Draft spoke big of CSR,policy does a somersault

The draft had even talked about a committee consisting of Director,CSR (of a company),an officer attached to the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) and an officer nominated by the district collector to decide CSR activities,allocate funds provided by the corporate groups and government,and monitor the progress of such activities.

These were to include things such as adopting primary and community health centres on the PPP model,supporting nutritional programmes in villages,enhancing capacities and reach of NGO services,enhancing technical competence and manpower (including vocational training),besides helping the government to implement sanitation and environment-related programmes

Significantly,though Narendra Modi had made it mandatory for the state-run PSEs to contribute 30 per cent of their profit before tax to social causes as part of their CSR,not all PSEs budged. Shareholders of two PSEs –the Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Ltd (GACL) and Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilisers Co (GNFC) – had vehemently voted against the idea. This,coupled with apprehensions of turning away new investments,had contributed to the government backtracking on its CSR plans.

The new industrial policy announced today talks only about a “flexible and optional arrangement between the state and business” in respect of CSR,which is presented under the label ‘Wealth with Social Health’. Business,the policy document says,should synergise with the state to improve social health in surrounding areas; so,we intend to develop a flexible and optional arrangement between the state and business.