THE ROLE OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR AN INCLUSIVE GROWTH IN

THE SOCIETY : A STUDY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SOUTH CANARA DISTRICT

OF KARNATAKA STATE
The Corporate social responsibility as a form of corporate self regulation integrated into a
business model essentially advocates that business should take responsibility for the impact of
their activities on the environment, consumers, employees, the community, stakeholders and all
other members of the public sphere. This obligation extending beyond statutory obligation
requires business organizations to initiate voluntary actions to improve the quality of life for
employees and their families as well as for the local community and society at large. In India
CSR has gained considerable interest by business organizations in the recent years. Large
number of companies are undertaking these activities. These are well reflected in corporate
reports on their respective websites. At the same time concerns have also been raised that these
activities are undertaken superficially to just promote and highlight the activities in Media. CSR
would really be successful to create a positive impact on the society if there is a conscious effort
on the part of the organization to bring about the desired changes in society by following ethical
practices. This genuine concern for the well being of the society in general can make an
organization socially responsible as well as socially acceptable in the true sense. CSR belongs to
the core business of a company and should therefore be an integral part of doing business.
In recent times, the issue of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has gained a lot of
attention and interest. The present-day CSR (also called corporate responsibility, corporate
citizenship, responsible business and corporate social opportunity) is a concept whereby business
organizations consider the interest of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their
activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and other stakeholders
as well as their environment. This obligation shows that the organizations have to comply with
legislation and voluntarily take initiatives to improve the well-being of their employees and their
families as well as for the local community and society at large. CSR in truth is the alignment of
business operations with social values. The word “responsibility” emphasizes that the business
has some moral obligations towards the society. Corporate citizenship is also commonly used to
refer to the moral obligations of the business towards the society. It implies that like individuals,
corporate are also the part of the society and their behaviour shall be guided by the social norms.
Some areas where CSR can play a vital role are community, health and safety, employment,
training and education, charitable donations, ethics, human rights, socially responsible
investment, child labour, environment issues like global warming, deforestation, potable water
scarcity etc.
The research study is focuses on selected companies in South Canara District of
Karnataka state. Because south canara district is highly developing area like Industry, trade and
service sector .