Anurag Thakur says concept of social responsibility not new to India; urges firms to take up CSR work 

Urging more and more companies to step forward for taking up social responsibilities, Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, said that the concept of corporate social responsibility or CSR is not new to India. “Historically speaking, social responsibility is one of the well established phenomena in India and the country has the world’s richest tradition of CSR,” he said at the 18th FICCI CSR Awards program on Monday. MoS Anurag Thakur also lauded the efforts of many companies, groups, individuals during the coronavirus and said some of them were able to help fellow citizens even before the government efforts reached them. This year’s CSR Awards have been given to NTPC Ltd for women empowerment, Bosch Ltd for skill development, SAP India Pvt Ltd and others.

“CSR is an opportunity to work with like-minded partners of the society at large. And for corporates, it is one of the most pertinent means to connect with their audience. It sends a message that if you have come up with a big plant, it will eventually help the local community,” he said, urging companies to participate in CSR activities proactively. At the event, he also discussed various government initiatives to push companies to take up CSR activities and said that firms must themselves seek out to control the damage that they do to the environment and nature. “Not only in neighbouring areas but all over the country, if you will there is a need to uplift and help, you must do that,” he said.

Industry body FICCI has been organising India’s Corporate Social Responsibility Award since 1999 to encourage corporations to participate in inclusive growth and over the course of years has recognised a number of companies in both public and private for their innovative programmes. The 18th FICCI CSR Awards was held virtually in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and was earlier scheduled for 24th March 2020.