India is among the first countries to mandate CSR but lacks the professional expertise, measurement methodology, rating systems to ensure apt use of the CSR money spent.
Harsha Mukherjee, MD IICSR believes that a Sustainability and Social Responsibility Maturity (SSRM) model would enable the industry and NGOs to rate themselves and take corrective steps to become CSR and Sustainability compliant company respectively. She was speaking at an event in Mumbai where BSE Sammaan and IICSR signed an MoU to establish a series of industry-specific frameworks to rate the corporates on the maturity of their Sustainability and CSR practices.
The CSR and Sustainability maturity model is based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) along with business challenges faced by different industries. The CSR law in India was introduced in 2013 was drafted by Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, Former secretary Government of India and Board member of IICSR. He cited, “This is indeed a historic first step in our endeavour to take CSR in India to the next level, where outcomes matter far more than outputs.”
Satish Jha, Co-founder and Board member of IICSR, observed that SSRM is a necessary step in making CSR efforts both measurable and comparable and will offer its users the necessary tools to manage their CSR engagements and achieve their goals more predictably.
Hemant Gupta, MD & CEO BSE Sammaan, said, “In the 5 years since the promulgation of the Indian CSR Act, I have seen more and more Companies complying with the Law and not just in letter, but also in spirit. The Sustainability and Social Responsibility Maturity Model (SSRMM) will create a roadmap for them to embark on a journey of making their Sustainability and CSR initiatives more impactful, sustainable and efficient.”
An objective assessment of the impact and on-ground difference that CSR projects are making, was long overdue.
