As India enters the third year of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the interest has moved beyond compliance and meeting statutory norms among many corporates, to tackling the inclusive development agenda holistically by combining the strengths of business and civil society.
With an aim to expand from spending efficiency to sustainable impact Confederation of Indian Industry organized ‘CII MP CSR Conclave’ on the theme ‘Businesses Touching lives: 2 per cent and Beyond’ at Hotel Palash. The Conclave brought together key stakeholders to discuss and deliberate on these important issues and script a way forward.
Conclave witnessed a gathering of top business leaders, CSR heads and teams, Non-profit leaders, industry bodies, community organisations, policy-makers, and CSR professionals exchanging insights, discussing issues of importance and forge impactful partnerships in social impact.
RK Shrivastava, Principal Advisor, MP State Planning Commission delivered the special address and said that around Rs 275 cr is being spent in more than 2000 villages and 50 cities of Madhya Pradesh but unfortunately all organizations are working in isolation. It’s time to create a platform where all stakeholders can come together and formulate policy towards synchronizing everybody’s efforts. He further informed that State Planning Commission is planning towards creating awareness at district level towards sustainable development goals.
Amongst other speakers in the Inaugural Session were VamsiJasti, Programme Head, Reliance Foundation, Hari Mohan Gupta, Chancellor, Jagran lake University, P Kulkarni, General Manager, JK Tyre and Industries ltd who informed the gathering about their CSR activities in Madhya Pradesh and their further action plans.
Rajesh Khare, Vice Chairman, CII MP State Council presented the Welcome Remarks while Abhishek Gupta, Co-Chairman, CII Bhopal Zonal Council gave the Vote of Thanks.
Inaugural Session was followed by a round of question and answers where-in dignitaries on dais addressed the different queries of delegates and replied to their suggestions and advice.
Conclave got well attended by more than seventy participants from different sectors of industry and society and also by those who come outside the purview of Act and are involved in CSR activities, totally on voluntary basis.