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New revolution of CSR – pertaining to the Indian context

April 17, 2020

In today’s scenario, voluntary organisations and activists have been incentivized to leverage more control over social issues that had so far been lacking due to corporate negligence. Local communities are glad to learn that corporates are now compelled to do something good for their vicinity; perhaps the government is also pleased with the thought that millions of rupees are flowing into the system in the guise of community development.

From what we − as citizens of the democratic country − perceive, is that India is in a confused state as to where to spend this huge amount that they earned after putting in a lot of serious efforts.

With the enforcement of Section 135 of company (which means, “Every company having net worth of rupees five hundred crore or more, or turnover of rupees one thousand crore or more or a net profit of rupees five crore or more during immediately preceding financial year shall constitute a Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of the Board consisting of three or more directors, out of which at least one director shall be an independent director”) law is now fait accompli due to which every company (that falls in this category) has to deal with the pressure of mandatory spending on CSR.

This results in tons of questions in our head, right? What are we doing? Are we during a confused state or planned? Have we pondered upon the wants of the social sector in our country, or are we just trying to form hay while the sun shines since the introduction of the law?

However, that’s not the case with Prakash Chemicals International Pvt Ltd. (PCIPL). From the very start, we as a company have worked towards Building Stronger Bonds with our Stakeholders. We believe that bonds have the potential to create opportunity for everyone and to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Leveraging our years of expertise, industry knowledge, and a strong network of stakeholders, we’re focused on building stronger bonds to provide the world with a more constructive future.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is one of the core to our purpose and culture. We focus on People, Society, and Planet—issues that align with the greatest potential for impact. Our success is built on a Conscious Culture, where trustworthiness and ethical conduct are expected and supported among our employees, customers, suppliers, and other business partners.
 
Under proper guidance of our MD – Mr. Manish Shah, we have been able to Give Back to the Society through our CSR initiative ‘Project Kiran’ that conducts various activities for making the world a better place to live.



Some of which are:

Health & Hygiene: Since 2017 we are adopting Anganwadis (a type of rural child care centre started by the Indian Government as part of the Integrated Child Development Services program to combat child hunger and malnutrition) and working in collaboration with VMSS to keep the centres and the surroundings clean in order to maintain hygiene and health. As a part of Health and Hygiene, we have distributed more than thousands of Sanitary napkins on a subsidized rate to the females and shared awareness on how to maintain personal hygiene. India ranks 102 among 117 qualifying countries with 20.8% children being wasted and 37.9% stunted as per Global Hunger Estimates 2019. 7.5% children suffer from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) as per NFHS 4 data, translating into 11.6% more chances of dying from preventable disease before reaching the age of 5 years in comparison to a healthy child. To combat this mortality rate, we have our own MEDICAL MOBILE VAN which goes twice a week to our adopted anganwadi centres with a doctor for regular health check-ups of pregnant ladies (from the rural areas) and to distribute Medicines, Vitamin Supplements, Milk, Banana & Dates to improve their and child’s health. We also provided food to the rural children – to help them grow!
 
Education: To resolve the serious issue of Education, we have got children from our adopted Anganwadi Centres enrolled in Computer & Spoken English Classes to improve their knowledge and vocational skills. We have also deputed adolescent girls to learn Beauty Parlour Course, for Scholarship program at Udhyan Shalini Foundation Care and adolescent boys for Vocational training on Mechanical Course. Along with these, we have modified the anganwadi centres with proper construction, creating colourful learnings on the wall and providing educational material for the mental development of kids at these centres. For Anganwdi Development we have received Award from GCSR (Gujarat CSR Summit) held on 29th November, 2018.
 
EMPLOYMENT AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: With the help of various companies, we have provided employment to the rural women – who do contratual jobs on per day wages. From making jute bags, to cardboard boxes to cake boxes, etc. – these women are skilled perfectly, before they get on the actual working. Our remarkable Employment generation is of the Spa products, we have delivered thousands of products at multiple SPA Centres across the city. As a matter of health, these women have also made reusable face masks during the Lockdown to fight against the Pandemic Covid-19.
 
DE-ADDICTION: We initiated a De-addiction process on 31st may, 2018 with regular sessions at Veer Savarkar Hindi Medium School Gorwa as a part of world tobacco day, the result of which was – we were able to free a lot of people from the addiction of chewing tobacco, which included adolescent girls and ladies.
 
Studies say that – “Organisations that are considered as socially responsible have achieved distinction”. The one thing we are certain about is that CSR or sustainability would motivate companies to bring down their negative impact to zero level in the future.
 
#LetsContinueBeingSociallyResponsible
 
Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/health/bringing-welfare-of-children-to-the-forefront-time-to-prioritise/1898997/
https://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/InvitationOfPublicCommentsHLC_18012019.pdf