Thursday 27 August 2015

Collaborate and Innovate to Bring About Change:Governor

By 121 News

Chandigarh 27th August:- Corporates, Governments and NGOs should innovate, collaborate and work in tandem towards a 'common goal' in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to bring about a positive change in the society. This was urged by H. E. Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki, Governor, Haryana, Punjab & Administrator, UT Chandigarh while addressing the CII CSR Conference organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at its Headquarters in Sector 31.

Reiterating P.M Modi's words of wisdom," If everyone takes a step ahead, the nation will move 1.2 billion steps ahead", he called upon the corporates to play the most significant role under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to support Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, Skill India, & Beti Bachao – Beti Padao by interlinking National, State and District level interventions with the Corporate Social Responsibility of businesses. He added that CSR, being a noble initiative shouldn't require penalty and strict rules to be enforced. The corporates should stand united in bringing CSR to its full-fledged frame. The spirit behind 2% profits towards CSR is more important than the 2% itself. The overall inclusion is necessary and will come only when last person in the queue gets everything. He strongly emphasized that it is high time, CSR came out of the back rooms into the board rooms of the corporates to make a strong difference in the lives of the Have-nots in a more focused manner.

Dr. D.S Cheema, Hon'ble Minister of Education, Government of Punjab appreciated the commencement of conference on CSR. He was highly appreciative of the initiative taken by industry to approach Government for "Clean India: Skilled India". Further adding on to agenda of discussion, he highlighted that Guru Nanak Dev Ji advocated the Social Responsibility. The philosophy of giving away 10% of your earnings to the needy has been preached by Guru Nanak Dev ji himself. All CSR initiatives demand 2% of earnings which is much less and can be done with in today's time. He highlighted on the government discussions for pre-primary schools at age of 3years.Anganvadi schools are being converted into play-ways for poor students. Mr. Cheema mentioned the name of Sant Baljinder Singh Randewala who has adopted 85 primary schools in Dist. Ludhiana. He urged every privileged citizen to take on this further by adopting more schools and making government schools more attractive to students. He elaborated on the concept of CSR by saying that, while philanthropy was charity, CSR is a duty. "Today, if you want the whole country to prosper and not just a few sections, then it becomes imperative for corporate houses to contribute their bit for the betterment of society," he said, adding that development has to be holistic (social, economic and environmental) for social harmony. The other aims of CSR should be reduction of poverty, improvement in education, creation of employment, social justice, access to healthcare and removal of systemic evils like corruption.

Pikender Pal Singh, Regional Director, CII Northern Region, shared that CSR has become an essential element of corporate culture today. No corporate house can afford to ignore the social and environmental impact of their activities. CSR is not a donation or charity, it's a necessity today." In Northern Region, Ability placement fairs for differently abled candidates are also organised to promote their employment with participation of NGOs. CII will continue to play its role in driving the promotion of CSR in the Indian business environment towards making CSR a core part of their business strategy.

No comments:

Post a Comment