Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is becoming a major part of the business agenda for many corporates in the country. This is especially fueled by Section 135 of the Companies Act of 2013, which made it mandatory for every company having a net worth of rupees five hundred crores or more, or turnover of rupees one thousand crores or more or a net profit of rupees five crores or more to involve itself in CSR activities.
A company’s CSR vision and mission should be added within the very framework of the company to make a substantial change in the socio-economic and environmental challenges that society faces. To achieve this you might need assistance in areas such as environmental impact assessments, social audits, and the measurement of social incomes when it involves third parties. Also various intervention programs for stakeholders need to be partnered with Non–profit & social impact organisations. Herein, it is smart to hire consultants who are thoroughly familiar with the terms and working under CSR. One such firm spearheading the CSR revolution is Vardaan Advisors Pvt Ltd.
Here are the services provided by Vardaan to companies looking to maximise the impact of their CSR activities.
Social Responsibility Advisory
Vardaan’s social responsibility advisory board has ample experience in the industry and will help your business execute or improve their social responsibility programs. We help you create a smarter system to formulate the assessment of protocols and tools. We will assist you with risk analysis, training and education, monitoring, and program management. Our experienced team will help you conduct in-depth research that brings to light key insights to make critical decisions dealing with sourcing and positions as the leader in the supply chain.
CSR Compliance
We offer compliance services in order to understand if your business is aligned with the Companies Act of 2013. Companies that fall under the conditions laid down by this law are required to spend 2% of their profits on CSR and in case they don’t, they will be held accountable for it. We aim to help you with the preparation, implementation, and monitoring the compliance of your program with Section 135. We will assist in implementing a program that is integrated with your value chain, strategic, and is tailored for your business reporting.
Baseline Studies
A baseline assessment is a necessary process to study the existing state of your projects, the business, culture, people, and the demographic information of the village or town that you have chosen to run your CSR project. This assessment will take place before you can start off your program. We will help in gathering information that can strengthen and sustain your program. By carrying out research by collecting data from Government records, relevant articles from the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry. We also help you raise awareness about the program via social media, create a clear research design, validate the collected data, and have frequent interactions with your field teams to provide relevant, first-hand information to them.
Assessment of CSR spend
Before you can even start a CSR program, the first step is to consolidate your finances. We offer services to assess the correct bracket for your company’s spending for sustainable CSR. We will help you plan your activities in compliance with Section 135 (1) of the Companies Act 2003.
Recommending the right program and implementing partner
A trustworthy partner who has direct access to your company’s beneficiaries is the key to a successful program. When you assign the servicing of your CSR program, we will also help you find specialised partners to strengthen your program. It is necessary to completely verify the reliability of these partners. We aim to look for partners who have had a positive impact on the society through their programs.
Impact Assessment
Evaluating how effective your current CSR programs are is one of the most important steps towards creating a CSR campaign that actually works. Once the project has been implemented, we will undertake the assessment of the program while engaging with our external partners. These studies will take place at regular intervals. Through these studies, our team will analyse each project and the impact assessment report will be submitted to the board.
We use a diverse range of research tools and methods, depending on the nature of the program and the profile of our clientele. These tools range from interviews to answering questionnaires and will reveal what impact the program has made.
Vardaan’s main aim is to help our corporate clients implement effective and sustainable CSR programs that create a significant difference in the society. This way we help you and help ourselves give back more to the world than we could’ve ever imagined.
Upma, Chai & Campus Tour
The day began with the 11th graders meeting and getting to know Sandvine volunteers over a breakfast of vermicelli upma and chai. After the breakfast concluded, the 11th grade class took each volunteer on a guided tour of the Shanti Bhavan campus. The tour covered the classrooms, sports arenas, children’s dormitories, and the variety of wildlife on the campus.
Learning the Way of Life @ Shanti Bhavan
After the school tour, the Sandvine volunteers joined the entire school for assembly, which consisted of singing the official Shanti Bhavan school song, a virtue reading on compassion, the daily news presentation, and two songs by the Shanti Bhavan school choir.
Activities and Debates, Galore!
The volunteers then split into groups and picked different grades for their classroom workshops. Beginning with Kindergarten through 4th grade, the Sandvine volunteers conducted anorigami workshop, while the 6th through 9th graderslearnt about the steps of product development, right from the initial idea to finished product. The 10th – 12th grade students participated in a group discussion at the library, lead by two Sandvine volunteers. The discussion was so engaging the students and volunteers continued debating until almost past lunch time! One of the topics discussed was whether the government should have a role in monitoring the media.
What’s an eventful day without some football?
As the workshops were going on, the 11th and 12th grade Shanti Bhavan boys played a difficult match against a fierce team of Sandvine volunteers. The Shanti Bhavan boys ended up pulling through with a win, 6-3, despite the strength of their competitors!
Lunch and goodbyes!
Everyone gathered for lunch in the dining hall to complete a wonderful morning of activities, and fun! Shanti Bhavan served a delicious lunch of puri, cashew rice, raita, daal, and kesari bath. Before departing, the Sandvine volunteers made a generous donation to Shanti Bhavan, which included books for the school library, clothing and games. The Shanti Bhavan students bade farewell to the volunteers, eagerly awaiting their next visit!
The change in law is alerting the corporate segment of India to its wider social responsibilities. Bimal Arora, chair of the Delhi-based Centre for Responsible Business, argues that “the so-called 2% law has brought CSR from the fringes to the boardroom”. Companies, he says, now have to think seriously about the strategies, timelines, and resources needed to meet their legal obligations.
The corporate world, especially in India, has already embraced CSR. Ever since the law was passed, companies have been disclosing environmental and social performance with financial results, which, before the mandate, was practically unheard of.
For example, the Sir Ratan Tata Trust recently gave the Azim Premji foundation $2 billion—the largest philanthropic gift in India. Instances such as this are the reason that some believe the law is a solid one.
Additionally, reports say that last year, a combined net profit of Rs. 4,37,167 crore was gained by listed Indian companies. 2% of this number will yield slightly less than $2 billion a year as a total CSR-spending amount. With such a huge amount produced every year, many of our environmental and social issues are bound to alleviate.
The Law has ensured that there is accountability from the non-profit sector. This will result in non-profits being run on professional lines leading to overall efficiency and impact creation.
The 2% law will ensure sustainability for projects, which was a dire need in the impact & development sector.
Before the mandate, CSR was already a voluntary part of the various business groups and corporations in India. For example, IBM had worked with the Tribal Development Department of Gujarat as a part of its Corporate Service Corps Programme. They aimed at the upliftment of the tribal people in the Gir forests. The Tata Group, also, performed a range of CSR activities such as providing family planning and health services. Additionally, they organised several relief programmes for natural disasters. Reliance Industries Limited, too, has launched ‘Project Drishti’, a country-wide initiative that helps the visually challenged people of the economically weaker section of society restore their eyesight.
Thus, some believe that the compulsion to undertake CSR activities can be mainly questioned on the grounds that it is inherently contradictory. The law, say some, is ineffective on the basis of practical application.
The 2% law is viewed as an additional tax on Corporates. Alternatively there are no tax exemptions provided on the CSR spend.
In addition, some believe that the law does not lay any provision in regards to enforcement—there are no penalties for non-compliance.
Furthermore, the mandate contains many loopholes that have raised concerns. Since the government has failed to show any specific objective or purpose for the law, many Indian businesses and companies see the 2% provision as unnecessary and impractical. These businesses wish such initiatives were still a voluntary step.
In conclusion, there are clear pros and cons, and the effectiveness of the law is ultimately decided by both the givers and the doers.
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