Issue: #5 | August 2014

RE aligning is the way forward

In this issue:

Opportunity for Responsible Business in Acon

TATA STEEL LIMITED: Values Stronger than Steel

Self Help Groups & Poverty Alleviaon

Fiinobservaon of Internaonal Days To subscribe visit : www.fiinovation.co.in 01 68th Opportunity for Responsible Business in Action

It was not too late that many CSR professionals and enthusiasts in India must play an important role by participating in nation applauded when the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi building while increasing the value of intangible assets like announced his suggestion of corporates investing their CSR loyalty, honesty and trust. To reach a conclusive beginning we funds for building and maintaining toilets in most schools of need to keep in mind that CSR is an ambit of opportunities for the India by 2015. The Prime Minister is determined to launch the development sector. We must look towards strategic alliances. 'clean India' campaign from 2nd October this year and see it through in the next four years. Capturing the true essence of - Nidhi Vatsa corporate social responsibility the PM on the occasion of Independence Day marked a turning point in the history of CSR in India. In his invigorating speech, the citizens of the country were encouraged to meet the urgent need of integrity and ethics. He was suggestive of leashing the pessimistic factors of greed, corruption, crime, communal disharmony and terrorism. To overcome all these factors he reiterated the importance of CSR.

It was a call to the corporates' conscience to take care of the basic needs of the masses through their CSR practices. This speech came at a very opportune time when the Companies Act, 2013 has made India the first nation to mandate CSR. The schedule VII of the act has placed the communities in the forefront of all development practices. Only five days post the PM’s speech the repercussions have begun to show. The corporates have announced huge investments in building toilets in support of the 'clean India' campaign. Two of India's biggest companies, Tata What the Influencers Said… Consultancy Services and Bharti have committed Rs 100 crore each to build toilets in schools for girls. Coca-Cola hopes to further build on its ongoing sanitation programme to construct I call upon the corporate sector also to give priority to the toilets in schools. In addition, politicians have a choice to adopt a provision of toilets in schools with your expenditure under village each and transform it into a model village through the Corporate Social Responsibility. 'Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna' which would soon begin to reflect – Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India how innovatively and responsibly can the bureaucrats engage with communities and drive them towards development. The PM CSR is an integrated, systemic approach by business that addressed the needs and responsibility of both the stakeholders builds ‐ rather than erodes or destroys ‐ economic, social, and shareholders who have a shared responsibility and human and natural capital. accountability. ‐ Wayne Visser, CSR Internaonal

His speech was inspirational but corporations must be cautious in ensuring the CSR movement does not lose its charm. They The future is green energy, sustainability, renewable energy. should not get carried away and invest only on building toilets. ‐ Arnold Schwarzenegger, Actor The focus should be on strategizing the matters of cleanliness, equality and safe environment through innovative and impactful The first rule of sustainability is to align with natural programmes which are scalable, replicable and sustainable. resources, or at least not try to defy them. Behavior change cannot be imposed but can be facilitated ‐ Paul Hawken, Environmentalist through leadership that is motivation driven. CSR and sustainability should be used as change agents that help achieve inclusive growth.

India till date is known for its rich historical past with respect to culture, politics, economic development and welfare of the people. No matter how long the route to development is, all efforts are directed towards enhancing equality and equity. CSR 02

TATA STEEL LIMITED: Values Stronger than Steel Sport a way of life!

“Be sure to lay wide streets planted with shady trees, every other of a quick‐growing variety. Be sure that there is plenty of space for lawns and gardens. Reserve large areas for playing football and hockey and parks. Earmark areas for Hindu temples, Mohammedan mosques and Chrisan churches.” ‐ Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata

Tata Steel Group is among the leading steel manufacturers in the world with an annual crude steel capacity of over 26.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). It is now the world's second most geographically diversified steel producer, with operations in 26 countries and commercial presence in over 50 countries. The group's vision is to be world's steel industry benchmark in “value in different disciplines of which 383 are from the SC/ST category. creation” and “corporate citizenship” through the excellence of Over the last five years, more than 80 trainees from sports people, the innovative approach and overall conduct. academies have been employed with police and railway services. Both men and women trained by the Tata Steel sports have “Welfare of Communities” has been the primary purpose of the excelled at competitions both at home and abroad. business that is embedded in their genes. Tata Steel is serving communities in and around its areas of operations. The In FY 2012-13, 17 international and 78 national medals were community welfare initiatives are directed towards education, added to the sports departments. healthcare, empowerment, sustainable livelihood generation and preservation of ethnicity and culture of indigenous Over the years, these initiatives have helped produce 5 Olympic communities. Games winners, 6 World Championship winners, 36 Asian Games winners, 33 Asian Championship winners, 4 Commonwealth Tata Steel's community initiatives are implemented through Games winners, 6 Commonwealth Championship winners, 11 social arms of the company which include the Tata Steel Padmashrees, 41 Arjuna awardees, 4 Dronacharya awardees and Rural Development Society, Tata Steel Family Initiatives 1 Padma Bhushan, which speaks volumes of the commitment of Foundation, Tribal Cultural Society & Tata Steel Skill the to Indian sports. Development Society and Urban Services. The Tata Steel Rural Development Society aims to start a Tata Steel promotes the role of sports for personal as well as Hockey Academy in Odisha or in FY'14. societal development. Sport for the company is a powerful vehicle for achieving larger goals, particularly in advancing development and for beneficial aspects of psychological and emotional healings. It is a key factor in holistic development of the community and the company recognizes this to inculcate and nurture sports for engendering opportunities, supporting communities and employee engagement.

The , Tata Academy, Tata Athletics Academy, the JRD Tata Sports Complex in and the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (headed by Ms. Bachendri Pal, India's first woman Mt. Everest Climber) underlie how sports has been an integral part of the company's philosophy to empower the community. The Tribal Cultural Society has been reviving and promoting tribal sports like Kati, Chhur, Bahuchor, Sekkor and Ramdel by organizing tournaments at village level.

The company has also created infrastructure for every popular sport discipline which includes cricket, , boxing, chess, , table , lawn tennis, , , - Nidhi Vatsa badminton, roller skating etc. Currently there are 1300 trainees 03

Self Help Groups & Poverty Alleviation Self Help Groups (SHGs) evolved through the Grameen Bank model in Bangladesh in the late 1970s. Self Help Group, as the name suggests, was an idea which aimed at women empowerment through "Self Help". The SHG model focuses on inter-loaning and group savings generally among rural women to increase financial independence and as a measure for poverty alleviation. Apart from this it also acts as a platform to initiate capacity building trainings that lead to a federation model comprising of many SHGs.

India has seen phenomenal growth of families linked to SHGs from 1993 with a growth rate of over 80%. According NABARD, there are more than 7 million SHGs in India out of which 5.9 million are women SHGs. There has been a mixed response as far as the success of the SHG model in India is considered. Experienced social workers feel that the credit linkage schemes run by large banks are the reason for the failure of many of the groups. Banks have set up specialized cells which deal with SHG loans and credits. These cells have annual targets of loan disbursal, and the managers to meet their targets generally push loans on to SHGs. Newly created SHGs generally agree to the loans and are seen as defaulting on their loans.

It was envisaged that SHGs would empower women folk by bringing them together and enabling the creation of multiple rural micro- enterprises. The initial few months are used as capacity building for the women to work in groups since this is the most challenging aspect of a formation of a SHG. Behavior change, as we know, is the most difficult outcome to achieve in any development sector programme. Once the women are acquainted with working in groups, and the group dynamics are somewhat stable, they are then taken to the next level of developing a business plan, or are trained in specific trades which act as the foundation for setting up an enterprise.

Many organizations in India have been working extensively in the field of women empowerment through SHGs. The most common observation from these organizations has been that once the women reach the stage of financial stability, they become more confident and aware of their rights. When they become aware, they demand, this demand has seen many a changes in the rural areas of the country wherever SHG model has been a success.

The Self Help Group model for poverty alleviation has been a success wherever it was implemented in a manner as it was envisaged in the beginning, and has been a failure with many lessons wherever it was implemented with an agenda to only alleviate poverty from a region.

1 Self-Help Group = 10-20 women

1 Cluster Level Association = 6-8 Self Help Groups

1 Federation = 8-10 Cluster Level Associations

Cluster Level Associations Representative

Federation Representative - Vipin Vijayan 04

Fiinobservation of International Days

The UN passed a resolution accepting to observe 12th August as International Youth Day. The UN adopted 15 priority areas which included education, employment, hunger and poverty, health, environment, drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, recreational activities, girls and young women, participation, Internaonal Youth Day globalization, Information and communication technologies, HIV/AIDS, 12 August Youth and conflict and Intergenerational relations. Approximately, 1.8 billion people of the world population are youth and the theme for this year is "Youth and Mental Health.”

In a developing country like India, mental illness is shrouded in stigma, ignorance and superstition. There are approximately 20 million Indians suffering from mental illness. As per WHO, 20% of India's population will suffer from some form of mental illness by the year 2020. Innovative Financial Advisors Pvt. Ltd. believes that barely 1- 2% of the health budget is dedicated to mental health, in comparison to 10 to 12% in other countries. Since youth play a prominent role in development of a nation, the government needs to work towards increasing the available opportunities for them. Efforts needs to be directed towards advocating the issue and helping the public become aware about the issue. Youth will play a pivotal role towards improvement of mental health Every year, 19th August is observed as the World in respect of training, research, and provision of clinical Humanitarian Day. This day recognizes the work of those services to promote mental health in all sections of society. who faced dangers and adversity while helping others. The theme for this year is “The World Needs More”. 19th August is - Rahul Choudhury also the date of the brutal terrorist attack that took place at the UN headquarters in Baghdad in 2003 which killed 22 people, including UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. World Humanitarian Day is also an occasion to rejoice the spirit that inspires humanitarian work around the globe.

Innovative Financial Advisors Pvt. Ltd understands that every year World Humanitarian Day many natural calamities and political crisis take place leading to a 19 August number of deaths and injuries. We support the observation of this day and seek to draw attention towards the existing humanitarian needs worldwide. Countries like Afghanistan, Syria, Haiti, Sudan, Iraq are reeling under sever humanitarian crisis and millions of people are waiting to receive assistance to help them recover from the humanitarian emergency. The world needs more… ’campaign is unique and aims to turn words into aid creatively and innovatively. Innovative Financial Advisors Pvt. Ltd. urges people to remember those often forgotten as they help remind us of the dream of a peaceful planet, where everyone lives with safety and dignity.

- Rahul Choudhury

About Fiinovation Fiinovation, a research organization and works as an integrated solution enabler in the CSR and sustainability domain. It is focused towards enhancing quality across organizational value chain through meaningful innovation thereby ensuring sustainability. It is Asia's first proposal research laboratory wherein research is focused primarily on four sectors, which include health, education, livelihood and environment. The practices: CSR-CSO Partnership, CSR Policy Design & Development, Programme Management, Impact Assessment and Sustainability Reporting help provide simple solutions to their partners.

Fiinovation 24/30, Ground Floor, Okhla Industrial Estate, Phase III New Delhi - 110020 . Phone: 011-42332200 | Fax : 011-42332205 To know more please visit our website: www.fiinovation.co.in | Email: media@fiinovation.co.in