Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

In News

• Coal companies carry out various programmes and activities through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds benefit the peripheral areas around coal mines. 

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

• The CSR concept in India is governed by Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013, Schedule VII of the Act and Companies (CSR Policy) Rules, 2014. 
• The Companies Act encourages companies to spend 2% of their average net profit in the previous three years on CSR activities.
• It is a management concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business  operations and interactions with their stakeholders. 
• Key CSR Areas: 
  • Environmental management, 
  • Eco-efficiency, 
  • Responsible sourcing, 
  • Stakeholder engagement, 
  • Labour standards and working conditions, 
  • Employee and community relations, 
  • Social equity, 
  • Gender balance, 
  • Human rights, 
  • Good governance, and 
  • Anti-corruption measures.
• Significance of CSR:
  • Helps companies to achieve a balance of economic, environmental and social imperatives (“Triple-Bottom-Line-Approach”);
  • Companies can make a valuable contribution to poverty reduction; 
  • Enhanced access to capital and markets, increased sales and profits; 
  • Directly enhances the reputation of a company and strengthens its brand image leading to enhanced customer loyalty.

Scientific Social Responsibility (SSR)

• Government has launched guidelines on Scientific Social Responsibility (SSR), on the lines of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
• The SSR guidelines seek to:
  • Harness the latent potential of the scientific community on voluntary basis, 
  • Strengthening science and society linkages and 
  • Making the S & T ecosystem responsive to societal needs. 
• The guidelines have provisions to give due weightage to individual SSR activities in performance evaluation of scientists / knowledge workers. 
• The guidelines also include provision of incentivising individual and institutional SSR activities.

Source: PIB