Compliance with any rule or regulation is not CSR said Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, Director General and CEO of Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India while addressing a gathering of 150 Environment and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Professionals and Experts who assembled in Chandigarh at Hotel JW Marriott to discuss for next two days on "Aligning Sustainability and CSR with Organizational Goals". The two-day National meet on Environment & CSR which is being organized by Delhi based NGO Greentech Foundation in support with the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs; Government of India was inaugurated by Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, today morning.
Adding further he said, it is sad to note that Delhi is found to be the world’s most polluted city beating China’s Capital Beijing by a study of Yale University which found national capital Delhi the world's most polluted city. Supreme Court has done incredible job to help Delhi administration contain pollution in Delhi to a large extend. All the polluting DTC Buses, Autos are now thing of past. In those places green buses have come, but still we read such news. It mystifies me. It gives me pain, he said and hoped that Delhi will be back in reckoning as the pollution free city soon. And informed that CSR which is made compulsory under the Companies Act which was passed by Indian Parliament comes into effect from 1st April, 2014. All the companies with turnover of Rs 1,000 crore and more -- or a net worth of Rs 500 crore and more or net profit of Rs 5 crore and more -- will have to spend at least 2 per cent of their three-year average profit every year on CSR activity.
This two-day national meet is held in the backdrop of New Companies Act with substantial CSR component coming into force from April 1st, 2014. From then on all 16,245 companies registered companies have to nominate 3 members of their CSR Committee from their Board. Companies can’t do whatever they want and claim it as a CSR activity according to the new law.
Anything done for your employees is not CSR, it is a human resource activity. Compliance with any rule or regulation is not CSR, Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee said and asked companies to do beyond the rule and do it voluntarily. Any activity done must have been the part of the CSR Policy of the company which must be also made available on the company’s website. CSR must be conducted by professional implementation using implementing agencies. Any activity that is not a project is not CSR, the Project should have a starting time and an ending time. And lastly the activity that has not been given board approval, passed by the board and does not have a board resolution number is not CSR. These are the golden rules for the CSR activity to bear in mind he said. You must all gear for the same by 31st March, 2014 he said. And added that declare every single activity you propose to do during 2014-15 and must be incorporated in the plan before 31st March, 2014 he said.
As a result of this Companies Charity activities will go manifold, observed Kamleshwar Sharan, President, Greentech Foundation. And also the CSR economy also expected to grow, say experts participating in the meet. Unlike in the past the companies are required to spend in structured manner. It is estimated that registered companies in India will spend Rs 20,000 crore on CSR activities alone in 2014 and 2015.
The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, which Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee heads is an autonomous organization established under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India to function as a capacity building institution and for rendering policy advice to the Government of India on issues relating to Corporate.
Earlier welcoming the gathering Kamleshwar Sharan, President, Greentech Foundation said the objectives of the meet are to encourage and motivate companies to adopt best practices.
Besides CSR the meet is discussing on Sustainability, which is important to making sure that we have and will continue to have, the water, materials, and resources to protect human health and our environment. We are consuming so much of these, and so quickly, that we are already living far beyond the earth's capacity to support us.
Today's organizations must be increasingly mindful of the impact that their operations have on society. It is in this context the theme "Aligning Sustainability and CSR with Organizational Goals” said Kamleshwar Sharan.
The two-day conference is discussing Environment Protection and CSR issues being faced by industry, service sectors and corporates and the ways to overcome the challenges, informed Kamleshwar Sharan.
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