Aligning Is the Way Forward

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 Tata Group 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 Jharkhand 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 Football Academy, Tata Archery Academy, Tata Athletics Academy, the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur 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, basketball, boxing, chess, volleyball, table tennis, lawn tennis, handball, swimming, - 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.

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