Corporate Social Responsibility is a tool to help empower the poor and downtrodden in our society, said Dr Chandan Mitra, Editor-in-Chief and Managing Director of ‘The Pioneer.’ He was speaking at the ‘India International Corporate Social Responsibility Conclave’ in New Delhi on Thursday.
The conclave provides a common platform to CSR professionals for exchange of ideas about strengthening CSR ecosystem in India for sustainable impact.
“CSR plays a very essential role in empowering the poor, downtrodden and the marginalised sections of our society by providing them an opportunity to get quality education, jobs and a good lifestyle, Dr Mitra said. He, however, also cautioned that that CSR should not degenerate into an opportunity for publicity.
Addressing the gathering of journalists, entrepreneurs and eminent personalities from prestigious companies, Dr Mitra referred to an acronym cited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a programme… “IT plus IT is equal to IT” or Information Technology plus Indian Talent is equal to India Tomorrow. “Innovation plus compassion will make India of tomorrow. The Government has already introduced lots of programmes to empower the people and the role of CSR in this effort cannot be underestimated,” he said.
Krishna Raj, Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development, said, “Women Empowerment in CSR aims to enable the women with skills and providing them with the livelihood for a secure future. Today women are making their presence felt in every field. It is important to recognize the role of women in the progress and development of society. The society’s development without the development of women is unimaginable”.
“Corporate Social Responsibility is an important function for businesses to establish themselves as well-wishers in the social development and in preventing natural and environmental crisis. Each and every individual should be accountable for fulfilling their responsibility towards the society, environment and the planet,” she said.
Some of the key panelists of the event were Dr S Sundar Manoharan, Vice-Chancellor, Karunya University, Mohini Daljeet Singh, CEO, Max India Foundation, and Shrikant Sinha, CEO of NASSCOM Foundation.
Each session witnessed keen interest and inquisitiveness from the audience which interacted with the panelists to discuss opportunities of arriving at sustainable and replicable solutions.
The event showcased world class presentations and interactive sessions from leading practitioners around the world on how organizations use CSR to integrate economic, environmental and social objectives with their operations and growth. Expert speakers provided an in-depth analysis of contemporary CSR issues, trends, challenges, standards and strategies.
The discussion centred on the ethical and economic aspects of CSR, CSR approach in a developing country and developing sustainable and responsible business through CSR.
The prestigious CSR Excellence Awards were distributed to various organisations and individuals in categories like social entrepreneurship, skill development, women empowerment, leadership, road safety, media, healthcare sector and Information Technology.
Winners from different categories who were awarded for excellence in their respective fields on the occasion were Tech Mahindra Foundation - CSR Company of the Year, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. limited - CSR Practice of the Year, Mohini Daljeet Singh, CEO, Max India Foundation - CSR leader of the Year.
Dr Chandan Mitra gave away the awards alongwith Dr Paul Dhinakaran, Christian evangelist and co-founder of Karunya University. Dr Mitra appreciated the efforts of Karunya University in organizing the panel discussion and debate on CSR.