How Effective Are Mass Plantation Projects?

July 10, 2017

Madhya Pradesh government recently planted 67 million trees along the Narmada river, setting a Guinness Book World Record. The campaign was organised by the government with 24 districts in the Narmada river basin chosen as planting sites. The fertility of the basin will increase the saplings’ chances of survival. Over 1.5 million volunteers helped plant 20 different species of trees. This comes soon after the Maharashtra government launched its Green Army project, another mass plantation drive to increase the state’s forest cover. Last year, the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh planted 50 million trees in one day. In Nagpur last year, under the Green Maharashtra initiative by the BJP, 2 crore trees were planted.

The campaign went by the Madhya Pradesh government went on for 12 hours and a GPS reading of the site of the plantation was used to verify the plantation. Two witnesses were present to monitor each plantation along with 50 other volunteers present on the location. Officials from the forest department were also present to assist with the campaign. Forest guards and volunteers ensure the health of the saplings after they’re planted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has highlighted India’s commitment in the Paris Climate Agreement, earlier this year. India is the third largest in carbon emissions in the world. We have also pledged to increase our forest cover by five million hectares before 2030. This is one of the chief factors behind these plantation drives being carried out on such a large and record-breaking scale. Even the Nagpur drive was registered in the Limca Book of Records. These campaigns are an excellent example of citizen participation and government involvement in environmental preservation. But the efficiency and success of these movements can only be determined by the final outcome.

Three months after the Nagpur plantation drive, Times Of India published a report claiming that 90% of the saplings planted as part of the Green Maharashtra campaign wasn’t even standing. The forest officials, corporates, NGOs and volunteers who were responsible for taking care of the saplings shrugged off the responsibility when asked. Politicians in power then had either been transferred or taken up another department. The corporates and organisations forget about the campaigns after they are launched and reach the stage where attention is crucial.

Sustainability and environment have come to the forefront as a major public concern. It is important to ensure that these major issues are not used as political gimmicks by parties to strengthen their vote banks. The corporates donate the money for the projects but no steps are taken to ensure that the activity is a success. These projects have the potential of real impact and change but the intent behind them is of grave importance. Therefore, the participants in these campaigns have to take steps to make sure that they don’t become prey to appeasement by those in power.

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.

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The CSR Journal Team
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Is It Time For ‘Reimagining Sustainability’?

Ankush Patel, CEO, Treeni Sustainability Solutions

July 8, 2017

There is a sense of fatigue with people deeply involved in sustainability caused by never ending reporting cycles, many standards and frameworks to disclose against and the difficulty in measuring impact. Are we approaching sustainability in the wrong way? For most enterprises sustainability has meant energy efficiency programs and writing sustainability reports, reports that, unfortunately, very few people read and care about. This process is effort intensive, manual, inefficient and frustrating for most people involved. This is a poor way to engage with employees that are passionate about sustainability and does a disservice to their skills, time and intellect. Keep in mind that many of these employees are millennials, and understand more than anyone else what is happening around sustainability and care deeply that the company they work for is truly making an impact.

At the same time, the sustainability landscape is changing rapidly. The recent developments of the Paris Climate Accord demonstrated the way nations are coming together to make a change. While the US exited from the deal, other nations, including India see that as an opportunity to lead and aspire to go ‘above and beyond’ the commitments from the Paris Climate Accord. Some of the most well-known business leaders including Ratan Tata, Anand Mahindra, Paul Polman, Richard Branson, and Michael Bloombergare pushing global businesses to do more, they are talking about opportunities from sustainability, low costs solutions and the need to ‘price carbon’.

Besides the ‘Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)’ from the Paris Climate Treaty to limit temperature increases this century to below 2 degree Celsius from pre-industrial levels, the focus is also on Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) adopted by the United Nations for the 2030 Agenda. Sustainability appears to be converging around the NDCs that have emerged from the Paris Climate Accord and the 17 SDGs, especially since they are consistent and well aligned to each other. This bodes well for the future, achieving both these sets of goals will be transformational in addressing climate change risks to future generations.

Why then isn’t sustainability a ‘boardroom’ conversation, isn’t this the perfect opportunity for ‘Reimagining Sustainability’? How do enterprises focus on real deal, how can they get ahead of the curve and focus on what is really important and respond to these rapidly changing dynamics?

From my perspective one of the most important things an enterprise can do in terms of ‘Reimagining Sustainability’ is for leadership to step back and first consider what is most important to them. Every enterprise is unique, should they focus on ‘Circular Economy’, should they also look at ‘Societal Valuation’ and ‘employee engagement’. How can existing investments in enterprise resources – people, buildings, infrastructure and cloud applications, stakeholder relationships and supply chain, be aligned to what is most important. Where are the gaps, where do additional investments need to be made and what technology solutions need to be picked, are all important questions to consider.

How do you connect the dots and extract the essential data from across the enterprise, and relevant external sources, build the big data and analytics to help make decisions, budget, plan, and launch transformational initiatives? Who will lead these initiatives and identify the KPIs, which will help you tell all your stakeholders the impact you are having in the areas that are most important to you and to them? How will technology help you prepare for the cascading of NDCs and SDGs, down from governments to enterprises, and anticipate the implications from related regulatory changes?

To do all these companies need to ‘reimagine’ the way they look at sustainability and make it a focus of their core business rather than just reporting. Only if we change our collective attitude towards sustainability, will we truly be prepared, make a difference and tell a real and powerful story to all stakeholders.

The author, Ankush Patel is the Co-founder & CEO of Treeni Sustainability Solutions, an organization committed to help Indian companies reimagine and embrace sustainability.

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

Increasing Commitment For The Cancer Community In India

Neha Bilandani

July 7, 2017

Around 2.5 million people in India are living with the disease of cancer. Every year, over 7 lakh new patients are registered, according to the National Institute of Cancer research and prevention.

The good news is support for cancer patients are now strengthened further. Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) has decided to do so in the fight against cancer in India among other worthy causes. This is in association with Hong Kong-based RYTHM Foundation.

RYTHM Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of direct selling company QNet and CPAA came together in late 2016. CPAA is a non profit organisation dedicated to the total management of cancer as a disease for last 48 years.

Cancer-related deaths stand at a figure of 5,56,400. Deaths in the age group between 30-69 years are 3,95,400 (71% of all cancer related deaths). Comprising of men at 2,00,100 and women at 1,95,300.

In September last year, Vivek Oberoi announced a partnership between the CPAA and RYTHM Foundation for the Adopt-a-Patient Scheme to fund the treatment of 20 children with cancer, from low income families. Children between the ages of 2 and 16 have been undergoing treatment. At present, 19 children are on the road to recovery and undergoing maintenance therapy.

“Thank you Vivek Bhaiya, RYTHM and CPAA for helping us,” chorused the kids to the thunderous applause of 20,000 people from around the world who had gathered at the 5-day annual global convention of the company in Malaysia. The Foundation is currently in discussions to fund a project for early detection of cancer.

“RYTHM stands for Raise Yourself To Help Mankind, which is the underlying principle of the Foundation that believes in helping people become self-empowered, in order to have a positive impact in society. CPAA has been working passionately and relentlessly towards cancer treatment and awareness, especially for patients and families from the lower economic strata,” said Richard E Zinkiewicz, Trustee of RYTHM Foundation.

In the past, the Foundation has partnered with Avalokiteswara Trust to build 15 libraries in rural schools in the remote villages of Ladakh region and has also donated about 25lakhs to the Akshaya Trust in Madurai to build a shelter for the homeless. Earlier in 2008, the foundation donated 19 lakhs towards UNICEF’s water and sanitation programme in the flood affected districts of Bihar.

“We are committing to allocate $1 mllion over the next 3-5 years towards community well being projects in India in line with the government’s health initiatives through active participation in the Swastha Bharat Abhiyaan program,” Zinkiewicz added.

Cancers of oral cavity and lungs in males and cervix and breast in females account for over 50% of all cancer deaths in India.

Govt To Assess Impact Of CSR Activities Undertaken By PSUs

The CSR Journal

July 6, 2017

For the first time, the NDA government is planning to conduct a study for assessing the impact of corporate social responsibility projects undertaken by various public sector firms.

The study, to be carried out by the Department of Public Enterprises, will cover 134 central public sector enterprises.

It will identify the lack of initiative and implementation gaps by CPSEs in the projects and the reasons for such acts, besides tracking the status of unspent CSR funds in a year.

Based on the study’s findings, a report will be prepared by the Department of Public Enterprises that will recommend measures to be taken by defaulting CPSEs for bridging the gaps.

“Under the present government, such a study is being carried out for the first time,” said Secretary in the Department of Public Enterprises Seema Bahuguna.

The report will assess the CSR practices being followed by few leading private sector companies in India and some leading overseas companies and conclude whether they can be emulated by state-run firms in India.

“We are carrying out the study to assess the on-ground impact of CSR activities being undertaken by CPSEs and whether the funds earmarked by them for the purpose are being utilised in the right direction or not,” a senior official said.

Besides, the study will assess development of areas around CPSE projects, units, factories and other parts of the country, including the North East.

It will also document the best CSR projects which are sustainable in the long run.

Under the Companies Act, 2013, certain classes of profitable entities are required to shell out at least two per cent of their three-year annual average net profit towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in a particular fiscal.

In case of non-spending, the company concerned has to clarify for the same to the ministry. The norms came into effect from April 1, 2014.

(Economic Times)

Wealth In Your Waste

Anirban Ghosh, CSO, Mahindra Group

July 5, 2017

If you live in an Indian town or city you must be used to seeing large mounds of garbage lying along streets and in many street corners. If you are in Mumbai you have heard of the designated garbage dumps going up in flames from time to time. And then there is sewage from buildings ending up in lakes, rivers and even oceans, often converting rivers to dirty bodies of sewage and refuse.

Have you ever given a thought to how much waste your household generates in a day? According to a report by Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group, one middle class resident in a big city generates nearly 0.8 kg of waste per day. That means a family of four generates more than 3 kilos of waste in a day. 60% or more of this daily waste is organic matter which is rich in energy and manure.

You probably know that your food waste can be converted to fertilizer and used in pots and gardens in your apartment, home or society premises. It is entirely possible that you will have too much manure generated from composting and would need to find a way to dispose it or use it.

Consider this. India is the second largest consumer of urea in the world. Urea is a rich source of nitrogen and is a key reason why India produces more than 260 million tonnes of food grain in a year. The Indian government subsidises the cost of urea so that farmers can afford to buy it. Recent fertilizer policies have led to increased use of urea at the expense of other fertilizer types. Unfortunately extra urea use does not help. It just gets washed away to pollute water bodies.

According to Department of Fertilizers, India consumed more than 32 million tonnes of urea in a year. Out of this 8 million tonnes will be imported and the government has set aside Rs. 14,000 crore in precious foreign exchange for it in 2017-18. When selling to farmers, the government will spend almost Rs. 50,000 crore in subsidies for fertilizers in the year 2017-18.

Now a million people produce more than 480 tonnes of organic waste in a day. One tonne of organic waste can produce about 70 kg of compost. So a million people can help produce 33 tonnes of compost in a day. In one year that would become 12000 tonnes. So 250 million middle class individuals in India can enable the production of 3 million tonnes of compost.

Imagine, just your food waste can help reduce 3 million tonnes out of the 8 million tonnes of imported urea. The saving in foreign exchange could be in excess of Rs. 5000 crore and the subsidy burden of the government could come down by another Rs. 5000 crore.

The Indian government wants to help. In February 2016 they have approved a policy on promotion of city compost. The policy makes provision to provide market development assistance of Rs.1, 500 per million tonne for scaling up production and consumption of compost from households. In order to properly market city compost, cities have been tagged on to fertiliser marketing companies. The fertiliser companies have adopted 190 villages to promote the use of city compost. 63,994 metric tonnes of city compost was co-marketed from April to November 2016.

You can make a huge difference. You can help make our habitats cleaner, improve the quality of our soil, increase the productivity of our agricultural lands, save crores in foreign exchange and help reduce the fiscal deficit. All this by composting your garbage and changing the paradigm from garbage collection to fertilizer collection from your doorstep.

We haven’t even talked about the wealth that lies in the sewage that we produce. But more about that later.

Anirban Ghosh is the Chief Sustainability Officer at the Mahindra Group. He has been working with Group in Sales, Marketing, and Strategy since 1999 and has been recognized as a distinguished CSO in his current role. A gold medal winning engineer from Jadavpur University, Calcutta, Ghosh has pursued doctoral studies in Marketing Management at IIM Ahmedabad. He enjoys music, reading, traveling, driving, cricket and tennis. He is an active public speaker and has represented the nation at the Festival of India across multiple nations.

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

Going All-Solar Is A Steadfast Way Forward

Neha Bilandani

July 4, 2017

Solar energy has taken the world by storm. From houses to offices, from schools to hospitals, more and more establishments are going solar. From an ecological perspective, the world is in a place where renewable energy resources are the better options. The return on investment of solar energy in India is ideal as it provides quick returns. On land, we receive solar energy at the rate of approximately 1,73,000 TeraWatt (one million million watts). India ranks fifth in the list of countries ideal for harnessing and consuming solar energy.This decision was initiated in 2008 when then PM Manmohan Singh launched India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change on June 30, 2008. The aim was to shift India’s energy consumption from fossil fuels to non-fossil fuels like solar and wind energy.

Inspired by the prospects of solar energy, Gurjar Sudhaar Sabha‘s dharamshala in Kurukshetra decided to install a solar plant in the area. Today, the solar energy powers a total of 250 rooms in Dharamshala. Of them, there are 25 AC rooms, 45 rooms with coolers, 16 hall type rooms, and rest are ordinary rooms. Along with that, there are 5 store rooms and 3 big halls. The plant runs the electrical load of 45KW.

The Department of Renewable Energy, Government of Haryana collaborated with Su-Kam. With subsidies provided, a 30KW grid-tie inverter with 30KW solar panels along with a net meter was installed in the area. The grid-tie inverter generates about 150 units of solar power depending on weather conditions.

“Solar power holds great potential. Not only it is conducive to environment, it is pocket friendly too. There has been a sharp decline in our electricity bills ever since we have installed this solar power plant.” said Gyan Singh, Advocate, Pradhan, Gurjar Sudhaar Sabha.

This form of renewable energy can enables the user to feed back the excess solar energy generated to the grid and earn money. Grid-tie inverters are always connected to the grid. Grid-tie inverters cannot be installed in areas that do not receive any mains supply. As compared to an off-grid system, a grid-tie system also provides freedom from battery maintenance making essentially a one-time investment and a lifetime of advantage.

An inverter works on the principle of net metering. In this case, the solar panels will generate approximately 4500 units of electricity per month. So for example, this Sabha uses 3000 units out of 4500 units from solar power to run the load and exports the rest of 1500 units to the electricity board. They also import 2000 units from the electricity board to run the load during night hours over the month. So now the committee will pay only for 500 units since they have imported 1500 units back to the electricity grid supply.

The government has reduced solar tariff to Rs. 2.97 per kwH. A low solar tariff will make the solar energy plants easy to establish, will call in more investment and will increase solar energy reach in India. India has severe power shortage, especially in rural areas. According to a report published by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, between 2014-17, 1.1 lacs of solar pumps were installed in the country. While solar power is used actively by government buildings and large institutions, it has not helped much in the residential sector.

Banks Joining In: Artificial Intelligence

Vaibhavi Khanwalkar

July 3, 2017

The scope of technology has widened over the past ten years, to ease physical human effort as much as possible. Machines replaced human labour and services has changed the interface of being online. Even the IT industry of the country is laying off employees in huge numbers due to the automation that has come in their operations. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a blessing and a curse in many different ways. Currently, it is riding high in the banking sector of the country. A lot of banks are introducing humanoid robots to answer customer queries in their branches in metro cities, like Bengaluru, New Delhi and Mumbai.

At first, these robots started out to answer frequently asked queries online, through multiple channels of the bank. Through HDFC’s chatbot EVA, customers can get information on its products and services instantaneously. Not only that, the robot itself becomes smarter as it learns through its customer interactions. This was the first artificial intelligence based device used by banks in India, as reported by the Economic Times. But recently, a more elevated level of AI was displayed in Canara Bank’s robot, Mitra. It moves around in the branch, answering queries of customers in Kannada. This is crucial because main branches or head offices of banks usually have several departments and it can be confusing for customers. Many banks are adopting AI-based robots to save the effort of the staff and facilitate easier banking for their customers.

According to Accenture’s Technology Vision 2017 report, the momentum of AI is very fast, although some companies have shown reservations towards it. 85% of the executives responding to their survey say that investment in AI is a must. In the past 3 years in search technology as well, voice searches in Bing and Google were 25% and 10% higher, respectively. Similarly, the report claims that AI is key for employee engagement and operational efficiency, as well as revenue growth. It is becoming the digital brand for enterprise and a critical channel for customer satisfaction and loyalty.

At some level, human knowledge and academic expertise are still required in the working of a company. Automation has started seeping in from the base and will gradually make its way up in the next 5 years. The Accenture report claims that banks will become completely automated in answering customer queries from any department within 3 years. The concern is whether or not the customers will be able to keep pace. Banks set up bases in the rural areas as well as the urban. The customer profiles, however, differ in various respects. Hopefully, the benefits of AI are not at the expense of the customers.

Eliminate Child Labour Use In Tobacco Farming

Neha Bilandani

July 1, 2017

A significant improvement in school attendance has been reported by IPM India, as a result of its programs directed at reduction and elimination of the use of child labour by tobacco growers. The project on “Prevention of Child labour and Rural Development in tobacco growing villages of Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka” undertaken through a voluntary organisation ASSIST, has focused on school infrastructure development to promote school attendance, income generation activities and building awareness. IPM India is the wholesale trading arm of Philip Morris International (PMI) in India.

The program claims to have resulted in children from 34 communities in 30 villages attending school regularly. Around 8000 school children have started attending schools regularly, thereby moving out of the farm work force. The awareness programs have reached out to over 3400 children through child-to-child workshops. Awareness rallies and cultural programs involving over 7000 children have built connect with over 60,000 villagers.

“We are committed to sustainable farming, better opportunities for farmers and the fight to end child labour. While we don’t own tobacco farms in India, they are a crucial part of our economic, environmental, and social footprint. Consequently, we have developed a comprehensive program called Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). Through GAP, we are striving to improve the lives of millions of people in India who rely on farm work. A big part of that is eliminating child labor on tobacco farms,” said R Venkatesh, Director, Corporate Affairs, IPM India.

India has a large number of economically active children, estimated at 4.35 million (5-14 years) by the Census of India in 2011. Worldwide 60% of all child labourers in the age group 5-17 years work in agriculture, including farming, fishing, aquaculture, forestry, and livestock. The majority of child labour are unpaid family members.

The ALP Code defines the labour practices, principles and standards PMI expects to be met by all tobacco farmers. Farmers and suppliers are expected to adhere to the ALP Code which states that there shall be no employment or recruitment of child labour. Philip Morris International (PMI) partners with NGOs to improve living conditions in agricultural regions where it sources tobacco.

PMI has focused on “Access to Education” in India for the past decade. One component of “Access to Education” is the School Infrastructure Development (SID) program which focuses on improving school facilities including sanitation systems, potable water systems, sports facilities, and classroom equipment.

The After School Programme (ASP) is an effort to prevent children from dropping out of school by providing them meals and engaging them in activities after school, particularly during peak agriculture seasons, when the need for working hands is higher.

According to Venkatesh, “Students, supported by their parents, prefer to go to schools which now have good facilities and infrastructure. We are pleased at the way in which local communities have joined hands with us in spreading awareness against child labour and encouraging students to attend schools.”

Support Young Women For Menstrual Hygiene

The CSR Journal

June 30, 2017

Menstruation and menstrual hygiene are taboos in India. About 52% of the female population is of reproductive age and most of them are menstruating every month. Besides the health problems due to poor hygiene during menstruation, the lack or unaffordability of facilities and appropriate sanitary products and social stigma affect the girls’ right to education. According to Forbes Marshal survey, 23% of girls drop out of school when they start menstruating and in some places as many as 66% skip school during this time and one –third of them eventually drop out.

A large number of girls and women still use primitive ways of dealing with menstruation, which compromises their menstrual hygiene. The best place to make an impact on improving the lives of girls and women is in water and sanitation. The time has come to promote – loudly and unashamedly – the role of good Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) as a trigger for better, stronger development of women and girls: personal, educational and professional.

IDF overarching aim is to contribute to the all-round development of the children in its bal gurukuls and schools associated with Bal Gurukuls across the country in cities, towns and far fledged places making the reach easier. To tackle the problem of menstrual hygiene management in girls IDF’s Project Hygiene 12 addresses this concern in India.

Key Elements of Project Hygiene 12:

Empowering girls by disseminating factual information, awareness raising and addressing stigma and misunderstanding through volunteers, Doctors, and Nurses in these Bal Gurukuls/Schools.
Facilitate / Provide Low-cost sanitary pads to the needy children.
Waste Disposal Management.
You can support one girl’s personal hygiene for a year by donating Rs. 500 only.

Empower adolescent girls by supporting Project Hygiene 12 (pH12). To know more on how to Fund this Project, please write to us at editor@thecsrjournal.in.

The Only Acceptable Act Of Division

Neha Bilandani

June 30, 2017

With a variety of waste issues always making the rounds, the new initiative coming to light is that of waste segregation. The Swachh Bharat mission volunteers are going places to educate people about dry waste and wet waste. It is imperative for us citizens to take steps and gain knowledge about our household waste methods to be implemented.

To encourage the same and improve waste segregation, in Hyderabad, the city’s civic body is all set to recognise and reward home makers with high degree of civic sense.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) plans to give away a cash prize of Rs1 lakh under ‘Swachh Housewives’ category every month. Those who segregate wet and dry waste at home and hand it over to the garbage collector will be eligible for the prize.

The winner from the entries will be chosen through a lottery system, according to GHMC Commissioner B. Janardhan Reddy.

CSR funds

The prize money will be sponsored by a private organisation from its corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds.

For proper implementation of the initiative, a mobile app will be created. Those who want to participate can register and apply through the mobile app to be eligible for the draw. The local GHMC workers will then check if the claims of the participants of segregating waste are true.

The GHMC will also take up the campaign of waste segregation on a large scale in schools as per the directions of Minister for Municipal Administration K.T. Rama Rao.

Focus on students

The GHMC will create awareness through various programmes encouraging students to spread the message to their family, friends and relatives. The GHMC will partner with corporates like ITC for this purpose.

One such programme launched plans to involve upto 10 lakhs students of government and private schools in the near future to create awareness. Publicity campaign at school level will be taken up duly coordinating with the heads of the school managements in the months of July and August to ensure 100% segregation at household levels.

(With inputs from Hindu)

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