to CSR and environment-related corporate functions.

On the other hand, purpose-driven companies such as Marico, Wipro, the Tata Group, that embed sustainability across a company’s operations, processes and products do so because these organisations feel the need to be responsible entities.

These organisations view business as an important means to enhance the lives of people, and not vice versa. Just as at an individual level, a responsible person will not litter public spaces and be kind to those around, responsible companies also do the same. In such companies, sustainability pervades through all departments such that employees are well taken care of, as are customers, communities, and the environment. How does this happen?

First, the meaning of sustainability for the company, the sustainability agenda, and the implementation road map are carved out from an intensive exercise of consultation amongst the company’s employees. This company’s employees from the factory floor to the C-Suite should speak up about their vision about the company’s future and the action items needed to ensure it is a responsible one. Only then will everyone in the company feel a sense of ownership of the company’s sustainability agenda and will eventually facilitate its implementation.

Second, either the CEO (via his office) or a Chief Sustainability Officer who is at par in the organisational hierarchy with the CEO and CFO needs to ensure the business is responsible. Only when business sustainability is thus empowered and placed in a central spot in the organigram, can every key business decision be in check for responsible behaviour. Products and operations that are detrimental to people and the planet can be then gradually phased out. Such a person can eventually ascertain that sustainability is a source of revenue and not a cost centre, by introducing products that enhance the lives of customers, putting in place waste to wealth practices, prioritising employee well-being, and ensuring operations are energy efficient and safe for employees and communities. These are hard business decisions that can only be taken by an executive in the first tier of the company’s hierarchy.

Third, ensuring responsible business needs collaboration across internal and external stakeholders. The person or department leading it can do little alone. Therefore, a collaborative approach is imperative across the company’s departments and entire supply chain, boosted by strategic partnerships with universities, think tanks, and like-minded research-driven organisations towards ensuring that the purpose of the company is to enhance the lives of people.

The social impact of purpose-driven companies survives the crisis. The end beneficiary is thus protected. He does not suffer because of whimsical CSR initiatives of a company or by dropping business profitability.

—The author, Dr. Miniya Chatterji, is CEO and Founder Sustain Labs Paris. The views expressed are personal.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Azim Premji says CSR should not be legally mandated, philanthropy must come from within

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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IT czar and philanthropist Azim Premji on Saturday said companies should not be legally mandated to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) as such contributions to society need to “come from within”.

Premji, who donated Rs 7,904 crore in donations last year (Rs 22 crore a day), also highlighted that the COVID-19 crisis was a “wake up call” to look at fundamental issues like the need to improve public systems like health, and changing the structure of society to become more equal and just.

“I do not think we should have a legal mandate for companies to do CSR. Philanthropy or charity or contribution to society must come from within, and it cannot be mandated from outside. But that’s my personal view. As of now, this is the law and all companies must follow it, Premji said.

He added that it is important that individual and personal philanthropy is separated from a company’s CSR efforts. “When I travel in the field and meet our teams and our partners’ teams who have single-mindedly dedicated their lives to helping the country improve, that is about the biggest satisfaction one can derive,” he said during an AIMA event.

All India Management Association (AIMA) presented Premji with the AIMA Life Time Achievement Award for Management at the event. Premji noted that the pandemic has had a very unequal impact with the disadvantaged having suffered “exponentially more” and inequality widening significantly, while advising that one needs to start on the path of philanthropy early.

“Start right away, even if you start small. Try to help build institutions and support programs. We must have a strong set of civil society institutions that you can contribute to. Your experience in business has eminently qualified you to build scale, this is an integral part of nation building,” he added. Premji transformed Wipro from a company making vegetable oil to a diversified conglomerate including a multi-billion dollar IT services giant. He is one of the richest men in India and has donated a large part of his wealth to philanthropic causes.

In 2019, Azim Premji stepped down as Wipro chairman and managing director, handing over the company’s reins to his son, Rishad. The septuagenarian currently holds the position of Wipro founder chairman and non-executive director. Talking about people who have influenced his outlook towards philanthropy, Premji said his mother and Mahatma Gandhi’s views had played a major role in shaping his perspective on the subject.

He narrated how his mother, Gulbanoo MH Hasham Premji, spent a lifetime helping a children’s orthopaedic hospital despite facing a number of challenges. “All because she wanted to serve. Nothing fazed her, she was amazing. This is my core inspiration. This is what I saw while growing up and that really inspired me to look at philanthropy very seriously. “And then there was Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of trusteeship of wealth that the wealthy must act as custodians of wealth for the benefit of society, and not as owners of wealth. That influenced me a great deal later,” he explained.

Premji also spoke about the efforts of Azim Premji Foundation in the field of education, and that the intention is to set up four more universities in the next 10 years. “A lot of our education commitment is towards encouraging our students to finally join the social sector. Be it in education, community development, public health, livelihoods, sustainability and more. Equally, there is a requirement for relevant research on the key issues facing our society across these different themes of human development,” he said.

Premji added while the direct focus is on education, the foundation is also supporting other organisations to scale up their work for the most disadvantaged and marginalised people in the society.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India’s non-profit sector: Navigating a game of snakes and ladders

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Nonprofit leaders in India are often criticised for their apparent inability to grow their organisations to the scale to which for-profit businesses routinely aspire. Where, they are asked, are the nonprofit unicorns? Why do even the larger nonprofits resemble bonsais when compared to for-profit banyans?

Whether or not scale is an unalloyed positive is a question that merits debate. Suppose, for the purposes of argument that it is. The size of India’s social challenges certainly seems to demand the greatest possible scale. How then might India’s nonprofits get there?

As a startup in the nonprofit space, there is no obvious place to start one’s search, offline or online, for guidance on forming a new entity. Word of mouth might fortuitously guide you to one of the firms providing specialist advice. Finding a good one is the equivalent of landing on a square with a steep ladder in the nonprofit board game. They will help you to decide whether a society, trust or nonprofit company best suits your particular ambitions.

They will also assist you in navigating the maze of paperwork required to first register your nonprofit and then seek tax exemptions for the entity and for its prospective donors. You must try not to be intimidated by the volume or the complexity of the information you will need to provide. The sector remains entirely untouched by any notion of ease of doing business.

Once you have your entity established, it’s time to discover that many potential sources of funding remain out of bounds for at least three years, the period necessary to qualify for CSR funding or permission to receive international donations under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). Could developing an income stream from the sale of products or services provide a ladder up?

You’ll quickly realise that route is really a snake since ‘business’ income exceeding 20 percent of total revenues will cause you to lose your tax exemption. You’ll also discover that nonprofits are not particularly desired as clients by banks or those who rent office space, not just because they aren’t particularly flush with funds but because the whole sector has been painted as potentially risky, allegedly prone to scams or political hazard.

Soon you’ll find that most Indian donors do not support either the costs of trained personnel or investments in training, marketing, fundraising and technology or other infrastructure. Some international donors might be inclined to, but the newly amended FCRA prevents them from doing so. Climb to the next level via a small infusion of equity capital or even a loan? Ride that snake back to square one since neither debt nor equity are permitted to Indian nonprofits.

If you do not have the good fortune to count some wealthy folk among your social circle, who will trust your intent and your abilities and open both their chequebooks and their contact lists to your venture—you will find yourself trapped in a Hunger Games scenario where you will battle thousands of other nonprofits struggling for survival for a chance to pitch your proposition to donors inundated with similar requests.

Your chances of survival in this contest are directly proportional to the predictability of your model. Those that promise simple, easy-to-measure, photogenic solutions, preferably located within driving distance of the donor’s location are much more likely to win support than those whose work deviates from the tried and tested or seeks to serve communities and causes that are less popular.

Organisations led by women, minorities and the marginalised, with the best understanding of the needs of their communities, have the lowest access to donors and the least probability of attracting support. On the off chance that you make it through many invisible hoops to find unrestricted, long-term funding or are somehow able to bring in more funds you’re your programmes immediately need, beware of the snake lurking in the form of the tax liability for ‘surplus’ over 15 percent of revenues.

Trapped on this treadmill of limited access to resources, preventing the investments necessary for growth, it is no surprise that most nonprofits must soldier on barely surviving from year to year. Deprived of predictable revenue streams, and the possibility of accumulating reserves, they are unable to plan or invest beyond the typical 12-month horizon preferred by most donors. The fact that very little nonprofit funding is unrestricted exacerbates this situation, with donors’ budgets narrowly allocated to specific line items affording little flexibility to respond to changing contexts or even to new learning.

Should a nonprofit perchance break out of this vicious cycle, it will find itself perversely penalised by donors who claim that they would prefer to direct their support to more ‘needy’ organisations. Should the nonprofit choose to focus its efforts on achieving systemic change through advocating for more effective policies, it will face even greater regulatory hurdles and far fewer donors willing to extend their support.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused some donors to modify their approaches. Internationally, and to a smaller degree in India, donors have provided more funds on more flexible terms with less onerous conditions. Whether these practices will become more widely prevalent or outlive the pandemic remains to be seen. Further, unlike many other countries that recognised the need to protect their nonprofit sectors so as to ensure their continued ability to meet the unprecedented demand for their services, India has failed to extend either employment support or increased tax incentives for philanthropy.

Instead, India’s nonprofits found themselves competing, on the one hand, with entities like the PM-CARES fund which provided donors every possible incentive and inducement and, on the other, combating new regulatory constraints on tax exemption, CSR and FCRA placing greater hurdles to resource mobilisation from every potential source.

As the data become available revealing the scale of the impact on health, nutrition, education, livelihoods and every other development front, the hobbling of India’s nonprofit sector will seriously handicap both short-term recovery and longer-term resilience. In 2021 and beyond, the prognosis for India will depend on our ability to replace the snakes with ladders.

—The author, Ingrid Srinath is Director at the Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy at Ashoka University. Views are personal

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Lesson from pandemic: Defining a company’s moral purpose to build future

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Organisations are often asked about the core reason for their existence and their unique and positive impact on society. These are questions that merit deep thought and clear answers. Over the past few decades, businesses have come a long way and ushered in tremendous economic growth. They have created jobs, delivered on their missions, and brought prosperity and wealth for their stakeholders. These are in themselves notable achievements. But should the pursuit of profit be the only goal of organisations?

As a society, and indeed the whole of mankind is faced with vexing challenges in the name of climate change, natural and manmade disasters, crowding cities, ageing populations, and a rise in chronic diseases to name a few. Organisations must look deeper and discover those attributes that can help them do more for the good of society itself. There must be a sense of purpose attuned towards common societal, environmental and governance goals.

In other words, organisations must deliver impact to society—an impact that goes beyond the generation of profits.

How can that be done? Organisations can deliver true and measurable impact when they play a material role in society with leaders and employees providing meaning to what that company does. This is not surprising given the influence that corporations have had over society and their recognised role as contributors to the common good.

This leads us to the company’s purpose and what it entails. A company’s purpose carries the power to mobilise and transform by explaining the reason for a company’s existence and how it ultimately creates value for its customers and society at large. It thus goes much beyond the company’s mission which comprises of what it does. Organisations have risen and continue to rise to the occasion as demanded by society.

From helping a company’s employees to work from home safely and securely to manufacturing ventilators for hospitals and developing contactless payment and access control solutions, technology companies such as Thales and others can perform a diverse range of functions to serve the interests of society in a crisis like the one we are experiencing today.

COVID-19 has actually provided every company with an opportunity to do a reality check on its corporate purpose and put it to the test. Thales did the same recently and defined its purpose as “building a future we can all trust”—this accurately describes the guiding principles of the company since it was founded almost a century ago. Trust is an important benchmark of purpose. Indeed, other companies have also defined their purpose around the notion of trust, and this just reiterates how big an issue trust has become in our societies. It is, in fact, a challenge so fundamental that we are all going to have to do our part to overcome it.

A corporate’s purpose is its moral compass in such a crisis. It is the important component which helps identify issues that are most crucial to a company’s customers and employees and also determines how its tangible actions and solutions can help them effectively while preserving their safety and security.

For instance, Thales’ corporate purpose revolves around the three components of a future we can all trust: autonomy, resilience, and sustainability. Talking about autonomy, it is important that a company enables its customers to be autonomous in its operations. As a company, we were working alongside our customers during the height of the pandemic to help them carry out their vital operations and retain their autonomy, stay in control and perform their roles while everything around them was grinding to a halt.

Resilience is another key factor which enables organisations to bounce back while also helping partners, customers and suppliers overcome the crisis and return to growth. In terms of sustainability, one needs to remember that, tomorrow, technology providers such as Thales will be required to show material evidence that their resources and capabilities effectively address society’s demands for social and environmental responsibility.

The outlook of a company towards its purpose has consequences not just for corporate accountability but also for value creation. It is the barometer of an organisation’s vision for the value it holds and defines its entire existence. The purpose has value and this value is showcased by the impact the company showcases in society.

The current times we are going through is extraordinary. It is an opportunity for businesses to prove the validity and authenticity of their corporate purpose, particularly in terms of responsibility. The purpose a company beholds allows it to look ahead with those who share its vision and at Thales, we believe that with this shared vision, we can build a future we can all trust, together. It is time to check our facts and transform our words into deeds. As such, it marks the beginning of a new era.

—Patrice Caine is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Thales. The views expressed are personal

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow