CSR: A Gift For Children This Mother’s Day

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May 10, 2018

Mother figure is very influential to every child’s personality. Which is why, Mother’s Day is one of the most special and celebrated days in India and across the world.

In India, Mothers are always accounted for a child’s behaviour or actions. They get more credit for a child’s good behaviour and bear the brunt for his misbehaviours. In order to ensure a healthy mental and physical growth for every child, it is important to empower every mother.

There are 8 million institutionalized children around the world, many of whom languish in orphanages without access to nutritious food, clean water, a quality education and medical care. Surprisingly, 80% of these kids have a living family member. Most families wouldn’t leave their children in institutions if they had the right support to care for them. The fact is, many children are in orphanages because their families are poor and can’t afford to feed or educate them. This is no reason to be institutionalized.

To commemorate Mother’s day in a truly meaningful way, Miracle Foundation India has teamed up with Dell to raise funds to brighten up the lives of children without parental supervision and, ultimately, find a loving family for every child.

As a part of this campaign, the foundation will engage with the employees from Dell to run a fundraising campaign. The employees can make a donation in honour of their mom or the special mother figure in their lives. The donations will empower housemothers who shower endless love of a mom on the orphaned children.

The activities will be processed at Dell’s offices in Gurugram (NCR) and Hyderabad.

“Every Mother’s contribution is immense in the growth and development of a kid’s life, and to honor and recognize that, Miracle Foundation is undertaking a tremendous initiative for children without parental care by giving them care and hope to build a strong future. I am happy my extended team could participate and make a difference this Mother’s Day”, said Nupur Puri from the Dell team.

Thank you for reading the story until the very end. We appreciate the time you have given us. In addition, your thoughts and inputs will genuinely make a difference to us. Please do drop in a line and help us do better.

Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

CSR: Financial Inclusion For Farming Community

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The CSR Journal

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May 10, 2018

Financial Inclusion for farming community

Center for Digital Financial Inclusion (CDFI) will be collaborating with Bihar Agriculture Growth and Reform Initiative (BAGRI) to implement the KANCHI platform in eleven districts of Bihar. The project was officially inaugurated by Mr. Gavin McGillivray, Head, DFID India today with the implementation of KANCHI in the Dumraon Farm Producer Company Ltd (DFPCL) FPO in Buxar, Bihar.

The Government of Bihar (GoB) is implementing Bihar Agriculture Growth and Reform Initiative (BAGRI) program with the support of Department for International Development (DFID), UK. BAGRI intends to complement the Government of Bihar in implementation of its Agricultural Road Map for enabling sustainable and inclusive growth leading to poverty reduction in the state.

One of the key deliverables of the BAGRI programme is the formation and strengthening of 20 farmer producer organisations (FPOs). FPOs are being created with a mandate to provide institutional mechanism to small and marginal farmers of Bihar leveraging the principals of economies of scale resulting in significant enhancement of income. These FPOs will operate a one-stop-shop for managing all agri-business needs of farmers named BAGRI Kisan Sewa Kendra (BKSK). FPOs will also be involved in produce aggregation and sell in open market to fetch better price for farmers.

DFID team will be using CDFI’s ‘KANCHI – Kisan Advancement through Cashless Innovations’ for digitising the operations of 20 FPOs in Bihar under this project. The BAGRI programme will impact FPOs spread across 11 districts and benefit approximately 50,000 farmers in the state.

“KANCHI has been developed in order to enable small and marginal farmers’ access to formal credit, technology, cost-effective inputs and markets. Through technology, we can make agriculture more productive, profitable and sustainable. Our aim is to amalgamate small and marginal farmers and weave them into communities with enabling technologies. We envision an integrated digital platform that caters to end-to-end agricultural activities,” said Krishnan Dharmarajan, Executive Director, Centre for Digital Financial Inclusion.

KANCHI is a cost effective digital solution to maximise cashless transactions in agriculture and facilitate small and marginal farmers in securing credit from formal financial institutions by building their financial history. CDFI and NAF are currently piloting KANCHI platform at multiple Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO) in state of Tamil Nadu.

The digital platform aims to:

Ensure that agricultural business transactions are routed through banking channels, thus maximising cashless transactions
Minimize cash transactions where FPOs are involved
Facilitate a constructive engagement between financial institutions and farmers
Increase volume of banking transactions and keep accounts active
Reduce dependence of the rural farmer population on the non-institutional sources of credit

KANCHI is currently being used by 14 FPOs in Tamil Nadu and more than 8,800 farmers have been registered on the platform. Since April 2017, using KANCHI, over Rs 3 million has been directly transferred into the bank accounts of 219 marginal farmers for selling milk at the aggregation centers in Tamil Nadu. Loans worth Rs 7.3 million to 173 farmers and their repayments are now digitised under the KANCHI pilot in Tamil Nadu.

Thank you for reading the story until the very end. We appreciate the time you have given us. In addition, your thoughts and inputs will genuinely make a difference to us. Please do drop in a line and help us do better.

Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

Reviving And Preserving Folk Art

By

Hency Thacker

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May 9, 2018

India is known for its rich heritage, culture and traditions. The art and fashion in the country is often a reflection to these. Folk art forms of India are highly popular in the international market. However, some of them are losing its existence, because of the complexity of the work, time consuming procedures and low returns to the artisans.

The rural artisans, who are the authentic source of these handmade folk arts, often have no other skills. The low yields discourage them to keep pursuing the art and passing on to others. This is one of the major reasons of loss of these forms. It is also one of the reasons why these artisans leave their villages to move to city, in order to earn a livelihood. The move does not always work well for them, and these talented artists end up working as laborers.

Several organizations and NGOs have focused their attention on these artists and art forms. Shrujan in the Kutch region of Gujarat is working towards the cause of craft revival and entrepreneurship. The non-profit works with the craftswomen of Kutch to revitalize the craft of hand embroidery. The organization provide these artists with a platform where they make the art they have known so well from generations, and sell it in exhibitions and shops all over the country and abroad.

Working in a similar direction is YES BANK, in association with Concern India Foundation and Jaypore.com.

YES BANK has announced the launch of ‘From Rural Cluster to Urban Market’, a cluster development program in Barmer, Rajasthan to provide skill and design development training to 1000 women artisans over a period of one year. As part of the initiative, the women artisans will receive support in the creation and sustenance of market linkages, with on-boarding of retail partners such as Jaypore. The project is spearheaded by the YES Arts & Culture wing of YES Global Institute.

Barmer, the fifth largest district in India, is known for rich crafts, folk dance and music. The arid weather makes agriculture a seasonal occupation and embroidery work, practiced by women, has proved increasingly difficult given market challenges. The ‘From Rural Cluster to Urban Market’ project will work on improving livelihood sustenance via a two-pronged approach of –

Equipping women with the latest skills in stitching and designing. The project entails an intensive design programme, wherein a professional designer will steer artisans and assist them in developing new products with the traditional technique of appliqué.
Developing key market linkages via marketing partner for the project – Jaypore.com. The new product lines, relevant to urban customers, will be introduced to new markets as well be sold on Jaypore.com.

Rana Kapoor, MD & CEO, YES BANK and Chairman, YES Global Institute said, “We are committed to the revival, preservation and sustenance of India’s rich cultural heritage. We need public-private engagement in this segment more than any other, such that the original and historical ‘Make in India’ products can be revived. Integrating disciplines like fashion, design and craft is an ideal way to foster ‘Craft in India’ through quality innovation. Artisans are the custodians of indigenous craft, and training efforts must be pushed at the grassroots; Crafts are not only our heritage, but also our global comparative advantage”.

Thank you for reading the story until the very end. We appreciate the time you have given us. In addition, your thoughts and inputs will genuinely make a difference to us. Please do drop in a line and help us do better.

Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

CSR: Humanity In Calamity

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The CSR Journal

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May 9, 2018

93.5 RED FM has come to the rescue of storm affected people in Kolkata, through their inimitable initiative called Umeedon Ka Repair. Piloted by RJ Praveen on his Morning No.1 Show, Umeedon Ka Repair aims to help people in re-building their lives. Last week a massive storm had hit the city leaving behind a trail of destruction which many in Kolkata had been coping with. The aftermath led to huge property damage in the slum areas and had made several citizens completely homeless. This catastrophe has uprooted them leading to seek refuge in shelters or depending on generosity of their friends.

Amidst such an utterly hopeless condition few devastated residents of Kolkata called up RJ Praveen on his Morning No.1 Show requesting for help. Dharmendra Misra, one of the victims called up Praveen and reported that his roof had completely broken down. Praveen immediately took up the cause, visited the victim’s house and made detailed follow up for the next few days where every development was put on air. He met the local councillor Gautam Haldar who pledged on air to provide aid in fixing Dharmender’s house. The restoration work for Misra’s home started effectively after that!

However, the radio station just didn’t stop there. Amplifying community voices on his morning show, RJ Praveen reached out to more storm victims. Mina Mistri from Camp Bagan was another caller whose small home had totally collapsed. Immediately Praveen himself pledged on air to re-build her house within a stipulated time of one week, so that her nine-member family could shift to their home quickly.

“Even in the face of adversity we must keep our resilient spirit alive. There has been a lot of devastation and heart-rending loss after the storm,” said RJ Praveen. “We have pledged to rehabilitate Dharmendra Misra and Mina Mistri at the earliest and get them back on their feet soon. Tragedy can be unavoidable but the road to recovery shouldn’t be,” he added.

Presently, the entire process of reconstruction is being covered on-air and on digital. Everyone can watch the progress of rebuilding homes sustainably and speedily on RED FM’s official Facebook page and Instagram handle. Apart from rehabilitating these individuals, the radio station has always been a platform for transmitting vital information during emergencies which enables easy connectivity within a community. Keeping the city connected on one platform, 93.5 RED FM is committed to spreading kindness and hope in the community.

Thank you for reading the story until the very end. We appreciate the time you have given us. In addition, your thoughts and inputs will genuinely make a difference to us. Please do drop in a line and help us do better.

Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

CSR: Books For Right To Education

By

Hency Thacker

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May 8, 2018

It is rightly said that Education is the key to success. It is like a light of dawn after an extended darkness of ignorance, illiteracy, poverty and everything else that holds us back from becoming a superpower. Government of India has realised the importance of education and is working towards providing quality education to every individual in the country.

Books are enablers to education. And in order to support the cause of education as a right to every individual, Alibaba Group, in association with Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust had launched a social initiative known as Mission Million Books.

Mission Million Books is a pan India initiative aimed at providing the underserved with access to quality educational material for their growth and advancement. The project seeks to donate 1 million books to schools and colleges in India, to help students in their journey for education. The organisations work with its partners to secure books through donations from across the country, subsequently providing them to unprivileged schools and colleges for free. Several partners have supported this initiative – including Ecom Express, Paytm Mall, Hindustan Times, Carnival Cinemas, Stones2Milestones, World Bank Book Project and Nawa Samaj Mandal.

“They say reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. It’s a pity that many deserving, curious children and youth in our country do not even have access to good quality reading material,” said Mr. Vinay Bhartia, Senior Vice President – Strategic Partnership, Alibaba.com

The fourth book donation drive was hosted by the two partners in Mumbai on Apr. 24. Representatives from over 1000 schools and colleges came to handpick books that would help their students by providing better quality reading material. On display were over 350,000 books ranging from storybooks and textbooks on science, social studies, engineering and more. With this drive, the Mission Million Books initiative has successfully empowered over 2.5 million students across more than 2000 schools and colleges across Maharashtra, by collecting and donating over 700,000 books so far.

“Our endeavour is to provide good quality reading material to as many youngsters in the country as possible. We are grateful to everyone for supporting us on this journey,” Mr. Bhartia added.

Thank you for reading the story until the very end. We appreciate the time you have given us. In addition, your thoughts and inputs will genuinely make a difference to us. Please do drop in a line and help us do better.

Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

CSR: Mobilising Financing For Development Needed

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The CSR Journal

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May 8, 2018

Mobilizing financing for development remains a fundamental priority in the Asia-Pacific region. The robust growth registered by the region in 2017 and promising prospects for this year provides the opportunity to meet this objective, according to a major United Nations report launched in Bangkok. Taking advantage of the current favorable economic conditions, economies need to address vulnerabilities and enhance their resilience, inclusiveness and sustainability. Implementation of several policy initiatives to achieve this transformation will require mobilizing domestic public financial resources and leveraging private capital, the report noted.

According to the annual Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific, developing economies are estimated to have sustained a relatively high economic growth rate of 5.8 per cent in 2017 compared with 5.4 per cent in 2016. About two thirds of the regional economies, accounting for more than 80 per cent of the region’s GDP, achieved faster economic growth in 2017 than in the previous year.

The recent recovery in global manufacturing, investment and trade is providing a tailwind to the already steady expansion of economic output in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition to robust consumption, investment expenditures and trade volumes, which showed lukewarm growth in recent years, showed signs of recovery in 2017. Firmer global demand and increased public infrastructure outlays supported the uptick in trade and investment.

The report points out that due to robust domestic demand and improved global economic prospects, developing economies in the region are projected to grow by 5.5 per cent in both 2018 and 2019, with a slight moderation in China offset by a recovery in India and steady performance in the rest of the region.

However this diagnostic does not imply that there are no risks or challenges. Potential financial vulnerabilities along with high private and corporate debt, particularly in China and some countries in South-East Asia, declining or low foreign exchange reserves in a few South Asian economies and uncertainty concerning trends in oil prices must be closely monitored.

“With regard to the medium-term outlook, potential economic growth is on a downward trend in several countries owing to population ageing, slower capital accumulation and modest productivity growth,” said United Nations Under-Secretary-General and ESCAP Executive Secretary Dr. Shamshad Akhtar during the launch of Survey 2018. At the same time, “rapid technological advancements, while promising immense opportunities are also posing considerable challenges in terms of job polarization and income and wealth inequalities,” Dr. Akhtar added.

To address these risks and challenges, monetary and financial policies should be focused on ensuring macroeconomic and financial stability and tackling systemic risks in the financial system through appropriate macroprudential measures. Fiscal policy should be focused on lifting productivity growth and reducing inequalities. In addition to budget reallocation in favor of development spending, governments should increase expenditure efficiency, ensure equal access to basic public services, and consider progressive taxation.

The Survey argues that lifting productivity will require a “whole-of-Government approach” for fostering science, technology and innovation and investments in relevant skills and infrastructure. Similarly, strengthening social protection and mainstreaming resource efficiency targets into national plans and budgets will help improve region’s economic dynamism and prospects for sustainable development.

Additionally, strengthening tax revenues remains a high priority for several economies in the region, and this can be improved in several ways. For instance, the Survey finds that the impact of better-quality tax administration on revenues is significant. A one-point increase in a new tax administration index, presented in the report, is associated with a tax revenue increase of 0.15 per cent of GDP. It is estimated that if Asia-Pacific countries have the same tax administration efficiency than OECD countries, revenue impact could be as high as 8 per cent of GDP in such countries as Myanmar or Tajikistan; and about 3 to 4 per cent of GDP in larger countries, such as China, India or Indonesia.

Expanding the tax base by rationalizing foreign direct investment (FDI) tax incentives, introducing a carbon tax, and prudently increasing sovereign borrowings from financial markets while preserving debt sustainability, are other examples of policies that can be implemented to enhance public revenues and facilitate fiscal space commensurate with the investments necessary to achieve the 2030 Agenda. “The bottom line is that the prospects for mobilizing financing for development purposes are promising,” Dr. Akhtar concluded.

Thank you for reading the story until the very end. We appreciate the time you have given us. In addition, your thoughts and inputs will genuinely make a difference to us. Please do drop in a line and help us do better.

Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

जिंदा है जिन्ना का जिन्न।

By

Rahuldeo Sharma

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May 7, 2018

भारत पाकिस्तान के बंटवारे का जिम्मेदार और पाकिस्तान के संस्थापक मोहम्मद अली जिन्ना की तस्वीर का नया मुद्दा सामने आया है, इस मुद्दे ने एक बार फिर से देश मे हिंदू मुस्लिम की राजनीति इतनी गर्म कर दी है कि राजनीतिक पार्टियों को बैठे बिठाए एक मुद्दा मिल गया, और इस मुद्दे से हिंदू मुस्लिम राजनीति करने वाले गदगद हैं। राम मंदिर, गाय, वंदेमातरम, तिरंगा यात्रा इन सब से अलग एक नया मुद्दा राजनीती के सिपासलहकारों ने हाथों हाथ ले लिया और एक बार फिर से ‘जिन्ना का ये जिन्न’ अलीगढ़ मुस्लिम यूनिवर्सिटी के पिटारे से निकला, जब अलीगढ़ के बीजेपी सांसद सतीश गौतम ने यूनिवर्सिटी के वीसी को चिठ्ठी लिख कर पूछा कि एएमयू छात्रसंघ के हॉल में जिन्ना की तस्वीर क्यों लगा रखी हैं। जिस सतीश गौतम ने जिन्ना की तस्वीर हटाने की अब चिठ्ठी लिखी है वे तीन साल तक एएमयू कोर्ट के सदस्य रह चुके हैं, तब उन्हें तस्वीर हटाने का खयाल क्यों नहीं आया? पूरे मामले पर यूपी के मुख्यमंत्री योगी आदित्यनाथ इसे सेंट्रल यूनिवर्सिटी का मामला बता कर पल्ला झाड़ रहे हैं और देश के शिक्षामंत्री प्रकाश जावड़ेकर चुप्पी साधे हैं। वही सड़क पर हिंदू मुस्लिम संगठन एक दूसरे के खून के प्यासे हो गए हो। एएमयू छात्रसंघ हॉल में जिन्ना की तस्वीर लगी हुई है, वे इसे न हटाने के लिए इतिहास से लेकर वर्तमान तक को कुरेद रहे है साथ ही ध्रुवीकरण की राजनीति के लिए जमीन तैयार करने के लिए सभी ने अपनी सहूलियत के हिसाब से मोर्चा भी संभाल लिया है। शिक्षा के मंदिर में सभी लोग राजनीतिक जमीन की तलाश में जुट गए है।

एक तरफ संघ और बीजेपी के समर्थक तस्वीर ही नहीं देशभक्ति पर भी सवाल खड़े करने लगे तो वहीं एएमयू में फोटो होने के समर्थकों ने तर्क रखा कि जिन्ना को विश्वविद्यालय छात्रसंघ की आजीवन सदस्यता 1938 में दी गई थी। जिन्ना विश्वविद्यालय कोर्ट के संस्थापक सदस्य थे और उन्होंने दान भी दिया था। अब सोचने और ठंडे दिमाग से समझने की बात यह है कि क्या यह भी कोई विवाद है? अगर हां, तो देश में बीजेपी की सरकार केंद्र और राज्य दोनों जगहों पर है, क्या करीब 1×1 फुट की एक फोटो को दीवार से उतारने के लिए स्पेशल कमांडोज के दस्ते की जरूरत पड़ती जो यह फैसला जल्दी नहीं लिया गया और इसे इतना बढ़ने दिया गया? आज के इस दौर में माहौल कुछ ऐसा हो गया है कि कोई भी मामूली विवाद हिंदू मुस्लिम का साम्प्रदायिक रंग अखितयार कर लेता है। जिन्ना विवाद भी कुछ इसी तरह रहा।

अलीगढ़ मुस्लिम विश्वविद्यालय के छात्र संघ भवन में मोहम्मद अली जिन्ना की तस्वीर लगे होने पर छिड़ा वैचारिक विवाद अब हिंसक संघर्ष तक पहुंच गया है, बुधवार को एएमयू गेट पर प्रदर्शन कर रहे हिन्दू संगठनों से जुड़े कुछ छात्रों का पुलिस और विश्वविद्यालय के छात्रों के साथ हिंसक संघर्ष हुआ जिसमें कई लोगों को चोटें भी आईं, फिलहाल स्थिति शांतिपूर्ण बताई जा रही है लेकिन तनाव लगातार बना हुआ है। दरअसल, एएमयू, बीएचयू और जेएनयू ये तीनों विश्वविद्यालय तभी से किसी न किसी रूप में विवादों में हैं जब से केंद्र में एनडीए सरकार आई है। पहले जेएनयू को कथित तौर पर राष्ट्रविरोधी ताकतों के अड्डे के रूप में प्रचारित करने की कोशिश की गई और वहां काफी विवाद हुआ, उसके बाद बीएचयू में भी राष्ट्रवाद जैसे मुद्दों पर महीनों हंगामा चलता रहा और अब एएमयू में यही सारी चीजें देखने को मिल रही हैं। शिक्षा के मंदिर में साम्प्रदायिक विवाद देश की राजनीतिक व्यवस्था पर चोट ही है। चाहे जो हो आजादी के 71 साल बाद इस प्रकार से जिन्ना का जिन्न बाहर आना और उसके नाम पर विकृत राजनीति होना बेहद खतरनाक संकेत है। इसको यहीं पर रोकना होगा।

CSR: 3×3 Pro Basketball League Comes To India

By

Hency Thacker

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May 7, 2018

Sports is an important component in socio-economic development of any country. It not only promotes productivity and fitness in the community but also helps in generating good leaders, reduces medical expenses, imbibes discipline and enhances social cohesion. Community participation in sport also represents the character and culture of a country.

India does not have much of a sport culture as yet. Other than cricket, no sport is given a significant importance. Pursuing a career in sports is not really encouraged by the society. In order to change this, the Ministry of Sports in India is working towards promoting various sports and developing better infrastructure for them. Even the film industry in India is doing its bit by promoting various sports and removing the stigma of having a career in sports. Several organizations and non profits are also working towards enabling, encouraging and promoting sports among the youth of the country

One such organization is Hi5 Youth Foundation that aims to revolutionize the state of basketball in India from the grassroot level. Hi5 currently supports over 1200 students across 13 BMC schools, one YMCA center, and one residential school. They identify young and promising talent across these schools and centers and nurture them to enhance their performance.

The fastest growing urban team sport in the world, 3×3 Basketball came to India for the first time with 3BL – 3×3 Pro Basketball League. Children from Hi5 Youth Foundation had the opportunity to not only learn a new format of the game but also meet their dream basketball superstars Satnam Singh, Amjyot Singh and PalpreetSingh Brar. The basketball icons made the children feel comfortable as they interacted with them, getting to know them better and encouraged them to chase their aspirations.

3BL is an Intellectual property of YKBK Enterprise Pvt. Ltd. that has been granted the exclusive rights by FIBA 3×3 for the Indian sub-continent, making it the first ever FIBA 3×3 recognised basketball league in India & the Sub-continent.

Usha Sundar, Co-founder of Hi5 Youth Foundation said, “Children are the future of a nation. For an emerging country like India, mental as well as physical development of underprivileged children holds the key to the progress of the nation itself, and their physical well being is the cornerstone of this progress.”

3×3 Basketball is a 10-minute high-speed basketball tournament and it officially became an Olympic sport in June 2017. It will be introduced in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The inaugural season of 3BL in India, featuring 12 teams with international and Indian sensations like Amjyot Singh, Palpreet Singh Brarand international basketball sensations like Bikramjit Gill, Inderbir Singh Gill, Leandro Lima and many more, will be played in six cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Aizawl, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore. The winners of the tournament(s) will get to represent India at the FIBA World Tour(s).

R Sundar, Co-founder of Hi5 Youth Foundation said, “Sports brings cultures together and bridges gaps across generations. It is recognised as an essential element of learning through physical activities and games. These activities have been a great motivator to enhance the spirit of learning and leadership, especially amongst the children.”

Thank you for reading the story until the very end. We appreciate the time you have given us. In addition, your thoughts and inputs will genuinely make a difference to us. Please do drop in a line and help us do better.

Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

CSR: Health Camps For Truck Drivers

By

The CSR Journal

-

May 7, 2018

Truck drivers in India lead a very unhealthy lifestyle. They are mentally and physically unhealthy many times for being away from family, working long hours and surviving in unhygienic conditions. Truck drivers control 65% of freight traffic in India which is based on road transportation. It is worth an effort to improve their lifestyles in order to keep the economy growing.

In an attempt to contribute towards improvement of healthcare facilities for these very important characters of the Indian economy, Shell Lubricants India has announced free health camps for truck drivers and mechanics, commencing from 26 April 2018. The camps are held at the Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar, Delhi. They are aimed at encouraging regular heath check-ups for truck drivers and its importance for their ‘on-road’ performance.

Inaugurated by Ms. Mansi Madan Tripathy, Country Head, Shell Lubricants India Cluster and Mr. Gareth Flood, Chief Marketing Officer, Shell Lubricants India, the Delhi health camp is the first of five that will be introduced at various locations across India. The Delhi camp witnessed over 200 participants on the first day and is set to continue for a month. Truck drivers are provided free health examinations and counsel, after testing for BMI, blood pressure and sugar levels among other vitals. These are administered under the supervision of trusted medical service providers.

This intervention by Shell is a testament to their commitment towards ensuring a holistic development of their driver partners and mechanics and contributing to a safe driving environment. The health camps will address the health needs of truck drivers and contribute to their overall well-being and driving performance while potentially preventing accidents.

Commenting on the initiative, Ms. Mansi Madan Tripathy, said, “At Shell India, we believe that ensuring road safety is imperative for all. Extending this belief across our operations, we not only strive to provide premium care to our valuable partners across operations, but also aim to give our best to the society at large. This initiative is an attempt to celebrate the unsung heroes who work tirelessly to deliver an exceptional standard of service. We are positive that our attendees will find these camps beneficial and adopt recommended health check-ups as a regular practice.”

Shell is also inviting truck drivers, mechanics and their families to participate in health camps in Agra, Jaipur, Lucknow and Ambala, in its endeavor to spread awareness about the importance of being healthy and safe on the road.

Thank you for reading the story until the very end. We appreciate the time you have given us. In addition, your thoughts and inputs will genuinely make a difference to us. Please do drop in a line and help us do better.

Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

Technology – An Enabler for Corporate Social Responsibility

By

Namita Vikas, Group President & Global Head, Climate Strategy & Responsible Banking, YES Bank

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May 5, 2018

Over the past four years, India Inc. has progressively adopted the national CSR directive having spent more than INR 30,000 Crores, with over INR 9,000 Crores invested in FY 2017-18 alone. This expenditure surpassed expectations and brought to fore the need for enhanced governance and accountability measures, strengthened with quantifiable social impact.

Given that CSR interventions entail participation of multiple stakeholders directly or indirectly, i.e. the investors, implementing agencies, beneficiaries and the communities, and are becoming increasingly complex with multiple tiers of implementation, a streamlined project management approach is required. Adopting innovative technological solutions, such as Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), could be the path forward for reimagining CSR in India. These disruptive technologies can offer a wide array of solutions to the hurdles faced during execution of the CSR projects.

Revolutionary technologies such as Blockchain would allow multiple stakeholders involved in CSR projects to access reliable information at their own convenience. Blockchain based smart contracts would enable transparent communication aided by digital contracts. The traceability of records through project lifecycle provides support in disclosures, and would facilitate access to philanthropists, investors and regulatory bodies.

Recognising the potential of IoT, the manufacturing sector has been actively integrating it with operations which is resulting in better optimisation and efficiency. Similarly, corporates can leverage the use of IoT for social development. For example, IoT could prove valuable in agriculture, if used acutely. Weather conditions can be mapped to water requirement and crop pattern of a particular agricultural field and aligned with automated pump for required water dispensation. This could benefit farmers in enhancing their efficiency and increasing the harvest. Given the nascent stage of said technology, CSR spend could be utilised for pilot launch, showcasing advantages associated with it and mitigating risks of the farmers. With the count of IoT enabled objects to reach 30 billion by 2020, IoT would bring sea-changes in CSR activities.

Stakeholder management and impact analysis is often quite a challenge for organisations executing CSR projects. Most often, data may not be readily available and even in cases where it is available, there is a severe lack of standardised information, making it extremely ineffective for analysis and impact measurement. Big Data could be a breakthrough in CSR project management with instant analysis and actionable insights. For example, CSRHub, by aggregating and normalising the information from 530 data sources, has created a broad, consistent rating system and a robust database that links millions of rating elements back to their source. Data management solutions enabled by blockchain coupled with Big Data can be instrumental in reducing human errors and contribute to successful management of CSR projects.

Alignment of technology with CSR operations is inevitable, as stakeholders are expecting disclosures beyond expenditure, and more attuned to social impact. Beneficiary identification and measurement of social outcome requires careful consideration to avoid duplication of impact numbers. Biometrics and data systems may be employed to effectively collate, screen and verify impact of the projects. Aadhar based authentication is an example of a robust use case where beneficiaries can be identified and traced through biometrics. Analytical tools like Social return on investment (SROI) would allow the quantification of social impact in a more extensive and logical manner.

In this era of increasing internet penetration and growing social network, digital media provides a perfect platform for CSR activities to reach a global audience. With advancements in technology, the future holds exciting opportunities and technological innovations have the potential to transform the way CSR is executed. Incorporating technology into CSR would not only improve the confidence of stakeholders, but would also streamline CSR efforts towards identifying and creating long term shared value.

Namita Vikas is Group President & Global Head, Climate Strategy & Responsible Banking at YES BANK. As the Chief Sustainability Officer of the Bank, she spearheads Sustainable Development and CSR, thus driving sustainability principles within its core operations and its value chain towards creating stakeholder value. Namita has an Advanced Management Degree in CSR and Leadership from the Swenska Institute, Sweden.

Views of the author are personal and do not necessarily represent the website’s views.

Thank you for reading the story until the very end. We appreciate the time you have given us. In addition, your thoughts and inputs will genuinely make a difference to us. Please do drop in a line and help us do better.

Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

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