Driving CSR initiatives during pandemic times – India Inc shows the way

“Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is how companies manage their business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society” – Mallen Baker, Former Politician and CSR Specialist

CSR is a crucial element of The Companies Act, 2013, elaborated in its Section135. Every company having net worth of Rs 500 crore or more, or turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or more or a net profit of Rs 5 crore or more during any financial year shall constitute a Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of the Board, consisting of three or more directors, out of which at least one director shall be an independent director. While there are more and more companies taking keen interest, but how many of them are working towards a sustained effort to run their CSR activity without any interruption? While the pandemic disrupted the plans of many companies, there were some companies that undertook various initiatives to support their staff and the community during the tough times. While these were more tactical moves, but the commitment of pursuing long term CSR campaigns will always be a challenge due to the pandemic. How corporates plan to shift their gears and work on bringing their CSR efforts to pre-COVID-19 levels will need some out-of-the-box thinking and deep passion for CSR.

CSR should go beyond media visibility

Cause-related marketing or CSR activities have been deployed by many corporates and companies to strengthen their presence in the media on an ongoing basis. While some companies have been working on CSR responsibility with a lot of focus and energy, there are others who have not diverted completely towards this, but were looking at it more from leveraging media presence perspective.

CSR has to come from the bottom of the heart if one is keen on promoting it. There are quite a few liquor brands that have been using CSR as a surrogate way of communicating their products given that they cannot advertise. However, this won’t fall under CSR as the primary objective is to make the brand visible and not promote the CSR initiative. A true CSR initiative is one where there is a definite long-term plan and it is sustained on an ongoing basis.

Brand fit very important

Identifying a cause or supporting any CSR effort must focus on issues that relate to the business that the company is into. If the brand fit is relevant, consumers will also appreciate the efforts as it is important that the CSR activity is also meaningful to them in their walk of life. Hence, it is important for companies to check the relevance of the CSR activity so that companies don’t support unrelated causes, which at times the consumers may feel that the business is simply trying to benefit from the not-for-profit’s reputation.

Many a times this might lead to consumers avoiding the company’s products. Hence, it is very critical for companies to maintain good brand fit while venturing into CSR activities so that consumers also connect well with the company and also see there is an effort being displayed by the company to promote CSR with more purpose.

Impact and Policy changes due to COVID-19

Three policy changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic have had an effect on the quantum and nature of CSR spending. The first policy change was to allow spending of CSR funds on COVID-19-related activities. Apart from contribution to the PM Cares Fund and to the State Disaster Management Authority, expenditure incurred on preventive healthcare and sanitation, ex-gratia to temporary/ casual workers over and above daily wages, providing quarantine facilities to those affected, amongst others, could be considered as CSR spends. The second policy change was to allow all donations for COVID-19-related efforts to be eligible for 100 per cent tax deduction. And the third is to allow companies who contribute over and above the minimum prescribed amount to later offset the excess against the CSR obligation arising in the subsequent years, if they so desire.

Substantial amounts have been donated to various government funds.  According to one report, India Inc spent ₹7,537 crore as CSR obligations in two months on COVID-19-related concerns. This included ₹4,316 crore in donations to the PM Cares Fund. The remaining ₹3,221 crore was spent on other relief funds, food and ration donation, masks, sanitisers and protective gear kits.

Adgully spoke to leading corporates and NGOs to understand how they have navigated their activities on CSR during Covid and what are their plans going forward.

As a brand, Duroflex is committed to CSR activities. As informed by Smita Murarka, Vice President, Marketing and E-commerce, Duroflex, “As a sleep solutions brand, we at Duroflex are committed to helping India sleep better and encourage people to live better, healthier lives. As part of our CSR initiatives, earlier in 2020, as the country was fighting against the pandemic, we took the initiative to support frontline medical workers and hospitals to deal with the increase in COVID-19 cases by supplying them with quality mattresses, bedsheet, and pillows which were in dire need.”

In 2021, to kick-start the new year on a positive note, Duroflex announced the “Gift of Sleep” initiative and donated high-quality mattresses and pillows to unprivileged children, an essential requirement for their healthy growth and development. Both these initiatives are in line with Duroflex’s brand value and the brand promise of gifting good sleep. “We will continue to focus on our CSR efforts of improving India’s quality of sleep and fostering health and immunity through it,” Murarka added.

Rajesh Sahay, Senior VP & HR Head, Wipro, remarked, “Undoubtedly, the pandemic brought into urgent focus global social and environmental issues, while providing businesses with an opportunity to provide the necessary assistance towards primary health care and hygiene. At Wipro Consumer Care, it is our conviction that the engagement with social issues must be deep, meaningful and formed on the bedrock of long-term commitment. This is also reflective of the fact that such an approach serves both, enlightened business interest and social good.”

Following the company’s conviction for social good even during the lockdown, Wipro joined hands with the local ecosystem of administration, hospitals, NGOs, and police personnel to provide them with hygiene products and kits for their personal protection, which has become a daily life essential, which included Rs 23 million to government hospitals and testing institutes. In most states, Wipro worked with the police force to provide hygiene kits to the personnel.

“Our focus in terms of CSR activities ranges from Education, Disaster relief and rehabilitation, Community healthcare, Business sustainability, and Ecology. We at Wipro have sustainability as a core value of the business and it continues to be a part of our DNA even in the new year,” Sahay added.

Somedutta Chatterjee, Head - Corporate Partnerships, GiveIndia, noted that the pandemic got its due attention from Corporate Inc. and GiveIndia witnessed the majority of the CSR funds allocated towards COVID-19 relief programs. Chatterjee further said, “The NGO ecosystem also showed resilience and agility to change their operating style and move to new projects to support in COVID-19 relief efforts like helping migrant workers, employment, mid-day meals for kids, fight against women abuse, healthcare, and other humanitarian aids. During these times the non-COVID-19 projects suffered a bit as available funds were channelised towards COVID-19 relief efforts.” 

In 2021, while we embrace the new normal, there will be efforts to go back to older ways of operating. It will surely be a year where Corporate Inc will get back to supporting the regular causes and the trend is already here. “At GiveIndia, we plan to continue working with our corporate partners to extend end to end support to their CSR lifecycle – right from identifying and vetting credible projects to strategising, overseeing implementation, monitoring and evaluation,” Chatterjee added.

On a different note, Akanksha Sharma, Global Head – Social Impact & Sustainability, STL (Sterlite Technologies), highlighted how the pandemic brought to the forefront the glaring gaps in the social sector. According to Sharma, “Lack of technology and data-driven programs in this sector has been one of the main reasons. In 2021, the focus will definitely be on reviving stalled programs. But more importantly, the focus would be on financial and social inclusion driven through agile and tech-driven programs that can withstand disruptions such as this pandemic.”

Sharma further added that STL has always leveraged its expertise in technology and innovation to drive high impact social programs. And this is what helped the company ensure continuity even amidst the pandemic. While there were challenges, considering the huge digital divide in the country, development was not stalled. “We transitioned to digital means of conducting our programs. In 2021, we have designed resilient programs that can factor in such situations. We are forging strategic partnerships to ensure that education, healthcare, empowerment, and environmental programs thrive with the use of technology and innovation, to facilitate a cleaner, greener, and more inclusive future,” she added.

Meanwhile, Kartik Johari, Vice President, Nobel Hygiene, felt that CSR activities on the whole will drop down as there is tremendous financial stress on a majority of businesses. “When there is no profit to speak of, where will the CSR spends come from?” he asked, adding, “Additionally, due to the pandemic, wherever people have a chance to help, we have seen that they are doing so in their localities – giving funds to support the needy, donating essentials, etc. For us personally, we will continue to support education of children.”

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