CSR activities in Pune, Pimpri- Chinchwad on the rise

Vasumita S Adarsh, ET Bureau Apr 17, 2012, 06.00PM IST

PIMPRI-CHINCHWAD: “Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a hard-edged business decision. Not because it is a nice thing to do or the government is forcing us to do it but because it is good for business.”

The above words of Niall Fitzerald, former CEO, Unilever, brings to fore the vital role that CSR plays today for businesses. With Pimpri Chinchwad and surrounding areas becoming home to some of the biggest national and international corporate like Tata Motors, Volkswagen, KPCL, Cummins, Forbes Marshall etc., the local community has become a focal point of their CSR activities.

COMMUNITY EDUCATION

The region has a population of roughly 18 lakh. It has a large base of urban poor, who are victims of poor health and lack of hygiene awareness and quality education, early marriages of girls, unemployment and lack of women empowerment are of the vices. Companies are getting involved in community interaction and others are focusing on specific issues plaguing the community.

“It is important for companies to act as a catalyst to address the issues that communities face,” said Rati Forbes, director of Forbes Marshall. “The government alone cannot address all issues adequately. A business cannot alienate itself from the community. Getting engaged with them is a win-win situation for the communities and the corporate sector. Over the years we have received feedback that employees take pride in belonging to a socially-conscious business organisation.” Forbes Marshall spends around two percent of its profits on CSR and is engaged in a variety of activities focusing on health, education and women empowerment.

“We believe in helping the women we work with. Identify and address their issues rather than simply identifying their issues for them. After interactions and discussions, we started two self help groups (SHGs), which have grown to 155 SHGs,” she said.

The SHGs have also formed two federations one in Kasarwadi and the other one in Bopkhel, to help disburse loans to needy women. Forbes Marshall also works on de-addiction, healthcare, violence, life skills programmes, education, livelihood programmes and vocational training for the communities in Pimpri – Chinchwad region.

Ravichandran Subramanian, head of corporate responsibility, Cummins Group in India said that the company has ventured into energy and environment, education and infrastructure development as part of its CSR initiatives. “The Cummins India Foundation (CIF) was instituted in 1990 to execute CSR initiatives. We believe that if one takes a long-term perspective, there is an economic payoff for behaving responsibly. The fact that it may be difficult to measure precisely or to prove conclusively does not make it any less real,” said Mr Subramanian. Cummins allocates one percent of their profits to its CSR activities annually.

Among others, the Cummins scholarship programme aims at assisting economically disadvantaged students willing to pursue higher education (undergraduate) in engineering, medicine, law and any other professional degree/diploma. “The programme started with 13 scholarships in year 2006, grew to 70 in 2011. Having started in Pune, the scope of this programme extends to Chakan, Talegaon and other surrounding villages besides other company locations,” he added.

The Kirloskar Pneumatics Company Limited (KPCL), which contributed over Rs 40 lakh to its CSR activities last year, invested in urban and rural initiatives in the areas of education, environment and health. “We focus on developing the personality and academics of these children through our Bharari initiative for education, through teaching and scholarships. We have similarly focused on hygiene through our WASH programme to create sanitation and hygiene awareness among children across schools. Besides this, adolescent awareness through schools is also a major community initiative,” said KPCL CSR head Mr Suresh Mijar. He added that KPCL plans to increase its CSR spending to more than Rs 50 lakhs in 2012-13 depending on profits.

“While the benefits may not be obvious, in the long-term, it is important to be part of the local community,” said David Longo, site manager of Dow Corning a silicon-based company set up in Ranjangaon. The company focuses its CSR activities in villages surrounding their plant by constructing a science lab at Dhoksangvi, to benefit the students of class VIII to X, besides creating aanganwadis for the villages of Krade and Karegaon, powered by a solared PV system given by the company.

HELPING HAND

NGOs too commented on the increasing participation of companies in social initiatives. “Over the years we find more and more companies not only actively participating in our initiatives whether it is activities to deter devotees from polluting the rivers during Ganesh Utsav, or helping our waste pickers with required equipment to help them earn their livelihood better,” said SWaCH coordinator in PCMC, Shabana Diler