Carolijn Oudshoorn [email protected] 10777962

The role of corporate social responsibility in regional development

A case study of SIPCOT in Cuddalore District, India

Figure 1: The entrance of SIPCOT Cuddalore, sign in Tamil language

Supervisor: dhr. J.V. Rothuizen Second Assesor: dhr. dr. N.P.C. Beerepoot Future Planet Studies, major Human Geography University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, June 26nd 2017 Table of contents

List of abbreviations and concepts 3

Introduction 4

Theoretical Framework 5 1. Liberal reforms 5 2. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 9

Methodology 14 1. Research questions 14 2. Research design 14 3. Methods 16 4. Research area 17 5. Limitations 20

Context of SIPCOT Cuddalore 21 1. SIPCOT Cuddalore 21 2. Impact of industrialization 21 3. Employment in the area 22

Results 23 1. Structure of CSR in Cuddalore District 23 2. Mediators: the role of SIPCOT Association and the village 28 panchayat 3. Legitimization of the activities by corporations and the 29 perception of communities 4. Case study: differences between Kudikadu and Karaikadu 30 panchayat Analysis 36 1. Analysis of the structure of CSR in Cuddalore district 36 2. The role of CSR in regional development 36 3. The contribution of industries to regional development: a 39 shift of responsibilities 4. Western CSR vs. Eastern corporate welfare 40

Conclusion 42

Recommendations for further research 44

Sources 45

Appendix 49

2 List of abbreviations and concepts

SIPCOT: State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu. Definition: the name for an allocated group of companies that is gathered in certain areas in Tamil Nadu. One of these SIPCOT areas is established in Cuddalore District.

CSR: Corporate social responsibility. Definition: In this paper, the definition comprises the responsibility a corporation has for the social environment it operates in.

Regional development: Definition. The process, act or result of economic and social changes of mostly backward regions to a more adequate state. (OECD, 2017; IGI Global, 2017)

3 Introduction

In India, industrial development at a rural level has immensely grown in the past decades. This has been triggered by the economic liberalization of 1991, which has increased the settlement of multinationals and foreign direct investment into the country. The change of a state-led economy towards a more liberal economic landscape has also welcomed Western ideas of development into the country, for instance the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR is said to enrich the quality of community life and has an “ever-expanding acceptance as a legitimate business practice” (Frederick, 2008, p. 1). Some academics argue that this new activity of companies can contribute to economic development (Newell & Frynas, 2007; Sharma, 2011; )more ref. Others are questioning this new role of business in society (Henderson, 2001) or the ability of CSR to bring actual development about (Frynas, 2005). The latter author has questioned the capacity of CSR to be beneficial to local communities. In Frynas’ case study, about the world oil sector, it was argued that corporate objectives stand in the way of the actual needs of communities, which prevent them from developing. Private firms might not have the capacities to do this, and seem to disturb the local governance of development countries that actually should be improved. While this study seems credible, it does not take the perception of the local community into account. According to Newell & Frynas (2007) the developmental potential of CSR is still very unclear and claims about it are often poorly substantiated. Also in Tamil Nadu, Southern India, the state government is aiming to improve the regional economy and started the realization of SIPCOT (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu) Industrial area in 1984 (Rajarajan & Vetrivel, 2016). This SIPCOT industrial project consists of clusters of industrial plots, accommodating different companies on more than 500 acres in total (Rajarajan & Vetrivel, 2016). The factories are producing output such as acids, paint, bleached textiles, ammonia and other chemical base products (SIPCOT Area Community Environmental Monitors, 2005). Research about the realization of SIPCOT mainly concentrates on the negative impact it generates, in being polluting and being mainly disadvantageous for the local community (Indians People Tribunal On Environment and Human Rights, 2003; SIPCOT Area Community Environmental Monitors, 2005). However, some corporations also perform actions of welfare under the motive of CSR for the environment the business is operating in, potentially bringing positive effects about as well. Still, to what extent CSR is incorporated in the business plans of SIPCOT industries, needs further elaboration. This research is contributing to the knowledge of the impact of industrialization projects on regional development in India. The aim of this case study research is threefold. Firstly, it aims to give insight into the structure of corporate social responsibility of the industrial companies of SIPCOT Cuddalore. Secondly, it aims to add to the knowledge of how industries are contributing to

4 regional development. Thirdly, it attempts to investigate what the role of corporate social responsibility in this development is. The contrary views rising from the academic discussion whether CSR is able to contribute to development through social welfare measures requires extension of research. Therefore, this paper aims to answer the research question:

What is the role of SIPCOT Industrial area’s corporate social responsibility in regional development of Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu?

In the following chapter, first a literature review is presented on the topics of economic liberalization in India and CSR. After this, in the methodology the research design and methods will be explained. Subsequently, the results from the extensive case study in Cuddalore District will follow, where after the analysis is presented. Lastly, a conclusion and recommendations for further research are provided.

5 Theoretical framework

1. Liberal reforms

1.1 India’s neoliberalization: reform of 1991 The role of the government and market have not always been the same in India as they are at present day. The market reform of 1991 initiated a decrease in the performance of the government as caretaker of society, and let the free market system into the country. After decolonization, a socialist model of state interventionism had taken the lead in politics (Sharma, 2011). This was characterized by a fixed exchange rate system, high import substitution (Kochhar, et al., 2006) and heavy industry led by the state (Sachs, et al., 1995), in order to improve the domestic economy. Next to the requirement of licenses to invest, import and produce goods, also controlled regulations about credit allocation and prices, played a role (Kochhar, et al., 2006). Yet, after many years, this was considered unsustainable for the country, as the government was in a macroeconomic crisis in 1990 and even close to bankruptcy (Sharma, 2011). This nearly bankruptcy was triggered by a wide range of factors. In addition, years of poor productivity and a low level of efficiency followed this (Patel & Bhattacharyac, 2010). Economically, the country had been in stagnation for over a decade. This was caused by an unsustainable macroeconomic system (source 182, paper), depraved economic policy in the 1980s and the failure of state interventionism in India (Sharma, 2011). India was growing on debt to other countries, which led to macroeconomic imbalances (Kochhar, et al., 2006). In addition to this, rising inflation and the absence of consistent government budgets were in place (Weinraub, 1991). Next to this, politically multiple events had occurred. The Gulf War (1990- 1991) had triggered instability in the worldwide monetary system, whereas the decline of the Soviet regime and the fall of the Berlin wall created more criticism against state-led economies (Sharma, 2011). These were seen as unsustainable in the light of development economics, and so these occurrences de-legitimized the socialist model of economic development for India (Sharma, 2011). Instead of socialist, pro-liberalization thoughts became popular and with the years a market-oriented development paradigm came in place of the former (Sharma, 2011). This new idea of economic growth was strengthened by the success of Asian countries that had liberalised their economies, such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. This generated a substantial economic growth rate, which was also the motive behind earlier small liberalization reforms of the Indian government in the periods of 1966-68 and 1985–87 (Sharma, 2011). Because of the former political and economic influences, economic reforms eventually were adopted in 1991, led by prime minister Rao and his minister of finance Manmohan Singh. Many negotiations with the International

6 Monetary Fund (IMF) preceded this liberalization, which ended in objectives that highly stimulated the process of the 1991 reforms. Subsequently, the Indian government took an emergency loan from the IMF of $2.2 billion dollars, with an assurance of 67 tons of gold reserves as collateral security (The Hindu, 2009) to avoid a state bankruptcy. However, the IMF often provided loans that include the modification of undesired policies to their ideological stance (Weinraub, 1991). For India, this meant liberalization and facing to the West (Sharma, 2011).

The partial shift of responsibilities The primary shift from the socialist model to liberalization of the economy was that in the new system, the market system was seen as the engine of economic growth (Dash & Sahoo, 2010). Market forces would arrange international trade, foreign investment and efficiency. Not merely the economy would be driven by the free hand, also the economic development of the inhabitants of the country. With this, some responsibility of the government shifted towards the private sector, for instance in providing infrastructure (Patel & Bhattacharyac, 2010). The BJP party had earlier supported this thought, by questioning the power of the state in the economic development context (Sharma, 2011). At last the liberalisation process, initiated by the prior Singh government (Sharma, 2011), was inevitable. The liberalizing reforms grew in acknowledgement as they were leading to a substantial GDP growth in the next years (Dash & Sahoo, 2010). This brought increasing confidence in liberalization as the general discourse, and state authorities started to follow pro-liberalisation policies, including Tamil Nadu. The states aimed at creating an “industry friendly” investment environment (Sharma, 2011). After 1999, India’s policies were again renewed even more towards liberalization, but this time more focussed on inclusion. The emphasis was laid on institutions instead of policies, which should generate less income differences and hereby the policies approached the causes of poverty. Institutions are central in development economics in ensuring the effectiveness of the economy whereas the role of the state is to provide public goods, correct income distribution, provide infrastructure and create a sustainable macroeconomic environment (Sharma, 2011). While reforms have continued, the Indian growth rate shifted from 6 percent to more than 8 percent in the years of 2003-07 (Panagaria, 2010 as cited in Sharma, 2011).

1.2 Liberalization as a means for economic development Argued by Sharma in his paper on the sustainability of economic reforms, such measures are resulting in the reduction of poverty and economic growth (2011). The freedom of neoliberalism expressed itself into a considerable growth rate of India. However, against that, it also causes disparity in incomes and growth between certain states (Kochhar, et al., 2006). In addition Nayyar (2006) argues that the economic growth in India did not generate development for the people. Thus, there is an ongoing debate about neoliberalization as an inclusive growth

7 strategy. Normally, the welfare state is a means to fix these market failures, to provide a safety net for citizens and be the equalizer of a state (Ghosh & De, 2005). Markets may fail in producing a fair economic system, which generates equal development. Despite the possible failure of the market system, liberalization generally means that parts of public duties shift to the private sector. In these duties are key developmental duties included, such as the arrangement of public infrastructure, water, electricity and a decent healthcare and educational system. While these duties are normally the responsibility of the government, in India some of them are transferred to market actors (Newell, Scott, Rai, 2002, as cited in Newell & Frynas, 2007).

1.3 Infrastructure as a generator for development The importance of the process of government duties shifting to the private sector in a neoliberal economic system is that thereby the power of development also shifts along. This is because Ghosh & De (2005) as well as many others (e.g. World Bank, 1994; Sahoo & Dash, 2009; Calderón & Servén, 2004) argue that decent infrastructure can highly contribute to the development of a state in terms of income, quality of life, increase of employment and the productivity of labour. Ghosh & De (2005) prove in their study that for the differences in the level of development between states, economic and social infrastructure is highly important. According to the World Bank (1994) the role of the government is evaluated, as it is slowly shifting to private sector provision. Investment in infrastructure is also necessary to maintain the current economic growth and stimulate the spread of it (Patel & Bhattacharyac, 2010). This is showed by the fact that at least 1.7% of the economic growth per year between 1965 and 1990 in East Asia occurred because of investments in healthcare and education (Dash & Sahoo, 2010). Next to this, by improving the quality of life and incomes, decent infrastructure can help to reduce poverty (World Bank, 1994). Social infrastructure in particular, such as education and health, can result in the growth of services, because that needs ‘skilled and productive human power’ (Dash & Sahoo, 2010). Hence, economic growth, a better quality of life, increase in employment opportunities and productivity and a decrease in the level of poverty are key stimulators of the development of a country. In the times before independence, India had a top-down approach regarding the arrangement of infrastructure (Patel & Bhattacharyac, 2010). This gradually changed during the years that followed by contracting private service companies and was stimulated by the reforms of 1991. In this way, the provision of infrastructure is shifting from the government to private sector companies (Patel & Bhattacharyac, 2010). Dash & Sahoo (2010) also bring forward the importance of this policy reforms in the infrastructure sector. It should be arranged with more private participation, deregulation of the government, and commercialization (Dash & Sahoo, 2010), which implicates a very liberal approach instead of a state-centred one. While the Indian

8 government recognizes that investment in infrastructure is necessary to enable sustainable economic growth (Dash & Sahoo, 2010), until now they have fallen short in the provision of decent basic infrastructure. This includes a lack of higher education enrolments, health of the inhabitants, education investments, and hospital needs. According to Article 246 in the Indian Constitution, health, education, sanitation, the agricultural sector and electricity are the State Government’s responsibility (Ghosh & De, 2005). So while being responsible, the government is lacking in providing decent infrastructure, which offers good opportunities for development as argued by many scientific authors. Some of these same authors therefore advocate deregulation of the infrastructure sector, which gives introduction to the private sector.

2. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

2.1 Corporate social responsibility in the Western world As mentioned in the introduction, CSR is a term that refers to when a company “consciously and deliberately acts to enhance the social well- being of those whose lives are affected by the firm's economic operations” (Frederick, 2008, p. 2). The executive leaders put this in position, often to humanize their economic activities, while aiming to be social responsible. Declared as the “organic linkage of business and society” (Frederick, 2008, p. 2), CSR aims at obeying laws and policies, responding to stakeholder claims and having integrity for the social and physical environment. The European Commission adds to this in their definition that companies should incorporate “social and environmental concerns in their business operations” all voluntarily (Commission of the European Communities, 2001, as cited in Newell & Frynas, 2007, p. 673). According to Abrams (1951, as cited in Frederick, 2008) this follows the idea that the ones in power carry a responsibility to society. Thus, it is of importance to mention that companies understand corporate social responsibility in different ways, since there is no unilateral definition of the concept. To some the concept indicates being legally responsible to affected people, to others it is more about the ethical value. Further descriptions are that it is seen as charity or social consciousness (Votaw, 1972, as cited in Garriga & Melé, 2004). The adoption of CSR into business ethics originated from the United States, which was mainly due to the liberal economy. It advanced in four stages of which the first was the approach to CSR of philanthropy (Frederick, 2008). Philanthropy is the desire to promote the welfare of others and companies executed this approach through the funding of community projects. This kind of activities were also seen in other countries, for instance in merchant’s philanthropy in Asian countries (Das Gupta, 2007). Succeeding after and adding to the first phase, the second phase focussed on a wider social equality agenda, namely diminishing social problems such as racism and sexual discrimination in the workforce, but also opposing industrial pollution, avoiding

9 bribery and aiming for fair business standards (Frederick, 2008). At this stage, CSR became primarily a concept of business ethics as the focus was about the fairness of principles, corporate culture and strategies. While the concept developed over the years, globalization had the greatest impact on CSR (Das Gupta, 2007). With this trend, corporations automatically obtained a larger citizenship duty (Frederick, 2008) due to the expansion and outsourcing of parts of their business. According to Frederick (2008) one of the most important issues caused by globalization that corporations are facing today is the search for long-term sustainability of economics and ecology within their enterprise, but also within national economies and the world system. In a different way than Frederick (2008), Garriga & Melé (2004) introduce another division in categories of CSR theories. They classified CSR theories into the categories of instrumental, political, integrative and ethical. The first, the instrumental theories, are based on the idea that the social responsibility of corporations is to create wealth (Garriga & Melé, 2004). So they are only engaging in social projects if they can create wealth out of these (Garriga & Melé, 2004). This theoretic approach dominates most of businesses’ conception about social responsibility (Windsor, 2001) and aims at maximizing profits of stakeholders, while also taking their interests into account. Thereafter, the political theories focus on the place of companies in society, which brings responsibilty along (Garriga & Melé, 2004). Specifically, “this leads the corporation to accept social duties and rights or participate in certain social cooperation” (Garriga & Melé, 2004, p. 52). An important theory is the Corporate Citizenship theory, as also mentioned by Frederick (2008). Thirdly, the integrative approach integrates and emphasizes the dependence of businesses on society, wherefore it should support it. The ethical theories stress that ethics of their business operations are important, thus they serve social obligations out of an ethical perspective (Garriga & Melé, 2004). So the instrumental and integrative approaches are more a motive of survival, instead of doing well for society (Das Gupta, 2007).

2.2 Eastern corporate welfare Since the concept CSR found its origin in the United States in the 1920s (Frederick, 2008), it is a rather Western concept. Therefore, is required to extent the theory towards the East. Forms of CSR also existed in Asia, as Mohan (2001) states there is a ‘social welfare philosophy’ entrenched in Asian corporate philanthropy (as cited in Arora & Puranik, 2004). In India particularly, businessmen were influenced by the Gandhian philosophy of ‘trusteeship’, which advocates the idea of businesses “as a ‘trust’ held in the interest of community at large” (Arora & Puranik, 2004). This suggests a strong mutual relationship between the business sector and society. Hereby, first they made contributions for the support of public facilities such as schools and hospitals, while later for public health and rural development (Mohan, 2001, as cited in Arora & Puranik,

10 2004). Thus, private sector companies were seen as performing activities, that were later named as CSR (Das Gupta, 2007). Das Gupta (2007) argues that this Eastern philantrophy coincides with the Western philantrophical ideas in a way that they both saw religion as a main motive. So in India, CSR activities grew from the already present high value of charity actions by business communities (Das Gupta, 2007). These charity actions, mainly contributions to schools, hospitals, higher education and support to cultural activities, were established by the creation of trusts and donations. This importance of trusts was earlier emphasized in a simular way by Aurora & Puranik (2004). In the years succeeding the independence of India, the demanded progress for the country acted as an extra motivation for businesses to invest more in social development and reforms. Das Gupta (2007) argues that it was in their own interest to do this, as their own survival would otherwise be more vulnerable. Singh (2016) states that currently a large part of Indian companies are involved in CSR activities, where private sector companies play the most dominant role. About 9 percent of these activities in India are concentrated in the state of Tamil Nadu. The involvement in CSR activity can largely be attributed to globalization and liberalization, which initiated the arrival of more transnational corporations (Das Gupta, 2007). In the same way as with Western CSR, globalization and economic reforms influenced the nature of CSR in India in a great way. While in earlier days the emphasis was on philanthropical motives and charity, Das Gupta (2007) states that at the end of the twentieth century, Indian CSR changed more to the direct engagement of corporations into development. That is why the role of CSR in the new liberalized economic system of India is highly emphasized (Das Gupta, 2007). Conversely, another view is offered by Arora & Puranik (2004), who defend that today the main drivers of CSR in India include philanthropy and image building as most significant, and ethical reasons are less important. More motives for CSR include a broader market access, improvement in productivity and public image and the reduction of costs and risks (Das Gupta, 2007). So in literature, a discussion still exists about the nature and motivations of CSR in the Indian corporate world. Impartial of this discussion, in 2013 a bill was passed in the country, called the ‘Companies Bill’, of which one act obliged companies to be ‘socially responsible’ (Singh & Jha, 2016). This applies to every company that has a net profit of 5 crore or more, a net worth of 500 crore or more, or a turnover of 1000 crore or more (Prasad, 2016). A crore is 10 million rupees. These companies have to put in place a CSR committee by law, that overviews, ensures and formulates its CSR policy. The companies are obliged to re-invest at least 2% of their net profits into local areas (Prasad, 2016). Nonetheless, despite the existence of a legal way to enforce CSR, the meaning of this ‘socially responsible’ remains unclear. Das Gupta (2007) emphasized the notability of the nature of Indian CSR, since it was influenced by factors such as colonialism, a state-led economy and the still existing income disparity. In this way she supports the statement that

11 CSR does not embody the same as Western CSR. In India, Indian companies are more socially responsible than multinational companies in the country, pointed out by a research conducted by TERI and New Academy of Business, UK (Das Gupta, 2007).

2.3 CSR as generator of development The role of CSR is ever important now because of the challenges that come with liberalization and a free market (Das Gupta, 2007). This shift welcomed foreign direct investment into the country and has extended the role of the private sector, a factor that has influenced CSR in a great way. Also, it has discredited the role of the government as the main generator of development (Newell & Frynas, 2007). However, a discussion remains present in academic literature whether this ‘doing good’ philanthrophy of businesses is able to tackle the difficulties of economic development. Worldwide, organisations such as the Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank and the United Nations are embracing CSR as a possible method to decrease poverty (Newell & Frynas, 2007). Frynas (2005) offers another view, in which he argues that the CSR executed by corporations in his study (oil multinationals) is not able to contribute to development. This deficiency would emanate from the motives for CSR of the studied oil multinationals, for aiming to be competitive advantageous, the management of the external perception to their company and stabilizing their working environment and maintaining happy employees (Frynas, 2005). These objectives seem to hold back the developmental capacity of their CSR activity. The counter arguments are that it would only be philanthropic aid to buy a community’s support, to improve the company’s reputation, so for public relations purposes or that often the initiators are not development specialists (Frynas, 2005). Besides this, the study argues that the CSR is more involved in short-term convenience projects for the companies instead of long- term commitment, which would better result in development. There seems to be a lot of amateurism in the process of these projects, where the help was only a symbolic effort (Frynas, 2005). These examples are all preventing a legitimate contribution to being actually valuable for socioeconomic development. Another stand Frynas (2005) brings forward as a cause for the failing CSR to be good for development is the lack of sufficient governance. The fact that CSR is needed shows a deficiency of the government in its developmental role (Frynas, 2005). Besides, as a consequence, CSR support also draws this role even further back from the government and companies might not have the appropriate mechanisms to take a part in this role (Newell & Frynas, 2007). On the contrary, governments always create the conditions how companies should be involved in development (Newell & Frynas, 2007), so in that way they can set objectives to steer them in a direction. However, this is only possible when sufficient governance is in place and able to supervise this. While Newell & Frynas (2007) are more positive about the contribution CSR can have for local community development, especially in terms of

12 infrastructure, a lot still remains unclear about the developmental ability of CSR. At the same time, there are no significant tools available to measure the corporate impact on development. Still, Newell & Frynas (2007) argue that the potential of development realisation of a company is governed at a much higher level through investment and management decisions than through the provision of welfare activities at a local level.

13 Methodology

In the following chapter, the research questions and all the choices made during the research will be discussed. Firstly, the research questions will be introduced, where after the methods and the phases in the fieldwork will be explained.

1.Questions

1.1 Research questions: What is the role of SIPCOT Industrial area’s corporate social responsibility in regional development in Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu? 1. How does the structure of CSR of SIPCOT companies in Cuddalore District look like and what is their perception of the concept? 2. What are the differences between CSR measures as how companies are justifying them and how are they perceived by local affected communities? 3. In which way are other actors playing a role in the arrangement of CSR between companies and society? 4. What is the role of CSR measures in providing health, education and drinking water in the villages of Karaikadu and Kudikadu?

The main question in this research is what role CSR plays in the regional development of Cuddalore District. However, in order to be able to answer this question, first a broad inquiry of the general structure of CSR in Cuddalore District was necessary. In the first sub-question, themes such as the actors, what kind of projects, what motives and choices, the perception of the concept and the outcomes of CSR are tried to be obtained. Following this question, the second sub-question two tries to discover the motive of companies and the perception of local affected communities regarding CSR activity. Subsequently, additional actors needed to be examined. Is CSR only carried out by companies, directly to the local communities, or are there any other organizations or actors in place that influence the arrangement? Lastly, the addition of the fourth sub- question has been to create more emphasis. This comparison shows a livelier image and study exposes the differences between the panchayats of Kudikadu and Karaikadu, the two primary municipalities in Cuddalore District regarding corporation’s CSR activities. In this case study, the concentration was on the main fields of CSR in this area; health, education and drinking water, which are valued indicators for regional development (Dash & Sahoo, 2010; Social Progress Imperative, 2016; OECD, 2017).

2. Research design

This research is a descriptive case study of the corporate social responsibility of 5 companies of SIPCOT in Cuddalore District. In this way, it is focussing on a

14 single organizational structure, which makes it eligible for case study research (Bryman, 2012, p. 66). It was carried out at multiple places in different villages within Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu, during fieldwork in April 2017- May 2017. Qualitative data was generated out of 26 interviews with multiple actors in the overall structure that was present. Because of this, the research methods have differed for data collection. Next to this, it has been a process of deductive, but mainly inductive thinking as is regular in case study research with a qualitative strategy (Bryman, 2012, p. 69). The process of this research has started with deductive reasoning from a literature review. Theory about the context of SIPCOT Cuddalore, its effects and its place in the broader theme of economic development have been helpful to direct to a certain focus. In the research questions, the aims of the research questions have already been discussed. However, these questions have changed continually over time because of better understanding of the situation at hand. Only upon arrival in India, the context in which the process was embedded was better understood. Consequently, sometimes questions needed to be sharpened or even changed. This could be seen as inductive reasoning, since some questions were formed out of the already gathered knowledge. Eventually, the research has started with observations on the streets and in the villages surrounding SIPCOT Cuddalore, mainly situated near the East Coast road. From these observations and a list of all the SIPCOT companies in phase 1, phase 2 and phase 3, obtained from earlier research of translator S. Selva and professor A. Menon of the Madras Institute for Development Studies, a list of 10 key companies was made. During the next weeks, 5 of these companies have been interviewed due to time, admission and availability of the managers. In these interviews information has been collected which could be used for the next phases. The most interesting CSR projects such as support to schools and medical facilities were selected and visited. These were selected because they were the accessible CSR activities, are important indicators of the quality of life, which contributes to development, and were therefore of value in order to answer the research question. In this way, most of the information from corporate interviews was validated and the structure of CSR was cleared. This strategy of triangulation, the use of more sources of data, resulted in a higher confidence of the findings (Bryman, 2012, p. 392). During this phase, also 4 panchayat interviews were carried out, in addition to the interview with SIPCOT Administration. In the second phase, the perception of villagers towards CSR was measured by structured interviews. This is important because the social world can best be understood from the perspective of the subjects being studied (Bryman, 2012, p. 399). These were carried out with as many respondents as possible, equally divided between man and woman and with notice of different communities.

15 3. Methods

Observations During the first days of the first week of fieldwork, observations have taken place in and around the villages close to the East Coast Road, which is south of Cuddalore Town. From these observations, information was gathered about the context of the case study, the living areas of different communities and their distances to company plots.

Semi-structured in-depth interviews For the information gathering of the structure of CSR, semi-structured interviews with the same questions for each company were conducted. The amount of company interviews strongly depended on their availability and our admission to the factory, causing the researchers to try repeatedly. Thus, while making use of a list of 10 companies, the sampling method herein has been convenience sampling. After interviews with some companies, the CSR projects that were found were being validated. This was done in interviews at the prescribed places. For instance, in an interview with Strides Shasun a rural health centre in Kudikadu was mentioned. In order to validate information from the companies, the rural health centre was visited and available officials were interviewed about the existence and course of events in the centre. This was also done at three schools, where headmasters and teachers were asked about their knowledge about CSR activity at their school. This method of triangulation has already been described in the research design. Since the respondents for these interviews were gathered out of former ones, the sampling method for the public facility interviews and the interviews of the next paragraph has been snowball sampling. Thirdly, informed by the conversations with companies, the interference of CSR activity by other actors needed attention. This was done by conducting interviews with village officials, namely panchayat presidents, a panchayat clerk and the village administration office. Besides this, the SIPCOT Association was often visited, in order to arrange one interview with the director.

Structured in-depth interviews Lastly, to capture the perception about CSR of the local community, a structured interview list was drafted (Appendix 1). After the questions were proven to be solid in the field, twelve interviews (six each at two different villages) were conducted with respondents between 16 and 65 years old. The sampling method for the structured interviewing has been first by context, because two villages were selected. Then, the respondents were sampled in participants, because the interviews were divided equally between gender in each village. These sampling steps were purposive criterion sampling, since the respondents had to meet a particular criterion (Bryman, 2012, p. 419): a specific village or gender. In these particular criteria groups, the sampling method has been

16 convenience: dependent of the availability of villagers (Bryman, 2012, p. 201). Next to this, the village of Kudikadu is divided in two communities, where in each two interviews were conducted. The criteria were chosen in order to investigate if there were any differences between age groups, gender and community. All the community interviews were held with a member of a household. The questions in these interviews were in order to gain insight on the themes of their socio-economic status, gender, age, community, feelings towards the realization of SIPCOT, basic infrastructure in their living place, the justification of practice by SIPCOT companies, the mutual relationship, their panchayat, their opinion about CSR and responsibilities of different actors.

Methods and units of analysis Method: Units of analysis: N=…

Observation Whole villages, SIPCOT company areas, X distances from village to SIPCOT, surroundings.

Talks Villagers, people on the street: to gain very X broad insight on the village and area, people of CSR projects.

Semi- § Manager, higher employee of a SIPCOT 5 structured company interviews § Employee of public service 4 § Additional actors 5

Structured § Adult household member. 12 interviews

4. Research area

The research was conducted at different places in the area alongside the East Coast road (Cuddalore Chidambaram highway), south from Cuddalore. In figure 3, the important villages are pictured in white, with their panchayat between brackets. The yellow names are the five researched companies: Pondicherry Alum and Chemicals Limited, Strides Shasun, ASIAN Paints, Pioneer Jellice and Chemplast Sanmar Limited, all located east of the East Coast road. In figure 4 and 5, clarifications of the surroundings are provided.

17

Figure 3: Villages and companies surrounding SIPCOT Industrial area in Cuddalore District, India. Between brackets: panchayat (municipality). (Google Earth & author, 2017)

Figure 4: Main street in Karaikadu village, Sedapalayam panchayat. (Author, 2017)

18

Figure 5: Surroundings of Kudikadu village. (Author, 2017)

Figure 6: SIPCOT company alongside the East Coast road. (name unidentified). (Author, 2017).

19 5. Limitations

Several limitations can be noticed from this research. First of all, the data has been influenced by the translation and interpretation of the translator. Although his English was sufficient, interpretations were probably made and discussions about this followed. His opinion and knowledge about the area as a researcher himself was also of value, though a critical view remained necessary. Naturally, the aim has been to let this influence be as little as possible. Secondly it is important to emphasize that this research is based on the perceptions and opinions of all actors involved in the process of CSR: companies, villagers, village officials and organisations. The research is dependent on their trustworthiness. An often-argued critique of qualitative research is that it is too subjective (Bryman, 2012, p. 405). Nonetheless, this influence is lowered because of the many different opinions of actors combined, which makes it more objective. Thirdly, the role of different communities was unfortunately neglected, because of the difficulty to approach people with the subject, the sentiment people experience, the lack of understanding of the researcher of caste and the lack of time. Besides this, for the provision of CSR it didn’t seem an important factor. Fourth, generally the scope of the findings is restricted in case study research, which causes the external validity to be low (Bryman, 2012, p. 47). However, this case study is not so specific for Cuddalore District, since there are more SIPCOT plots in Tamil Nadu and similar industrial clusters available throughout India. In other cases, the mediating role of the SIPCOT Association might be absent, but the influence of multiple companies’ CSR activity on a community could still be alike. Lastly, as in every qualitative case study, this research is subjected to the choices of the researcher. Considerations may be influenced by its view upon the subject in a small regard, despite the endeavour of being objective.

20 Context

1. SIPCOT Cuddalore

The focus area of this research is SIPCOT (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu) Industrial area in Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu. This industrial area accommodates different companies, which were established since 1984 on 518,79 acres in total (Rajarajan & Vetrivel, 2016). Most of the plots are allocated to chemical companies. The project was partially realized because of the expectation that such an industrial area would develop the backward areas around the plots (Udayakumar, 2004).

Figure 7: Map of SIPCOT Cuddalore phase 1 plots. (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT), 2011).

2. Impact of industrialization

In academic literature, different views are present about the impact of SIPCOT Cuddalore on its surroundings. Different researches point out the extreme pollution the chemical plots are producing (SIPCOT Area Community Environmental Monitors, 2005; Sankaran, Sonkamble, Krishnakumar, & Mondal, 2012; Mathivanan, Prabavathi, Prithabai, & Selvisabhanayakam, 2010), which negatively affects the inhabitants of surrounding villages (Indians People Tribunal

21 On Environment and Human Rights, 2003). For instance, a soil sample from the SIPCOT complex area was heavily polluted because of effluents and waste compared with the soil of Cuddalore Old Town (Mathivanan, et al., 2010). Next to this, the national newspaper stated in 2016 that groundwater around SIPCOT Cuddalore was extremely contaminated and not safe both for human and animal (The Hindu, 2016). The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board had failed their tasks in protecting the area from pollution (The Hindu, 2016). Besides that, also positive sounds exist, however in a much lesser amount. For instance, Udayakumar (2004) argued that the realization of SIPCOT industrial area brought improvements in infrastructure, work and benefits for the community as a whole. On the contrary of the former, a respondent in a report of the Indian People Tribunal stated that "So far, industrialization has brought us no benefits in any way, only problems” (Indians People Tribunal On Environment and Human Rights, 2003, p. 27).

3. Employment in the area

The research of Udayakumar (2004) states that the SIPCOT industrial units provide many opportunities in the region in terms of labour. And so it should, since one of the purposes of the SIPCOT area was to develop backward areas around the Industrial plots. The companies under the used questionnaire in Udayakumar’s (2004) research state that the ex-owners of the plots should be provided with employment in their organisations, and therefore that their practices are beneficial to the surroundings. Also, the arrival of SIPCOT Industrial area should reduce regional imbalances (Udayakumar, 2004). However, in a people’s tribunal, a respondent said that the industrial plots refuse to hire local people (Indians People Tribunal On Environment and Human Rights, 2003). Thus, this short introduction to SIPCOT Cuddalore shows that there are many discussions and contradictions regarding the livelihood of the community, the amount of pollution and the developmental benefits of the industrial area.

22 Results

1. CSR in Cuddalore District

1.1 Actors involved in CSR In order to discuss the role of corporate social responsibility in rural development in Cuddalore District, it is necessary to describe the total system of CSR activities present in the research area. In this system a few actors are present, of which the most important ones are the companies. These players carry out the CSR activities, make certain choices and are at the top of decision-making. Next to these, the local collector’s office of Cuddalore District plays a role. This is a governmental body at the level of the district that can arrange or demand CSR activities from the companies, which is often arranged by the SIPCOT Association. The CSR activity requested by the collector is for public services such as hospitals and other basic needs. The formerly mentioned SIPCOT Association is an organization created together with the realization of the SIPCOT complex, and is meant to be an independent body for collaboration, counselling and monitoring of the corporations. As the representative put it, the “role of Association is maintaining the welfare of the companies and the relationships between them and the Association”. However, this organisation plays only a small role in the whole structure of CSR in Cuddalore District. Another less logical, but important actor is the panchayat office of villages. A panchayat could best be described as a small municipality, under which a few villages are governed. The village panchayat has duties such as tax revenue, maintenance of public roads, parks and sanitation in the village as well as some administrative duties (Government of Tamil Nadu, 2017). The people in this villages choose a panchayat president that is their controlling officer. This man has a panchayat board of around ten man that help him in decision-making processes. The importance of this actor in the system is that he is a link in the chain of villagers and companies. The panchayat president is always a village man, so the local community often supports him because he is one of them. At the other hand, he is communicating with companies and the government about the village needs and conflicts, thus he is a mediator, which later will be explained. Village needs come from the villagers in the community themselves, making them also an actor group in the system of CSR activity in Cuddalore.

1.2 The definition of CSR The next step in clarifying the structure of CSR activity is answering the ‘what’ question. Corporate Social Responsibility is a widely discussed concept, used by very different definitions around the world. But how do the companies in the SIPCOT area perceive this concept, and more importantly, how do they carry it out? Corporate social responsibility is executed by multiple companies of SIPCOT phase 1 and 2 in Cuddalore District. Nevertheless, since the scope of this thesis, this research was only able to focus on five companies of it, which

23 give an image about the activity in the region. These five companies and their personal CSR activities are scheduled in table 1 (Appendix 2) for a more structured overview. All the companies were quite open about their corporate social responsibility activities, because they see it as something good performed by their company. For the investigated companies, corporate social responsibility has a broad meaning of helping other people, responsibility of the company to assist communities and development and investment in the surrounded society. This is shown for instance by ASIAN Paints who stated they want to “serve the people around us” or by the representative of Chemplast who told ‘I feel the responsibility of the company to assist the people’. The companies were fine with this definition being stated in this research, because they see it as something good.

1.3 Sorts of activities under CSR When filling in the structure of CSR in Cuddalore, most essential is what kind of projects are performed by the companies. These included a wide range of different things, among which the main focus activities in Cuddalore District are medical treatments, educational support, drinking water supply or facilities, temple donations and flood relief. Each company has its own focus, which is shown in table 1. Where Asian Paints is clearly focussing on education, Chemplast gives its main priority to flood relief. Educational support mainly consists of providing schools with stationeries for students, small scholarships or needs for physical education or other subjects. For instance, Asian Paints provided 17 computers, two teachers, science supplies, teachers salary, building facilities and other things to a higher secondary school in Karaikadu. As to water scarcity, companies provide water towers, RO purified water systems or drinking water itself to villages. An example of this is the company Strides Shasun that brings five water tankers a day to the village of Kudikadu. Also Pioneer arranges drinking water to the nearest panchayats, and Pondicherry Alum mentioned a contribution to a drinking water bill arranged by the SIPCOT Association. This indicates that the SIPCOT Association is also performing CSR activities as an independent body. These activities are registered in table 2 (Appendix 3), though some of them may also be already present in table 1. The determination which projects or activity was carried out by whom was sometimes confusing. At some projects, for instance at a middle school in Karaikadu, at the walls of a supported school the name of the provider was present (here: Asian Paints, figure 8). However, not all CSR activity is directly visible; earlier financial contributions to temple festivals may not be known to villagers and they also could confuse from whom they received their rice, biscuits and bed sheet in the times of flooding. That is why it is important to emphasize that the information in table 1 and 2 is provided by the companies and SIPCOT Association themselves, and is therefore subjective and may not contain every single CSR activity of the companies.

24 1.4 Companies’ choices for projects One of the questions in the research has been why companies made choices for certain projects. This was to make clear if companies actively have a choice in the kind of CSR they carry out or let carry out for them. Already after a short period of time it became clear that many of the CSR activity that currently exists, was arranged by the government, the panchayat president or by the villagers after asking a company. Also some CSR activity has been in place for a longer time, making it logical to choose it again the next year, such as financial temple donations. The companies indicated that they inform themselves about the necessities in the villages around them, for instance through a survey or requisition letters from the public and NGOs. Strides Shasun clearly mentioned that most of their CSR activities are requests that come from the villagers or the government, containing the needs and scarcities of villages. The requests from the villagers come through the panchayat president. When these are gathered, they are taken into consideration by the main office, which can then decide upon them. Another decision structure is carried out by Pioneer, who arrange a survey investigating the affected villages. Afterwards this is being checked by an inspection and ends up with the Vice President of the company. But still, requests of villagers remain present and sometimes cannot be neglected, Chemplast explains. The company’s representatives stated that they cannot undermine the villagers’ requests for temple donations, because they are very religious. If the company would suggest moving their CSR activities to other fields of their own interest, the panchayat would refuse it and a conflict would arise. So decision-making for certain kind of projects definitely is influenced by the necessity that the villagers are supporting the company and feel pleased. In this process, interference by political parties can also sometimes happen, states Chemplast. For instance, if a political group makes promises to villagers to get their support, they can pressure a company to realize this need. Though, these promises can also easily be wiped away because of briberies from the companies to political parties, a young man from Karaikadu stated. ‘A management strategy’ chosen by Shasun, and also mentioned by Pondicherry Alum, is the distance in providing CSR projects. They told that when ‘‘the 4th village is less affected than the 1st” the strategy is to provide to the closest village to the plots’ borders. Almost every company named projects in villages that were close, and explained the importance of a good relationship with their ‘neighbours’. A small exception to this rule is Asian Paints, who is providing lots of support to the higher secondary school in Karaikadu, which is not located next door. An explanation for this could be that it is still the closest high school in the neighbourhood, making distance not their first importance in picking the kind of projects they support. Still, distance seems an important factor that is being taking into account when picking projects to support.

25 1.5 Motives In the same way as companies have a reason for a certain kind of project, they also have different motives to be involved in CSR at all. A few companies corrected me in calling it their motive, because a ‘motive’ implied for them that it generates benefits. They rather point CSR out as a way to uplift the people around them through helping them, in order to smoothen the relationship and prevent upraises. However, when companies are involved in CSR with any reason in mind, this research argues that thus it could be stated as their motive. Chemplast stated that they feel the responsibility to do this, since they feel that the government is not always doing it good. Pioneer said that if the relationship is not well maintained, people can cause a conflict in the future. This would eventually be disadvantageous for their profits. Another point, also brought up by Chemplast, is about aiming at long-term sustainability for the company, which they can reach by assisting people around their plot. However, 2 out of the 5 companies admitted that they mainly perform CSR activities because villagers insist on it. They answer these demands to maintain a peaceful relationship and get the villagers’ support. None of the companies said to receive any corporate benefits for providing CSR, and Pondicherry Alum stated their CSR was not even obligatory as a result of their minor profits. But as to the rest, the law, as required by the state authority, about 2% of their profits should be invested into CSR activities was in order. Thus the motive of most companies is partly philanthropic, but mainly serving the purpose of maintaining a smooth relationship with the surrounding villagers, for support of the companies’ activities. Where flood relief is most of the times a voluntarily CSR activity, as stated in the villagers’ interviews, temple donations are mostly insisted upon by the villagers. This is a division that is interesting to point out. Some CSR activities are asked to the companies, and others are voluntarily. A third kind of CSR is when it is arranged by a third party; a government development scheme, the district collector or by the SIPCOT Association. These are sometimes hard to recognize, since companies only finance projects and name it a contribution or donation. Also activities occur where the district collector appeals to the SIPCOT Association, which then again askes a contribution from different companies for the project. In this way the structure of who is providing CSR in what way is hard to analyse, since it appears to be quite random.

26

Figure 8: Sign on the canteen building of the Middle School in Karaikadu. (Author, 2017)

1.6 Cooperation between actors The last point worth investigating in this chapter was the question whether companies collaborated for their CSR activities, and thus if there were any shared projects. Nevertheless, in the whole researched picture of CSR in Cuddalore District, no projects where companies collaborated were found. Also the question to the companies if they worked together on certain things, was strictly answered by for instance “working together wouldn’t work, because the management is very different” (Chemplast, 2017) and that every company is involved in other things. Strides Shasun stated that contact and collaboration between companies should be arranged by the SIPCOT Association, but that this organisation is not working properly. Meetings would not be regularly conducted and the contact is poor. A second point that came up was that contact with other companies is not happening because of political interference, or that contact with the SIPCOT Association is not happening because of the same reason. This would mean that political parties hinder co-operational attempts of SIPCOT companies, also to share and carry out CSR activities together.

27

Figure 9: Public toilet placed by Strides Shasun in Kudikadu. (Author, 2017)

2. Mediators: the role of SIPCOT Association and the village panchayat

As mentioned briefly before, the role of the SIPCOT Association is to maintain the welfare of all the companies and sustain the relationship between them. So most of all the Association has a coordinative role, namely to solve any issues that companies are facing. Besides this, it organises and carries out some CSR activities, which is why the organisation is of importance to this research. Most of the time the Association does so in request of the district collectors’ office. This is one of the administrational body’s at the District level, in this case of Cuddalore District (see for more info: National Informatics Centre (2017)). After a request comes in, the SIPCOT Association can judge whether to support it or not. When they do, the next step is seeking support from the companies. The representative of the Association stated that “Sometimes companies have other focusses”, so they don’t always support their projects. However, most of the times the companies are urged to support the projects because they are the members of the Association. The Association representative indicated that there is “there’s no thumb rule for that”, meaning this procedure.

28 The companies are predominantly focussing on drinking water supply, health, education, social awareness and environment, according to the Association. Also, they would “have all kinds of guidelines” for providing CSR and their focus lies upon the nearby villages. Most of the CSR activities are carried out independently and are not arranged by the SIPCOT Association. According to their spokesperson the reason for this is that the companies rather want their own corporate label on it, instead letting it implement by the Association. Besides this, they can receive an award for providing good CSR activities from the District Collector. As already briefly mentioned, according to the representative of Strides Shasun, “this association is not working properly” and “they don’t conduct the meeting regularly”. This statement seems to illustrate the more or less vague interference of the Association. As introduced in the structure of CSR, the panchayat is comparable with a municipality, since it governs over a group of inhabitants and a physical area (Bavinck, 2001), and is a stakeholder in the process of the provision and arrangement of CSR. Since the panchayat president has control over multiple villages, he is the mediator between the inhabitants of these villages and external authorities such as the government and powerful companies. He is there to realize people’s demands and solve conflicts if there are any. Besides being the bridge between two parties, the panchayat president can approach companies for demands from the villagers. Almost every respondent in the villagers’ interviews indicated that the panchayat is most responsible for the provision of basic infrastructure, since he is the government’s representative. It also appeared that in recent years, the panchayat presidents had realized some of this infrastructure. The view towards the panchayat president seemed good, because the inhabitants often stated that they would approach this actor in case of problems or needs. One man however, claimed that the panchayat president of Karaikadu was being bribed by the companies. “In this way he will support the companies and care for the people to remain quiet”. This statement indicates that the president is not always supported by every inhabitant.

3. Legitimization of the activities by corporations and the perception of communities

It has already become clear that the motive under which companies provide CSR activities in their surroundings is mainly to smoothen the relationship with villagers. Besides this, they try to avoid more conflicts, or any conflicts at all. However, what companies often didn’t mention is that these conflicts regularly are about pollution of any kind. Villagers are aware of the fact that their living environment is being polluted in a small or large extent by some of the companies. Sometimes this is a reason for conflict, which can then be settled with CSR activities. So in this way companies are declaring their CSR projects as being assisting to the people and philanthropic, while they are also used as a

29 means to prevent conflict situations. Thus, they are legitimizing their wrongdoings by doing good as a consequence. The fact that 2% CSR is obligatory for the companies, sounds ideal and villagers are quite supportive of this approach. A young woman from the Kudikadu Dalit area told that she feels that the companies are polluting her living environment and that sometimes even drops from the air fall down. Thereafter, she stated that the companies are supporting them with CSR to make them satisfied, and despite of the pollution, she felt that they are doing good in helping them. However, another respondent disagreed and told that the approach is not working in the village of Kudikadu. “People are still angry with the company that they didn’t do anything” was the man’s statement from the Kudikadu Vanniyar area. Next to that, he felt that the company should make amends because they are so polluting. So people generally agree that pollution makes the companies responsible to provide things, and they feel that this is working to smoothen the relationship between them and the companies. Aside from this approval of CSR activity, they still disapprove of pollution being made by the companies.

4. A comparison: the differences between the villages of Kudikadu and Karaikadu

To put more weight into the research a comparison between the villages of Kudikadu and Karaikadu was added. These villages are interesting because of the differences in CSR activity that were notable. The description of these villages will provide a livelier understanding of the structure of CSR and objectives of the companies, panchayat president and villagers at play in Cuddalore District.

Figure 10: The villages of Kudikadu (right) and Karaikadu (left) alongside the East Coast road, Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu. (Google maps, 2017)

30

Kudikadu is a small village east of the East Coast road, which is at the same side as all the SIPCOT companies. As it is almost completely surrounded by them, it is partially excluded from connection with other villages. From the East Coast road, a small road reaches the Dalit1 community area in the village, where most of the CSR activity in the village is carried out. In this part also the panchayat office and village administration office is situated. Active player Strides Shasun is a direct neighbour of this village part, which makes the area less appealing. When continuing on the same road, after at least 500 metres vacant lands, the Vanniyar2 community area is situated. This area is further away from industrial plots, is connected to the village of Echankadu and has a more widespread setting. The former village panchayat president is a Vanniyar male and is still widely respected, which is why he is running for a second term. The CSR activities in the village of Kudikadu are of various kinds, mainly the provision of drinking water, temple donations, the realization of a small medical facility, two cement roads, financial assistance for education, donations for medical support, public toilets, an evening tuition centre and flood relief. These actions are arranged by companies such as DFE Pharma, Clariant, Loyal Super Fabrics and Asian Paints, but mainly by Strides Shasun. The reason for this, which also becomes clear from the interview with this particular company, is because Kudikadu is right next to the fabric’s plot and is the most affected by this company. Especially the Dalit area of Kudikadu is most affected, which is why the medical facility for first aid, the evening tuition centre and the drinking water supply are provided here. In the Vanniyar area, only sometimes medical treatment is provided and flood relief on incident. This means that the drinking water here is taken care of by the government, despite the fact that both areas receive it from the Kannaripettai Hill Station. So in one area a company is helping to arrange decent drinking water, while in the other the government does so. The explanation that Vanniyar villagers give for this inconsistency of providing drinking water and other CSR activities to the Dalit area, is because they feel that Dalit people always protest for it. The Vanniyar villagers don’t want to take this approach, and rather have the companies to do it themselves or let it the responsibility of the government. They do however wish for more support to their part of the village, since companies have created pollution and were involved in land grabbing3. Vanniyar people are not keen to ask, because they lost hope in receiving support from companies after years of being neglected. The Dalit people on the other hand, also feel that they have not received enough support from companies, though in comparison with the Vanniyar villagers they

1 Dalit is a Hindu social class that formerly was named as the ‘outcastes’, falling outside the traditional four-fold caste system (National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, n.d.; ). For more info: Baan Hofman (2017) thesis. 2 Vanniyar is a community that is also named as most backward class (MBC). For more info: Murugananthan (2015). 3 For more info on land grabbing, see thesis of Bongenaar (2016).

31 did. Nonetheless, it should be emphasized that the Dalit area is much closer to factories than the Vanniyar area. So the difference which was noticeable, is that Dalit people seem to protest and ask for CSR support, and that the Vanniyar people dislike this behaviour and expect companies to take initiative. The outcome is that the Dalit people receive more CSR activity in their area of the village than in the Vanniyar area. If this can be attributed to its distance to the companies or the fact that they seem to ask for support is discussable. A factor that could relates to this inner-village conflict is the village panchayat president. As mentioned before the former panchayat president is from the Vanniyar area. Vanniyar respondents argued that their strategy to gain more from companies would be to go to the panchayat president or to one of his board members. On the contrary, Dalit people were more keen to approach the company directly or even go protest against it. Thus, being of the same community as the panchayat president could be an important factor in being able to express the needs for the community area. The former Kudikadu panchayat president was very active in arranging CSR facilities for his village. His role for CSR is to intermediate in conflicts and assess people’s needs. According to him, the Dalit area is more heavily polluted than the Vanniyar area, which seems the reason behind the support from the companies for this area. The case of Kudikadu gives the impression that the assertiveness of the Dalit people, their location and their more polluted environment is more important than the role of the panchayat president. Thus, this research argues that the panchayat president is an actor who could play a big role, but the companies’ will and the demands of the people are stronger.

The village centre of Karaikadu is located about 1 km away from the East Coast road and the most important companies of SIPCOT. The village is also divided into more parts: Chinna Karaikadu, Periya Karaikadu, Angalaman Karaikadu and Valli Karaikadu, of which Angalaman Karaikadu belongs to a different panchayat. For this research there will be no distinction made between the different parts, since its communities are not as strictly divided as in Kudikadu village. The village is very spread out, so some parts are even located more fare from SIPCOT companies than the centre. In total, the village has received flood relief, educational support, temple donations and a medical camp as CSR activities from companies in the last 20 years. The main providers were the companies Strides Shasun, Clariant and Asian Paints. However, what is striking in this village is that the Government Higher Secondary School has received an abundance of support, only from Asian Paints. It is the most supported public facility in whole Cuddalore District, apart from all the support to different purposes in the village of Kudikadu.

32

Figure 11: The backyard of simple loam houses in Kudikadu, the Strides Shasun company.

Drinking water in Karaikadu is provided by the government and is derived from the Kannaripettai hill station. Besides the Higher Secondary School, also a Middle School in Chinna Karaikadu has received support from Asian Paints, as well as a medical treatment hour for all inhabitants. At the Higher Secondary School, a school compound, science gear, 17 computers, an RO purified water system for students, a football and a volleyball court, part of the teachers’ salary, student scholarships, the electricity bill and two teachers were granted by the company. The school director states that the help came voluntarily from the company in 2000, and after that it has been a reciprocity of arrangement. The government provides basic school needs, though if they would ask additional things to them, it would take a long time in comparison with companies. The panchayat president claims that the company undoubtedly contributed to the level of education at the school. At the Middle School, Asian Paints provided toilets, a kitchen building, two computers, a stage, furniture and a water purifier for the kids. In addition, the company Tanfac supported the school with a library building and books in 2008. Nonetheless, for the greatest part only Asian Paints is a supporter of the Karaikadu schools. In the case of the Middle School, a favoured villager who works at Asian Paints had a big influence in the provision

33 from his company. Now, the school is in contact with the company about their needs. The school employees feel that the given support is rightly, since companies use the resources around them and pollute their environment. Also the interviewed villagers of Karaikadu agree that pollution is the main reason why companies should be socially responsible and why they are currently providing the support they are providing. ASIAN Paints seems only to be interested in supporting education in Karaikadu, since a temple donation request was being rejected, according to the Higher Secondary School director. Besides this, the school’s representatives argued that all companies are polluting, but Asian Paints is making amends for this by supporting the village. Normally, every other day a medical hour is arranged in a school classroom by ASIAN Paints, but the panchayat president, villagers and the company itself argued that this will be changed to a mobile medical camp two weeks a day. The panchayat president of Karaikadu is less involved in any mediation activities than the one of Kudikadu. This became apparent from the fact that he didn’t seem to know much about CSR activity in the villages, only about ASIAN Paints providing to the schools voluntarily. In contrast, the Village Administration from the same villages also knew about temple donations from more companies. The panchayat president also supposed that companies wouldn’t want to invest in his panchayat because the distance to the plots is too big. Further asking would only led to disturbance, and would risk the provision they currently receive. Requests for drinking water from his village board members is he refusing, for the reason that Karaikadu’s groundwater is not polluted. His stand is that companies don’t consider his panchayat worthy of support, mostly because of the distance to the factories and the lack of pollution. He argues that Kudikadu has a better position for claims, because of their situation. An important statement that came up during an interview with the Karaikadu Middle school is that Strides Shasun seemed also ready to support the village of Karaikadu. However, as the respondents argued, the villagers of Kudikadu didn’t allow this to Strides Shasun, in fear of losing their own provision of support from the company. From this example it becomes apparent that the provision of CSR is an interaction between village requests and companies’ choices, where the panchayat president could play a big part.

34 Analysis

In this chapter, the literature will be elaborated upon in comparison with the results from the fieldwork.

1. Analysis of the structure of CSR in Cuddalore District

From the results it becomes clear that in the structure of CSR the following actors play a role: the village panchayat president, the local community, the SIPCOT companies and the SIPCOT Association. CSR is consistently defined by the companies themselves as helping other people, assisting communities and making an investment in society. Frederick (2008, p.2) puts emphasis on the “consciously and deliberately” acting of the companies and claims that companies should have integrity for the social and physical environment. From the results in this research, it appears that companies carry out some CSR activities voluntarily, but most of them are being requested by the public sector, panchayat president or villagers themselves. Also the integrity for mainly the physical environment could be questioned in the case of Cuddalore, because of the many complaints respondents expressed about pollution of SIPCOT. Thus, the approach of CSR in Cuddalore district is bottom-up, since companies stated that most of their requests came from the public. The geographical location of a village seems very important in the provision of CSR. From the data it appears that companies’ focus in providing CSR is on the closest distance. Still, the actual importance could also be the amount of pollution, which is in the case of Kudikadu an important factor. Whether distance of pollution is more decisive is hard to prove from the results of this research, since pollution generally also seems close to companies. Another influence that became apparent from the results of the comparison between Kudikadu and Karaikadu, is that the villagers have great power. For instance, in Kudikadu many protests of the Dalit community against Strides Shasun have resulted in the provision of drinking water. By doing this, the aim of long term sustainability of the companies’ relationship with the communities is reached, as the perception of the people confirms. Besides the people, the panchayat president could also play a big role, by requesting the companies the needs of the villages, and after that supervising the provision of CSR activities in order to reach its developmental potentials. Though, the latter is a role that the panchayat president is not fulfilling yet, but since he is a mediator the potential for this is present. Furthermore, it is important to emphasize the local political interference in place, which is influencing every actor in the structure of CSR. This political interference seems to stimulate but mostly disrupt intentions of the SIPCOT Association as well as companies to develop its CSR ability.

35 2. The role of CSR in regional development

2.1 Motives behind support Following Frynas (2005) in his claim that CSR can have the ability to develop if the right corporate motives are present, the motives of the five companies need further elaboration. Unsound motives were to be involved in CSR to be competitive, for external perception management, to stabilize the working environment and to maintain happy employees (Frynas, 2005). If the companies of SIPCOT Cuddalore are considered in this regard, the competitiveness is a motive that didn’t arise in the interviews. Though, it is assumed that the SIPCOT companies are competitive, this unsound motive cannot be supported. However, the next motives mentioned by Frynas (2005), which are external perception management and stabilizing of the working environment, can be supported from the data about the five companies. From the interviews it already appeared in the former chapter that one of the central motives was to create peace in the surroundings and get the villagers support for the companies’ existence. Also, villagers seem to insist on the CSR activities, and companies are therefore willing to accommodate them, which indicates a bottom-up approach. This proves that companies are definitely trying to manage their external perceptions, as well as stabilizing their working environment. The latter, because protests and claims from villages and the panchayats about discontent and pollution are common. Besides this, respondents of the villages acknowledged that by providing CSR the companies were improving their mutual relationship, and that this approach was working. The last motive mentioned by Frynas (2005), maintain happy employees, might also hold for the case of Cuddalore District. Though it was not specified in the interviews with the companies themselves, it is necessary to accommodate the employees in the companies as well, as these employees are often villagers from the surrounding area. Next to this, it frequently appeared that employees argued for specific kinds of CSR in their companies, as the case of the Karaikadu Middle School support showed. On the other hand, companies seemed to have real ethical motives as well. In the same way as many villagers, they recognized that they were using village land and resources and therefore should give some support back. Secondly they supposed that ‘people need this’ and they felt the responsibility to help people. For instance, ASIAN Paints seems to be really involved in long- term projects in their support for education in Karaikadu. Though, it needs to be emphasized that this is derived from the interviews with companies themselves and it is reasonable that they argue this. The perception of villagers was that the main motive is to smoothen the relationship with them and keep them at ease. Garriga & Mele (2004) also provided their distinction between CSR theories. The results of Cuddalore show no evidence of the CSR activity generating wealth for the SIPCOT companies, which was essential in the instrumental theories. Rather is focus of the SIPCOT companies on the benefit that they can bring for society and most of all, on the dependence they have on

36 the communities, matching respectively to the political and integrative theories about CSR (Garriga & Melé, 2004). To what extent the case study of Cuddalore fits to the ethical theories is debatable, as also indicated in the last paragraph. Next to these, in Cuddalore there are also more institutional motives in place. Since SIPCOT companies are realized in Tamil Nadu, they have to follow the Indian state and federal laws. The most fundamental one is that the companies have to invest 2% of their profits back into CSR activities (Prasad, 2016). The respondent of Strides Shasun claimed that his management is ‘very clear on 2%’ spending on CSR. But naturally, it is not exactly clear whether this is out of ethical reasons, because of feeling responsible or just because the law has to be followed. Also, every company named CSR activity that was initiated from the government through the SIPCOT Association. They all seemed to accept these requests for government hospital needs or other investments. So clearly, institutions are a motive for companies to be involved in CSR. Arguing from the former reasons, the motives of five the SIPCOT Cuddalore companies don’t seem to be as ethical and profound as they should be in order to create development out of it. Just carrying out requests from the government, SIPCOT Association, the panchayat or villagers themselves doesn’t offer the healthy grounds which is required for actual development.

2.2 Competence of corporations According to Frynas (2005), the sorts of projects companies are supporting do also determine the ability of CSR to be actually contributively to development. What has been noticed from observation and the data from the interviews is that the CSR in Cuddalore is still in a stage of amateurism, since the allocation of support was mainly random. Companies particularly stated that they supported projects that arose from village requests and not of developmental experts. For instance, Chemplast themselves would like to invest in education, health and drinking water but because of the villagers they are not able to undermine the demand for temple donations. This doesn’t offer a good approach for development. Besides giving grants to village requests, the projects that are supported often aren’t long term. Rather, many of them are donations or the one-time provisioning of goods when an event happens. This is the approach when floods occur, that families receive flood donations in the form of bed sheets, food and basic materials. Naturally, it seems logic that this only happens in times of flood, but this is more charity than a development project. There are however also examples of longer investments, for instance the evening tuition classes in Kudikadu offered by Strides Shasun, scholarships for the five best students per class offered by ASIAN Paints and the efforts made for healthcare in the region. Besides the sort of projects which are realized under CSR, what seems to be essential is good contact with the local people as a company in order to bring about useful CSR projects (Frynas, 2008). This is lacking in the case of

37 Cuddalore, since SIPCOT companies only discuss briefly with the panchayat president and do not engage in building bridges with the local community. Also because currently the main approach of the companies is only to answer separate requests for goods from the public, instead of assessing the developmental needs together with the public.

2.3 Actual development? As the structure of CSR in the results shows, the CSR activities included temple donations, educational support, the provision of water, healthcare facilities, a library, flood relief, sanitation and financial donations to festivals and other purposes. Contributions to education, health and water could be gathered under the concept of social infrastructure. Thus following Dash & Sahoo (2010), the elements necessary in order to create development are available in Cuddalore District, and are partially provided by CSR. Also, the data shows that for instance a panchayat president often asked ASIAN Paints for contributions in infrastructure. However, a more thorough discussion is required. In order to measure actual development, the perception of inhabitants in the provisioned villages can be analysed. The general picture that is in place in the researched area is that the government still provides basic needs for education, healthcare, sanitation and drinking water. The companies are filling in the gaps where necessary and they provide additional things. These are for instance extra chairs or notebooks for children at the Karaikadu High School or goods as flood relief. This has been supported by the employees of all the schools, who argued that the support they receive is very helpful, though additional and not per se necessary. This opinion partially seems to derive from the dissatisfaction about pollution. However, the researched area also showed signs of lacking government intervention in development. For instance, regarding healthcare, the only options for first aid or a general practitioner that were available, were the medical hours organised by a company, the Strides Shasun medical facility or the SIPCOT Association medical facility. The shared feeling about the general facilities is that they offer a good quality, but still they are used little by villagers. The reasons for this were that the facility was too far, people didn’t know of its existence or the aid it offered was too general. Inhabitants of the SIPCOT surroundings broadly feel that their health is being damaged by their living environment. Many people complained about more diseases and problematic diagnoses. The shortcoming of the health facilities provided in the area is therefore that they only offer general aid. Though, the facilities are still of value to the villagers. Companies are filling a gap here that the government hadn’t arranged yet, which seems to upgrade the community’s standard of living. Also for safe drinking water in the area there are matters for improvement. Often villagers complained about their groundwater being polluted by the companies, while only one case exists where drinking water is fully provided for by Shasun, Kudikadu village. The Dalit community had protested to get this support, a thing

38 that hasn’t happened in another village in the researched area. People in the other villages use groundwater for drinking, or water through a pipeline from Kannarapettai arranged by the government. Some companies, such as Chemplast, do however claim to provide villages with water trucks every now and then. But this implies irregular water availability, which also appeared to be so in the observations and interviews with villagers. The pollution that is purported by the inhabitants does inquire more safe drinking water, but the government is inadequate and companies provide irregular or low amounts. Still, in the same way as healthcare, the provision of drinking water as a CSR activity is of developmental value to a small group of inhabitants of Cuddalore District. Thus, what can be noticed from the value of CSR for regional development of Cuddalore District is that everybody agrees it is helpful in some ways. It is argued that flood relief can be crucial, educational support is very valuable but not crucial, medical care is essential in the area and drinking water is only helping few. For the users of these activities the quality of life is increasing because of this, though for the majority CSR is mainly charity, and not of a significant impact for development of the region as a whole.

3. The contribution of industries to regional development: a shift of responsibilities

The trend that became apparent in the theoretical framework was that some responsibilities are shifting away from the government towards the private sector because of many liberalisation reforms during the last 30 years in India (Patel & Bhattacharyac, 2010). This process has also influenced the realization of corporate social responsibility in the country in a great way. By carrying out CSR activities, companies are investing in social infrastructure, which again can contribute to economic development. Nonetheless, this idea doesn’t hold entirely in the case of Cuddalore, since the motives behind CSR for the SIPCOT companies are not able to generate actual development, as shown in the former chapter.

3.1 The need for governance CSR carried out alone cannot lead to drastic economic development, but needs good governance to guide it (Frynas, 2005; Newell & Frynas, 2007). In the whole process of CSR in Cuddalore district, no interference of any governmental or non-governmental organisation is present, except from the panchayat office. This research argues that the panchayat president, as well as other government or village officials should have a bigger role in the coordination of CSR. They could create the governance network that is essential for these CSR activities to be of impact to the regional development. As the bridge between companies and villagers and as a government official, the panchayat understands the local needs and has the means to supervise and steer the CSR activity.

39 Besides the lack of governance, the companies do not cooperate with each other, and only in a small amount with the SIPCOT Association. In this way the efficiency, the adequacy and the value of SIPCOT’s CSR activities is limited. Also from observation it became apparent that if companies would work together, and for instance divide necessary support, the provision could be arranged better in order to generate higher benefits. The companies in this research seem to partially take over the responsibility of the government. When providing infrastructural needs this is useful, but it needs to be emphasized that companies cannot fulfil all government’s tasks. Also, according to Frynas (2008) the interference of CSR could ease the developmental role of the government. This is a process that is already noticeable in Cuddalore district, since school personnel, villagers and even panchayat employees rather ask goods or support to the companies than to the government. This is because asking to the government is more complicated and takes more time. This shift has discredited the role of the government as the main generator of development (Newell & Frynas, 2007). However, the supply of for instance adequate needs for education and healthcare is still the responsibility of the government, as also argued by Ghosh & De (2005) and Sharma (2011) The academic world also advocates the ‘polluter pays principle’ (Tobey & Smets, 1996; OECD, 1974). This principle states that every pollution made by a company has to be paid for by that same company. In the case of Kudikadu, the groundwater has been heavily polluted by industries (SIPCOT Area Community Environmental Monitors, 2005), a fact that Strides Shasun doesn’t acknowledge. This might be the reason why Strides Shasun was asked to contribute to the drinking water scheme, which was also demanded from the inhabitants, that is to say to make amends for their pollution. Thus, pollution might be a factor which can change the normal responsibilities of government and companies in providing certain things. However, when no pollution is measured or if this is not the central case, for developmental issues a body such as a private company might not have the adequate tools to generate actual development.

4. Western CSR vs. Eastern corporate welfare

In literature, a distinction is made between Western theoretical approaches of CSR and how the Eastern corporate welfare evolved (Das Gupta, 2007; Frederick, 2008). Since India is liberalized and now open to foreign investment and multinationals, it is useful to determine which kind of CSR is carried out. In SIPCOT Cuddalore, the performed CSR is still very philanthropic, as the companies want to do well and argue that the villagers need it. The way Western CSR is evolved and is now executed according to Frederick (2008), by emphasizing social problems in society and the adoption of fair business, is not

40 yet visible in Cuddalore district. The researched companies don’t feel a wide responsibility as a global citizen (Frederick, 2008), but are only providing support to surrounding villages. This is mainly done in order to smooth the relationship at the same time, so the motive of feeling a true ethical responsibility doesn’t apply. Regarding the grouping of CSR theories of Garriga & Melé (2004), the CSR in Cuddalore can be either political or integrative of nature. Political, because the companies of SIPCOT see the relationship between society and business and warrant to protect this. In addition it can be integrative, because they are mainly acknowledging their dependence on society, which also brings the need to smoothen this dependence. Furthermore, Das Gupta (2007) has argued that in India CSR has shifted from charity actions and donations to a more involved CSR of direct engagement into development. However, the first is still observed in Cuddalore district. The direct engagement in development is absent, and is more taken care of by the panchayat president who arranges government support than it is the role of the companies in the present structure in Cuddalore. The main motives of companies in this district remain philanthropy and image building, which were considered in the research of Aurora & Puranik (2004) as the main motives in the country as a whole. The other important motive was reputation (Das Gupta, 2007), also highly present in Cuddalore district. For this reason, it is argued in this research that the CSR carried out in Cuddalore district by the SIPCOT companies fits to the early description of Eastern corporate welfare: charity actions and donations (Das Gupta, 2007), rather than to Western CSR.

41 Conclusion

The aim of this research has been threefold. Firstly, the structure of CSR has been explored in order to gain insight into the situation of activities in Cuddalore district. Secondly, the role of corporate social responsibility in regional development of Cuddalore district has been studied. And thirdly, the broader influence of industries on regional development as well as the shift of responsibilities from the public towards the private sector has been questioned. CSR in Cuddalore is expressed by the companies from a philanthropic motive to support neighbouring communities and to create a good relationship between them. The activities mainly consist of flood relief, temple donations, educational support, medical facilities and the supply of drinking water. The process of provision is mostly bottom-up, while the panchayat is an important mediator. In the allocation of CSR, distance to the factory and pollution both are important factors. Next to this, the assertiveness of the villagers appears to be a powerful instrument against the providing companies. As the broad elaboration in the former chapter has shown, some CSR in the region is contributing to an increase in the quality of life of the inhabitants. Companies are investing in better infrastructure by supporting different schools, general healthcare facilities and drinking water. Besides this they are donating to temple festivals, social initiatives and government initiatives. In this way, it is hard to contradict the valuable help that the activities are bringing for the region. However, despite it being welcome and of value, it cannot play a major role yet for regional development. The motives out of which the companies are involved in CSR are requiring honesty. Mainly the researched SIPCOT companies were carrying out CSR in order to generate peace and a good relationship with the villagers, also seemingly to compensate for pollution. These motives lack sincerity and are here for no promise for actual development according to literature. Next to this, there is no adequate governance in place in Cuddalore district to structure and guide the CSR activities, which is which is needed for CSR in order to be valuable for regional development. Thus, this research argues that in the achievement of adequate governance structures, the panchayat could play a substantial role. This is argued because of the mediating role he is already performing, and his capacity as a government official to improve the developmental objectives of CSR. Generally, the feeling exists that villagers are not satisfied enough about the amount of CSR and that the government has fallen short in their area. From fieldwork analysis it became apparent that some social infrastructure is provided as CSR and that it is much faster via private companies than from the government. However, the provision of infrastructure should be arranged adequately, and when provided by companies as their CSR activities it is still lacking a solid structure and the required knowledge for actual development. As a result, if the shift of provision of public goods towards the private sector is continuing, a lot of emphasis has to be laid on the capability of the private

42 sector to arrange this. Thus, more adequate governance is required in Cuddalore district, for the CSR to be beneficial for regional development. The CSR in Cuddalore appears to be, at least partially, for improving the relationship with the surrounding villagers in order to make up for the pollution that was caused. When pollution should always be compensated by the delinqent (OECD, 1974), this is possibly shifting these responsibilities of the governement towards the private sector. According to literature, CSR should be the organic linkage between society and the corporate world. This seems to indicate a mutual beneficial relationship, however the motives behind the CSR in Cuddalore District are disturbing this ethical honesty. Besides, corporate decision-making and objectives at a higher level also impact local communities a lot, for instance in employment opportunities. For the ability of CSR to be beneficial for development, companies need a genuine sincerity and need to carry out the activities in a valuable way, to be worth it being called ‘socially responsible’. Next to this, companies need to understand how actual development is being generated and how their operation is influencing society. Hence, CSR has good potential to be beneficial for regional development, if structured and governed in a good way.

43 Recommendations for further research

In Cuddalore district, it is clearly shown that the companies of SIPCOT bring contributions to some extent to the social infrastructure of the area. However, the question that hasn’t been researched due the lack of time, is whether the government has withdrawn some support to the area as a result of this intervention of companies. This would also fit to the shift of the government towards private companies. Next to this, the involvement of political parties in the structure of CSR would be an interesting topic for follow-up research. It has been noticed in this research that political parties are influencing different actors, but how it is carried out remains unclear. Also, as a part of the recommendation research about political interference or as a separate one, it would be wise to examine the influence of briberies in CSR provision, which seem to be happening. Due to the demarcation of this research it wasn’t possible to investigate these interesting topics.

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48 Appendix

Appendix 1: Structured interview questions communities

1. Name of the village? 2. Name of respondent? 3. What is the community you belong to? 4. Age? 5. Distance to a SIPCOT factory: - 0 – 300 m - 300 – 500 m > 500 m 6. Education level? 7. What CSR activities in your surroundings do you know of? (without presenting the list below) a. Education b. Flood relief c. Health d. Drinking water e. Temple donation 8. Which companies are helping in this village? 9. Before the start of SIPCOT industrial park, where did you get drinking water? 10. Before the start of SIPCOT industrial park, where did you get health, education and flood relief from? 11. Have you ever benefitted from a CSR activity in your neighbourhood financed by one of the SIPCOT companies? 12. What is your opinion about this/these service(s)? 13. Which CSR services are you still missing in your village? 14. What is your strategy for getting more CSR / How will you realize this? (à Does the panchayat president contribute in realizing this?) 15. Who is responsible for providing basic services such as education, drinking water and medical aid, the government or neighbouring companies? 16. The companies are generally providing corporate social responsibility as a means to smoothen the relationship with villagers, do you think this is working? 17. Why are there CSR activities in your village?

49 Appendix 2: CSR activities of SIPCOT companies in Cuddalore District

Table 1: Companies and their CSR activity in Cuddalore District Company CSR activities

Asian Paints 1. Conducting medical camp in Rasapettai, Kudikadu, Main focus Enchankadu and Sangolikuppam. activities: Health, 2. Providing stationaries, toilets and furniture for 3 education, drinking schools in the Sedapalayam panchayat. (among which water systems. is Karaikadu higher secondary school). Main focus area: 3. Purified water systems (Kudikadu, Karaikadu, Sedapalayam Enchankadu, Tiruvanthipuram and Manarapallam). panchayat. 4. Basic medical support in Kudikadu, Karaikadu, Enchankadu, Tiruvanthipuram and Manarapallam. 5. Flood relief in 2015: basic supports such as rice and biscuits, medical assistance. 6. Water tower in Kudikadu. 7. Stormwater drainage in Karaikadu. 8. Scholarship for 3 best students in government schools, providing these students with 3000 rupees per year each. 9. 270 jobs. 10. Reversed Osmosis purified water plant and Sanitary Incinerator to the Karaikadu Government Higher Secondary School. 11. Reversed Osmosis purified water plant at Government Elementary School at Echankadu village.

Strides Shasun 1. Monthly medical camp, conducted in Kudikadu and Main focus Karaikadu panchayats, or villages that are until 6 km activities: Drinking away. These are general health check-ups for dental water, health, care and cardiologic care. Around 700 people come public facilities, there. The eye care in the medical camp was conducted temple donations. by the Arvind eye hospital in Pondicherry. Main focus area: 2. Drinking water: 5 tankers a day to Kudikadu. Of Kudikadu 4000/5000 rupees each. 3. Scholarships: top 5 Kudikadu scholars receive financial assistance of Shasun every year. 4. Kudikadu kids play center and library 5. Kudikadu evening tuition classes/learning centre, which brings education to anyone who wants to go there. 6. Providing stationaries to 2 government schools in Kudikadu.

50 7. Eye operations for 12 people, which costed 15 000 rupees each, in Kudikadu. 8. Glasses for 100 people, which costed 400 rupees each, in Kudikadu. 9. Flood relief, in the form of rice to Kudikadu panchayat and Karaikadu panchayat. 10. Temple festival donation 11. Help to the Kudikadu pre-primary school (kindergarten) in the form of a tile floor, electrical needs and knowledge posters. 12. Provided 25 outside toilets for houses without a toilet facility in Kudikadu. 13. Kudikadu first aid centre for medical facilities.

Pondicherry Alum 1. Flood relief in 2015, providing basic materials such as Chemicals Limited rice and vegetables. Main focus 2. 7000-rupee contribution to SIPCOT Office for drinking activities: random water bill. Main focus area: 3. Donation in order to upgrade the Cuddalore none Government Hospital of 25000 rupees. 4. Temple donation of 15 000 rupees (Karaikadu, Kudikadu, Parchayankuppam (street by street), Enchankadu, Pillayam, both Suthukulam.

Chemplast Sanmar 1. Providing a doctor and medicines for Rural Health Main focus Centers in Semmankuppam, Nochikadu, Chittirapettai for activities: temple nearby villages. donations 2. Stationaries, furniture and infrastructure for a middle Main focus area: school (no location). the surroundings of 3, Scholarship for top 3 students in whole area, in the the plot nearby 6-7 villages. 4. Temple donation/contribution. (Main priority CSR for the company) 5. Flood relief: rice, basic needs 6. Operation room equipments for the Cuddalore Government Hospital after request from the collector of the SIPCOT Association Office 2-3 years back.

Pioneer Jellice 1. School supplies for two Middle schools in the villages India Private of Sangolikuppam and Semmankuppam. Limited 2. Provision of drinking water to the nearest Panchayats: Main focus Semmamkuppam, Thiyagavalli, and Sedapalayam. activities: Especially in Sangoli Kuppam, Semman Kuppam, Sonan

51 Education and Chavadi, Vairavan Kuppam, PoondiyanKuppam, and drinking water Madhukarai. Main focus area: This is arranged by water trucks. Sangolikuppam 3. 200 dustbins in Cuddalore in the Clean India Scheme. and This was requested by the collector office of Cuddalore Semmankuppam District. 4. Provided sugarcane for students for the Pongal Festival in Tamil Nadu. 5. Gifts for students at the School Annual Day. 6. Temple donation of max. 5000 rupees per year. (Semmankuppam, Sonan Chavadi, Nochikadu, and Alapakkam) 7. Flood relief in 2015 the form of rice, food package, medical facilities for nearest villages. (Sangoli Kuppam, Semman Kuppam, Sonan Chavadi, Vairavan Kuppam, PoondiyanKuppam, and Madhukarai) 8. Donation for the summer festival at Silver Beach. This was requested by the collector office of Cuddalore District. 9. 15 wheelchairs and 20 hospital beds to Cuddalore Government Hospital. Costs were about 2 lakhs. This was requested by the collector office of Cuddalore District.

52 Appendix 3: CSR activities of the SIPCOT Association

Table 2: SIPCOT Association and its CSR activity

SIPCOT Association 1. First aid centre, providing one doctor in the morning and evening and a nurse. For medical assistance to villagers and employees of SIPCOT companies. 2. Ambulance service for villagers, to go to the Cuddalore Government Hospital. 3. Donation for providing medical equipment for the Cuddalore Government Hospital (35 Lakhs of all companies together). Arranged by SIPCOT Ass. 4. Blood donation camps (no info). 5. Construction of overhead water tanks in Kudikadu, Sangolikuppam, Vairankuppam Colony, Karaikadu, Semmankuppam, Pachiyankuppam, Ayeekuppam, Pelanthopu, Keel Poovaanikuppam, Chithraipettai, Nagampettai Colony, Chinnathanakuppam, Poondiyankuppam, Thiyagavalli. 6. Construction of school building/class rooms in Andarmullikuppam, Kayalpattu, C. Kothankudi, Adivaranallur, Chidambaranathan Pettai, Mela Kuriyamangalam.

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