To boost research and activities for vaccine development to combat Covid-19, the Government has expanded the ambit of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) umbrella, allowing the pharma and medical device manufacturers to invest the ‘philanthropic doles’ in researches related to the pandemic for the next three years.
The Government has amended the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2014 in this regard.
A senior official from the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs said that a provision in Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2014 has been “inserted through amendment that would allow pharmaceutical, vaccine and medical device firms engaged in R&D activities of new vaccine, drugs and medical devices in their normal course of business to claim CSR benefits for undertaking R&D activity of new vaccine, drugs and medical devices related to the virus.”
The provision will be available for fiscal years 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23.
The companies need to disclose details of such activity separately in the annual report on CSR included in the Board’s report.
However, in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry has also amended the Act bringing incubators or research and development projects in the field of science, technology, engineering and medicine that are funded by the central or state government, a public sector undertaking or any government agency under the CSR provision.
The decision was taken in line with the Prime Minister’s directive to encourage new drug discoveries for Covid-19, said K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government.
CSR rules were modified last year to support research in publicly funded institutions and incubators. CSR can support organisations working in areas outside companies’ ‘normal course of business’. So, a pharma company could not fund pharma R&D, he said.
The activities under CSR include eradicating extreme hunger, poverty, promotion of education, promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment as well as reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combating diseases.
Ensuring environmental sustainability and prompting employment enhancing vocational skills are other activities approved under CSR.
