New Delhi/Noida, March 19, 2021: India Inc needs to focus on inclusive growth and should join hands with the government in its aspirational programmes and initiatives. The corporates should also look at bringing small and medium enterprise and migrant workers into the value chain thereby generating employment, wealth creation and promoting growth needed by the country, according to Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog.
Speaking at a virtual national conference on “Resurgence of CSR with Renewed Energy and Motivation Post Pandemic” organised by the National CSR Network (NCN), Dr Rajiv Kumar stressed that to sustain 10-12 per cent growth in the coming year, corporates need to have a greater focus on preventive health, education and nourishment programmes under their CSR mandate.
In his address as the Chief Guest, Dr Rajiv Kumar said, “CSR is the bridge which can strengthen trust and partnership between the Government and corporates and appealed the corporates to introspect and renovate their business strategy. There is a need to bring about behavioural change in the people in maintaining social hygiene and creating a Jan Andolan to deal with such pandemics in future. Corporates should now come forward and do their part for the frontline workers, who played a major role in risking their lives, during the pandemic.”
In his address, D. K. Agarwal, Deputy Director General (Services), Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Govt. of India mentioned that “BIS in its continuous endeavour is formulating various National Standards in line with the legislative requirements of the country in order to address various issues of national importance.” He acclaimed the initiative of BIS in formulating National Standard on CSR which can provide a robust CSR framework for a Pandemic Resistant society and serve as a stepping stone for all its stakeholders and organisations in both public and private sectors who want to implement the Companies Act, 2013, in a socially responsible manner.
Speaking at the session, Mohini Daljeet Singh, Chairperson – National Conference, and Trustee – Max India Foundation said, “National CSR Network would like to help in building more synergies between governments and corporates as development agenda can be achieved by society with collective efforts.”
Rudranarayan Kumar, Head, Business Development, and Akshan Gupta, Head, Finance & Planning, Swach Environment Ltd., shared insights on turning the pandemic into an opportunity by highlighting their projects on water conservation.
Presenting the way forward, P Dwarakanath, Chairman, Advisory Council, National CSR Network and Former Chairman, GSK, emphasised that skill upgradation and use of technology is critical in balancing lives and livelihood in these challenging times. He further added that environment, health, education, and skill development are important pillars for achieving the sustainable CSR platform where cooperation and coordination between the corporates, government and MSMEs will play the role of a game-changer. The post-COVID scenario requires a change in behaviour and mindset for better adaptability to the system.
Summarising the key takeaways from the session, T S Vishwanath, Principal Advisor, APJ-SLJ and Co-Founder, VeKommunicate said, “Focus on health, hygiene, education, inclusive growth will help in the path of a productive workforce.” He further stressed that BIS and National CSR should work together in promoting national standards on CSR by integrating implementing and promoting socially responsible behaviour throughout the organisation.
The NCN is an initiative of Strategic CSR Alliance – a Section 8 company set-up in 2015, with the vision to “Empower Companies for Meaningful Social Development” and has successfully brought together corporates, NGOs and government agencies to forge CSR partnerships for greater impact.