Tragic Response to CSR programs by some of India Inc

Just as individual lives are enriched by reserving a portion of their time, effort and money towards service of others or the world around them, corporations are similarly enriched; and just as individual lives become self-centered, selfish and narcissistic without that element of service, so do corporations.

High performance of a company is traditionally measured against business imperatives including competitive differentiation, sales, attracting and retaining talent, operational efficiency, return on investment and profitability. But that is no longer enough. Today, a new element of leadership is making a profound difference in evaluating business organizations through their approach to Corporate Social Responsibility. Some companies are even considering going a step further by making customer satisfaction their prime goal rather than profitability defined within given constraints while including a spend of not just two percent but as much as ten per cent of their net profits for corporate responsibility programs or CSR for short.

Against this backdrop it is tragic if some companies in India are complaining against a new law that mandates corporations spend at least two percent of their net profits towards CSR. Rather than change the law in this direction this author has the following suggestion to modify the law:

Add an amendment to the law : If a company is unable to spend 2 percent of its net profits on CSR an amount equal to twice the amount may be deposited in the Prime Ministers Relief fund ( twice because of a penalty element for dereliction of duty) to be spent from there for distress relief.

This author intends to communicate a link of this suggestion soon after posting here, to the Finance Minister and Prime Minister of India for consideration. On the other hand, if a company is having difficulties in organizing a program, this author will gladly assist any company located in the Nainital- Delhi- Jaipur region (his current base area) in a program towards improving government run and poorly funded education within India for school children for a small consultancy fee. This author has chosen education because of being an educationalist, although desperate needs exist in other areas too such as health and environment.

Corporations that haven’t optimized their approach to CSR may not be considered responsible for much longer. CSR is already influencing how employees, customers, and the world at large is deciding which companies are relevant over the medium and long term. When a worldwide protest is raging against corporate greed and irresponsibility by the 99 percent, it is extremely unwise for any company, to say the least, to speak against CSR in the new informed and interconnected world where corporations are seen as the major cause of rising income and wealth inequalities in the world today despite the much needed goods, services and jobs they provide to the world.

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