Corporate social responsibility: agenda for inclusive growth

The Indian Prime Minister had sometime ago,regretted that growth should be more inclusive, and the rich should share the benefits of growth, with the huge masses, who have no access to good water, education, food and shelter. The President of India has also expressed her anguish recently, when she mentioned that the benefits of economic liberalization, have not reached the poorest of the poor families.

In this context, the concept of corporate social responsibility is extremely important. It is a viable tool for inclusive growth of a tall order.

Corporate Social Responsibility simply means that every Corporate organization behaves like a responsible corporate citizen -- its pays it taxes properly, is accountable to the larger society around its manufacturing plants, by not discharging harmful effluents to the neighbouring farms and gardens or houses, is ethical in terms of dealings with Government officials and so on. This is the only way in which the society will stand to benefit, as the Government will also have some resources to provide for the very poor people, in terms of education, drinking water and so on.

Certain corporates are known to have done excellent work. For instance, the Tatas support the entire infrastructure of Jamshedpur. In Chennai, several corporates run good English medium schools that cater to the wider public. In the rural areas, the JK group companies have good schools and more than adequate infrastructure to nurture talents singing, dancing, painting and so on, of all their employees and their children.

Organizations like BHEL are known to have done commendable work. However, a lot of work still needs to be done. This can be done through liberal donation of computers, support in terms of financing the salaries of teachers, providing free tuition for students taking the std X and std XII public examinations and so on. Even in the field of soft skills, including good communication skills in English, corporates can appoint a few teachers to teach vernacular-medium students, and help them become good employable human resources.

Wherever English language skills are not so important, the BPO companies can open up BPO centres in small towns and rural areas where manpower is available in plenty. In fact, they will be doing a great job, as otherwise such manpower will migrate to the cities in search of gainful employment.

Corporate Social responsibility is one responsibility that should be taken very seriously by corporates. This will help bridge the urban-rural divide, and give more income in the hands of the poor, which will in turn, help to sustain good economic growth rates.

CSR is the need of the hour. Every Corporate should do its bit to help society grow and flourish.

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