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Introduction
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is concept much
in currency during the last few years. It is also an
attractive concept linking the corporate sector with
the social sector. Recently the Prime Minister of India
gave a clarion call to the corporate sector regarding
their responsibilities. This did create a lot of impact
and has made the NGO sector curious about the new developments.
AFFILIATES
The Emergence of Global Compact and CSR:
In recent times there are many ideas have emerged that
echo the principle of trusteeship directly or indirectly.
Atypical example is the fair trade movement. To cap
all these movements came a concept around 2000 A.D
through the United Nations.
Mr.Kofi Annan proposed the concepts of “Global
Compact”. This idea has been endorsed also by Mr.
Ban-hi-Moon, the present Secretary General of the UN.
CSR in Action
A large member of examples exists to illustrate to the
principle of CSR. The activities of Ford Foundation,
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, etc. are well known. A
good example to illustrate the involvement of knowledge
sector will be Lemelson Foundation. Lemelson was
an inventor from USA who was credited with about 550
patents because of which he became a multi billionaire.
He created the Lemelson Foundation to provide support
to grassroots inventors and entrepreneurs who are willing
to play a role in the amelioration of poverty and problems
related to agriculture, environment etc. It might be
noted that the Indian branch of this foundation is operation
in IIT Madras.
In India INFOSYS (who operate through their own NGO)
SATYAM etc. are becoming known for their socially responsible
activities. Satyam Computers has initiated a project
with the goal of saving nearly one million deaths in
Andhra Pradesh due to road accidents. Of course a huge
part of the capital investment comes from the government. But
still the initiative and the management input from Satyam
is unimaginably great and would indicate that a thousand
such initiatives would help solve most of the problems
of the country.
The concept of enlightened self interest
While a few business houses under take CSR projects
are working in an unselfish spirit there are many others
who judiciously combine the development of their own
business with the development of the society.
TVS is a very good example of the former case. Their
project in Tamil Nadu range from watershed development
to tribal development spanning all areas of region specific
rural development. They have also come forward
to establish an Institute of Corporate Social Responsibility
in Chennai in collaboration with the Confederation of
Indian Industries (CII).
The example of ITC falls under the latter category. They
have established ten thousands of e-chaupals mainly in
Madhya Pradesh. It is an excellent example of how a business
organization could provide huge infrastructure related
to e-connectivity for the villages to hand their purchases
and sales more effectively. It is also an example to
show how the above process could be intimately linked
to their own business objectives.
Emerging model with scope for NGO participation
The example of Siruthuli (small drops) in Coimbatore
is indeed very enlightening. The business houses
in and around Coimbatore federated the name of Siruthuli,
to set right the messy problem related to water management. Their
work involved deepening the lakes clearing the inflow
channels and ameliorating the pollution of water downstream. Their
aim is also to improve the ground water level which has
dipped to an alarmingly low level in the Coimbatore region. The
leadership provided by Mrs.Vinita Mohan of pricol is
well known. The Siruthuli activities have involved
the society also in a very big way. The role of
NGOs in mobilizing and education the public in such ventures
is obvious.
The example of Hindustan Lever is also quite exciting.
Earlier Unilver, the parent organization, created a campaign
of ‘washing hands’. They communicated
to the masses that their children were killing themselves
because they were not cleaning their hands. The hands
should be cleaned, of course, with Lifebuoy Soap! (See
how enlightened self interest opeates?)
Shakti – a project of Unilever and similarly ‘Vindhya
Valley’ products of Hindustan Lever had similar
aim. They provided brand name (and market support)
to products like masala produced by women’s SHGs. The
technology and quality support provided by the company
was crucial. In such projects the NGOs could perhaps
help organize and empower the women groups and the corporate
sector could provide global linkage. This would
be a working model in the coming era of globalization.
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