Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Status of CSR in Indian PSUs (Oil and Power Sector)
Status of CSR in Indian PSUs (Oil and Power Sector)
Authors:
Anil Dhaneshwar1 and Pooja Pandey2
1
IICA & CBI/CCI certified CSR trainer & adviser
2
MA Development student at Azim Premji University, Bangalore.
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
TABLE OF CONTENT
TABLE OF CONTENT........................................................................................................... 2
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. 4
I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 6
II. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE.................................................................................................. 8
III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................... 9
IV. DOMAIN OF RESEARCH............................................................................................. 10
V. SECTORAL ANALYSIS .................................................................................................. 11
OIL SECTOR ........................................................................................................................... 8
I. CSR: BROAD OVERVIEW .............................................................................................. 8
II. MONITORING MECHANISM ......................................................................................... 12
III. OBSERVATIONS & ANALYSIS ................................................................................... 13
A. Focus Areas ........................................................................................................... 13
B. Budget Allocation .................................................................................................. 13
C. Implementation ...................................................................................................... 14
D. Geographical Variation.......................................................................................... 14
E. Role of Government .............................................................................................. 15
F. Media Focus and Recognition ............................................................................... 15
G. Overall Performance .............................................................................................. 16
H. Remarks ................................................................................................................. 16
POWER SECTOR ................................................................................................................. 17
I. BROAD OVERVIEW ...................................................................................................... 17
II. OBSERVATIONS & ANALYSIS ...................................................................................... 23
A. Focus Areas ........................................................................................................... 23
B. Budget Allocation .................................................................................................. 23
C. Implementation ...................................................................................................... 24
D. Geographical variation .......................................................................................... 24
E. Role Of Government ............................................................................................. 24
F. Media Focus and Recognition ............................................................................... 25
G. Overall Performance .............................................................................................. 25
H. Remarks ................................................................................................................. 25
SHORTCOMINGS ................................................................................................................ 27
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
RECOMMENDATIONS....................................................................................................... 31
CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................... 34
REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 36
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
ABSTRACT
Today’s time is swarming with the lively discussions about the role of Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) and its vision to confluence the corporate and social space. However,
the ambiguity and non-clarity of CSR both as a concept and a practice is widely
acknowledged by all. CSR in Indian context becomes a more serious discussion after the
introduction of Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013. Interestingly, irrespective of this
recent regulation, the practice of CSR is particularly not very new to the Indian Public Sector
Undertakings (PSUs) as they have been practicing CSR both morally and statutorily under
the Guidelines on Corporate Governance for Central Public Sector Enterprises, 2010 (issued
by the Department of Public Enterprises). Thus, PSUs clearly have an added experience and
This paper, with a narrowed down focus, tries to analyze the status of Indian Public Sector
Undertakings (PSUs) in the Oil and Power sector and derive meaningful trends and
observations concerning the established CSR mechanism of some of the selected companies
of this particular sector. It is an attempt to collate the initiatives under the mandatory rules of
CSR and try to gauge if the efforts are heading in the right direction. It gives us a glimpse
into the CSR policies of Indian Public Sector Undertakings and tries to draw significant
inferences out of these findings. This paper does not justify the right and wrong ways to
approach the concept of CSR for there is no objective conclusion to its acceptability and
applicability.
Our findings in the research show that even though Indian PSUs have improved greatly in
their CSR dealing as compared to previous years, there is still a long way to go. The CSR
practices of these PSUs are generally un-researched which makes their efforts redundant .The
focus is lop sided concentrating over a particular thematic area and geographical location.
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
The initiative lacks in the dynamic collaboration of efforts and fails to take into account
multiple stakeholders and beneficiaries. Additionally, the CSR initiatives of these PSUs are
still greatly under Government influence which reduces the transparency and credibility of
the process. The study also throws light on the role of external agencies in assisting the
corporate with the planning and implementation of the CSR activities. We need to draw a line
of demarcation of such aid and stress more on capacity building rather than complete
dependence. Case of TISS-CSR Hub Initiative has been cited in the study to raising similar
questions. We believe that there is some problem with the very understanding of the
definition of CSR and the lack of motivation and direction among the PSUs needs to be
addressed on a priority basis. We have narrated in the reports the drawbacks of the CSR
practices of the PSUs and have attempted to offer viable and meaningful suggestions to the
problem. Our effort is not to look down upon the efforts of the PSUs towards the community
but to critically evaluate their course of action in order to make their efforts more thriving and
accommodating.
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
I. INTRODUCTION
Corporate Social Responsibility, the much hyped but the less understood concept is the
new buzz word in the corporate and social arena. There have been numerous attempts to
understand the nuances of this fairly complex and confounding theory. Different parties have
interpreted it differently but the consent remains intact on the fact that CSR is a contemporary
phenomenon and has emerged out from the voluntary and generous benevolence of the ones
with money and resources which they further direct towards the needs of the society. CSR is
Dissecting the term, we find an essence of both ethical and practical imperative to it.
(Yemokhya Fakay, 2015) This is where the contradiction arises. CSR as a philosophy is
fundamentally different from the way it is practiced. As a philosophy CSR is more suitably
referred as Corporate Shared Value (CSV) (Chaturvedi, 2013) which is much broader than
the concept of sustainability and environment and assimilates corporate and communities as a
single entity and works in the same tandem of visions. Profit making has always been the
most integral part of a business operation; CSR on the other hand is beyond natural and
statutory obligation of the company. (Bibhu Prasad, 2012) .Thus, CSR has always remained
extrinsic to the conventional business models and principles. Eventually, an attempt has been
made to penetrate the facet of CSR into the mainstream business by the introduction of
Section 135 in the revised Companies Act; 2013.It has furthered our quest and posed a very
crucial scrutiny of testing the synchronization of the corporate operations into the provisions
of the Act.
This paper, with a narrowed down focus, tries to analyze the status of Indian Public
Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in the Oil and Power sector and derive meaningful trends and
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
observations regarding the prevalent CSR mechanism of the concerned sector. This paper
will at no point try to justify the right and wrong ways to approach the concept of CSR for
and find out the initiatives under the mandatory rules of CSR and try to gauge if the efforts
are heading in the right direction. It gives us a glimpse into the policies of Indian Public
Sector Undertakings and will anticipate drawing some logical inferences out of these
findings.
This paper is more absorbed towards oil and power sector and attempts to collate a
comprehensive and analytical picture of the prevalent condition of CSR in this segment. It
throws a light on the recent CSR initiatives of the respective companies and ties to map its
relevance, impact, applicability, effectiveness, drawbacks and social responses. The report
also makes an attempt to offer brief scrutiny of the problem and offer recommendations in its
own humble capacity. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention of the concerned parties
Indian PSUs.
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
oil and Power sector have been taken for our research. As mentioned earlier, PSUs have a
very prominent role in CSR as they are the father figures of the economy and their actions
pave a direction for the conduct of rest of the units. The main reasons for taking his sector as
Even before the introduction of Schedule 135 of the Companies Act, 2013,
issued by DPE. This gives us a good base for comparison and elaborate study.
Secondly, government in all ways and forms owe a great moral responsibility toward the
betterment of the society it works for. In this report, we would state the importance of a
Thirdly, power and oil sectors, owing to its gigantic operation size and coverage results into
and it creates adverse impact on the environment. Hence they are indebted greatly to the
The objective of the paper is to individually scrutinize the guidelines of the CSR policies of
Public Sector industries. An attempt has been made to find out intra sector similarities and
a. This paper attempts to provide the readers with a comprehensive analysis of the CSR
policies and its tangible impact on the society and hence try to draw a larger
b. It tries to draw and assimilate possible suggestions and observations which could be
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
impact of CSR policies of PSUs in the Indian business context. The research has been divided
into broad 2 sectors namely: Oil Sector PSUs and Power sector PSUs.
The data used in this paper are Secondary in nature and has been collected from multiple
sources ranging from the official website of the PSUs , newspaper articles, academic research
papers, independent study reports, media coverage and other relevant and reliable web
sources.
The paper has enlisted the exhaustive areas of the CSR operations of the PSUs followed
the companies on several benchmarks has been done in order to facilitate a more clear
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
development and production and marketing companies. Our study involves the companies
The Power sector includes the below mentioned companies involved in power generation and
power distribution.
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V. SECTORAL ANALYSIS
The application of CSR study fits differently for public sector PSUs for they have been
carrying these initiatives in various forms since decades. Something which was seen from a
philanthropic angle has now taken the shape of a dedicated stakeholder centric approach. As
pointed out in a CSR research report by KPMG-ASSOCHAM, trends in CSR (especially for
PSUs) have clearly changed. The present focus is on building partnership and empowerment.
The companies are aligning the visions and missions of their CSR initiatives to their core
values. Stress is being given to get more expertise on board to execute the policies and have
substantial tie ups with bodies that are closer to the society (E.g. Government, NGOs, and
Employees etc). All this has clearly re-defined their approach towards CSR. (KPMG,
there is no second thought on the fact that CSR efforts have become a more serious
endeavour from what it previously was. But the question is, is that enough?
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
OIL SECTOR
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
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GSPC
1) IN-HOUSE MONITORING. Third Party Impact Assessment by the end of
BPCL
the year
HPCL 2) Evaluation and monitoring by CSR Executives and Official on quarterly basis
IOC
Content to be displayed on the company's website
measures like:
c. Video Conference
d. In-House mechanism
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
that the CSR process functions as mandated by the Act and the Rules, ensuring
that all Projects / Programmes are duly implemented as budgeted. This will be
system;
of activities as planned;
A. Focus Areas
In any social context, broad contours which attract maximum attention are: Education,
Health and Livelihood. Focus of CSR is no different. Most companies can be seen tapping
these areas for the ease of operations .Even though, in Indian context, these areas are the most
crucial areas of development; it is always a ‘safe game’ for the companies with minimum risk
factor. All the above mentioned PSUs have tapped their initiative in these domains. PSUs
including ONGC, OIL, and IOC have altered the league by focussing on the less noticed
see that there are barely any effort made on the measures for the benefit of armed forces
veterans, war widows and their dependents and hence this important aspect of social aid goes
unnoticed.
B. Budget Allocation
In few cases, there is a discrepancy between the amount of budget allotted and the amount
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In recent times, GAIL and BPCL have been sighted saying that the inadequate budget
use is due to the delay in the launch and execution of CSR projects.
In some cases, the gestation period of the project is long, owing to the unutilized
funds.
On the other end, companies like ONGC and IOC have been spending much more than
the statutory requirement. Now the only enquiry remains is of the productivity and outcome
C. Implementation
Companies vary in their methods of implementing and assessing CSR related issues. This
brings an unwanted heterogeneity in the process. GAIL, ONGC and HPCL have a tie-up with
the CSR initiative of TISS which is responsible for conducting and publishing baseline
surveys and need assessments for their respective CSR projects. This increases their
credibility as well as assists the third party in gauging the impacts and projecting trends of the
projects undertaken by them. It makes the whole mechanism more accountable. Companies
have both the policies of either carrying out the projects on their own or collaborating with a
specialized agency or NGO for the execution of the project but the issue here is the lack of
information and knowledge regarding CSR among these agencies. We are in need of more
platforms like CSR Hubs, DASRA etc. which would add more heft to the planning
D. Geographical Variation
Most of the Oil PSUs direct their CSR operations in areas falling in the vicinity of their
production units; this creates an imbalance of opportunities received by one geographical area
over the other. Areas such as Assam, Gujarat, and Maharashtra etc. which are rich in oil and
gas resources are benefiting the most from such initiatives. GSPC, OIL, IOC have their
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maximum focus on areas where they operate. This is increasing various social difficulties. It
is making the process redundant, creating spatial imbalances and is sidelining the areas which
need more consideration. In fact the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has now permitted to do
CSR projects anywhere in India where there is need rather than doing only in plant areas.
This would remove imbalance of CSR funding and projects and will move towards areas
E. Role of Government
Companies seem to be allocating a huge share of their funds in government scheme such
as Swacchh Bharat Abhiyaan (SBA), NRLM, etc. Industries are lobbying to these companies
to spend more and more. To illustrate, Coal India Ltd. has spent something as huge as Rs.235
crores towards SBA which is around 50% of its total CSR budget. Such massive amount of
contribution by the PSUs appears to be a way of escaping responsibilities and gives a highly
political fervour to the whole issue. Donating funds to Govt. sponsored programs is not an
ideal solution for CSR and has no permanence to it. Spending of such funds by Govt.
agencies will involve delays, corruption and cost escalations which must be avoided. The
need is to re-allocate the funding and have a more in-depth and researched approach to the
spending .This will benefits the company by building its goodwill, customer loyalty and
improving brand image in the minds of customers and the society at large.
not very sought after. The media coverage is scattered .Other than tangible changes in the
policies, rest of the issues do not find any mention in media. HPCL, ONGC have a
remarkable media presence and appeal which keeps them lively and noticeable most of the
time. On the other hand, GSPC and OIL fall weak on the media front.
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
In order to recognize and motivate CSR initiatives, various awards and rankings are
announced by several associations. Oil sector enjoys a regular presence in such forums and is
the winner of several awards and rankings. GAIL has recently been awarded 7th position by
the Economic Times in its latest report on Best corporate in India in the area of CSR. BPCL
G. Overall Performance
On a general level, keeping in mind the diversity of operations, the generosity and
efficiency of budget appropriation , geographical coverage, positive after results and a clean
and appreciative public presence, HPCL, ONGC, BPCL,IOC fare better than the rest.
However, we need to keep in mind that the CSR operations are dynamic in nature owing to
their social resonance, hybrid and heterogeneous applications. We need to maintain a certain
degree of caution before comparing one entity with the other. Any attempt of such kind is
being avoided in this report due to the lack of broader level of data and information.
H. Remarks
Since this report is entirely based on secondary data, we are bound by the limitations of
not being able to assess the ‘on-field impacts’. However, few reports show that even though
the efforts towards social upliftment are apparent, the corresponding policies and
methodology to achieve the same are falling on several grounds. For instance, in Assam,
significant portions of the policy are only focussing on the present requirements emerging
from the end of local representatives, government etc. The methods of selecting the
beneficiaries for the programmes also remain unclear and there have been some omissions
and repetitions in the selection process which is decreasing the worth of the project. This is
pointing out to the lack of public involvement in decision making which questions the
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However, on the affirmative side companies such as HPCL, IOCL, ONGC, and BPCL are
portraying great examples in terms of CSR management. They have a visible presence in the
public arenas and media. They are collaborating with renowned third party including NGOs,
government bodies, academic institutes etc. to make their efforts more specialized and
effective. They view CSR more as a value rather than a responsibility which is showing
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POWER SECTOR
I. BROAD OVERVIEW
The below mentioned table is a result of an extensive study of the secondary data available on the CSR initiatives and efforts of the Power PSUs.
The figures and data primarily take account of the financial year 2014-15:
Budget
Areas Of (in Rs. crores)
Company Thematic Focus Projects CSR Committee Present Status
Operation Allotted Spent
i) Education Various small 1) Board Level CSR HP, 47.64 52.24 NHPC has
ii) Healthcare initiatives. and Sustainability Arunanchal earmarked Rs.40
iii) Rural Development committee Pradesh, crores for the
iv) Environment & 2) Nodal Officer and Sikkim, J&K, construction of
Sustainability team will be Assam, 2242 toilets in
v) Women responsible for Darjeeling, UP Assam and
Empowerment/Senior identification & Arunanchal
Citizen selection of CSR Pradesh under
vi) Swachh Vidyalaya & Sustainability Swacch Vidyalaya
NHPC
Abhiyan activities and Abhiyaan
vii) CSR Capacity oversight of the (Kashyap, 2015)
Building, Sports, Art projects.
& Culture and Other 3) Unit, regional and
Initiatives corporate level
teams for
identification,impl
ementation and
monitoring of
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CSR&
sustainability
activities
Health, Sanitation, Drinking Various 1)Board Level CSR and Simhadri(AP) 283.48 205.18 Planning to expand
water, Education, capacity Sustainability committee Singrauli, its activities in skill
building, Women empowerment, 3)NTPC Foundation Talcher development, rural
Social infrastructure development, 4)EVOICE (Odisha) infrastructure and
Support to physically challenged Tanda,singrauli women
person(PCPs), and activities ,Auraiya, empowerment. The
contributing towards Environment NOIDA,Rihand company has had
Sustainability ,Lucknow, an active presence
Dadri (UP) in several social
initiatives and
NTPC
activities
throughout the
year. NTPC-SAIL
got an approval to
expand the
Durgapur plant
conditioned on
increasing their
CSR funding to a
certain extent.
1) Ensuring environmental Various Board Level CSR Andhra 117.49 51.68
sustainability committee of Directors Pradesh
2) Sanitation & Provision of headed by an independent Leh(J&K)
PFC safe drinking water Director Mussoorie, -------
3) Promoting Education & Gujarat,
employment enhancing Sikkim,
vocational skills Madhya
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Departmental Monitoring Committee (2-3 members) deputed at Power stations to closely monitor the process.
NHPC For specialized subject matter, a committee of experts will be formed involving external agency.
Reporting to the Nodal Offices on a monthly basis .Nodal Office has to report to Board Level committee on a quarterly
basis.
The department encourages regular feedbacks from beneficiaries.
Regular reviews are done at Unit Level.
NTPC Periodic MIS on CSR related matters are conducted.
Reviews done both at regional and companywide level
The Implementing Agency shall be responsible for the monitoring process and shall provide period reports to PFC.
PFC Preparation of progress reports in form of: quarterly reports for CSR committee and Annual CSR reports for Board Of
Directors. PFC shall conduct mandatory impact assessment reports for projects exceeding Rs.10 crores.
For others, the report shall be made on case to case basis within a specified monetary budget.
CSR Committee shall be responsible for overall execution .Impact assessment reports to be prepared by external agency for
projects exceeding Rs. 3 crores.
PGC
The Board has to be kept informed about the status of CSR activities on a timely basis
Other projects shall be evaluated on the basis of the guidelines & rulles framed and approved by the MD and the
Chairman.20% of the projects below Rs.2 crores and all individual projects above Rs.2 crores shall be audited internally.
Proper screening, checks, balances by the CSR committee.
Impact Assessment mandatory for projects exceeding Rs.200 lacs.
RECL
Rest to be covered under a limit of 5% of the administrative overheads of the CSR.
Tie Ups with other company can be done for mega-projects.
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A. Focus Areas
The thematic focus of more and more companies in the power Sector seems to be
coinciding with one another. The top areas of attention are Health, Education and Rural
Development.
interview, S.K Jain, the head of CSR of NTPC stresses on the fact that focus should be on
doing the projects which government cannot engage directly into. Activities like
infrastructure development should be left at their end. CSR should focus more on community
In power sector, there are no substantial efforts on preserving national heritage, sports and
the measures for the benefit of armed forces veterans, war widows and their dependents..
Also, detailed reports on CSR initiatives across all these companies show a major
contribution of CSR funds towards government schemes. Their needs should be addressed
B. Budget Allocation
NTPC is one of the highest contributors of expenditure towards CSR in the year 2015.
(RADHIKA MERWIN, 2015) It has represented its expenditure allocation divided on the
basis of geographical location instead of focus areas. NHPC is allocating money more than
the statutory requirement and PFC appears to be spending less than the sanctioned amount.
The reason for the same is yet again the gestation period of the projects (as mentioned in the
Annual Report 2014-15).It has allocated approximately half its CSR budget towards Swacch
Vidyalaya Abhiyaan. PGC seem to be allocating a very menial sum towards CSR in
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C. Implementation
What is interesting about power sector is that most of the included PSUs have opted for
direct implementation of the CSR projects rather than collaborating permanently with any
third party. NHPC clearly mentions in its official document about not having any impact
assessment reports relating to CSR. There are few Impact assessment reports available
publicly relating to the baseline surveys and Impact studies of the PSUs in Power sector. The
tie ups with NGO are very limited in this sector. NTPC has had tie-ups with just 4-5 NGOs in
the past 1 year and has employed contractors on temporary basis for some projects. Most of
the operations had been carried in-house only with a major participation by the employees of
the company. (Manku, 2015). On analysing the CSR initiatives of PFC in the FY 2014-15,
we find that in most of the cases the implementing agency had been government and State
department bodies, institutes etc. There had been minimum NGO interaction in this case.
RECL is in collaboration with Teach for India initiatives in Mumbai and Delhi.
D. Geographical variation
Similar to that in Oil sector, we see concentration of activities in few geographical
locations. Owing to the availability and abundance of natural resources and hence the
presence of these power PSUs, majority of CSR initiatives are bestowed in the North-Eastern
region of India including Assam, Arunanchal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya etc. NTPC has a
more diversified presence resulting in a more scattered pattern geographically. It has invested
greatly in areas of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha
and Bihar. Other PSUs have a fairly decent coverage in central India including areas of Delhi,
E. Role Of Government
Government control and dominance has a more prominent presence in the Power sector.
Major fraction of the CSR budget of these enterprises is being directed towards government
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
schemes like Swacchh Bharat Abhiyaan, Swacchh Vidyalaya Abhiyaan etc. This is indicating
that of the Oil Sector. Out of all the above studies PSUs, NTPC has the maximum presence in
various media portals .The company is involved in various CSR activities throughout the year
which makes it visible on the charts of public recognition. Next is RECL which has a fairly
decent existence in the media. Its collaboration with TFI and Centre for Social Responsibility
and Learning are the covered issues in media. NHPC’s media presence is feeble. The Indian
Express reports the CSR initiatives of NHPC to be a way to please the community and make
its way smoother towards its disputed Lower Subansiri project. (Kashyap, 2015). On the
other hand, PFC and PGC hold a very poor media presence and can hardly be traced for their
CSR initiatives.
G. Overall Performance
On a general level, keeping in mind the diversity of operations, the generosity and
efficiency of budget appropriation , geographical coverage, positive after results and a clean
and appreciative public presence, NTPC, RECL and NHPC have a stronger hold on the CSR
H. Remarks
An overall study of the Power sector PSUs points out the blacks, whites and the greys of
the sector. NTPC is one of the most reputed names in the countries in terms of CSR
initiatives .It is distinguished for its comprehensive Resettlement & Rehabilitation (R&R)
policy covering community development (CD) activities. However, the overall efforts of the
Power sector seem to be scattered and ill-planned. It lacks in specialization and focus .The
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
initiative. These areas are undoubtedly very crucial but they require a more serious approach
of dealing.
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SHORTCOMINGS
It is unquestionable that the state of affairs of CSR for Public Sector Undertakings is and
will always be very dissimilar to that of private sector. PSUs are the patrons of the economy
and they are by default endowed with the responsibility of maximizing the utility of the
individuals. They have along with them, multiple stakeholders, and multiple objectives and
work environment makes their operations more complex in terms of understanding and
execution.
In Indian context, the CSR concept is in its nascent stage. Even though, the PSUs have
been obliged for over half a decade to assimilate these practices into their business operation,
CSR is still experimental. It is prone to vulnerabilities and faults and it craves for some
serious attention. My observation of the state of CSR in Indian PSUs has revealed the
following drawbacks:
vaguely and for name sake. The company needs to be more sensitized
about the social scenario in India which would make them more aware and
clear about the issues they are dealing with. The social scene is multi-
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Directives issues by DPE in 2010 (Jacob, 2013) and again points out to the
know the community and their situations better, there still are loopholes
companies. They are not on the same level of understanding and this
studied PSUs overlaps with each other (mostly Health care, Environment
protection and Education). The objective remains the same yet the efforts
are fragmented into different directions. In some cases, there are more than
one PSU operating in the same geographical area. For instance, both OIL
and IOC are working rigorously in areas of Assam itself. This makes the
for what they have or have not done. Only a handful of individuals will
have the first hand information of corporate conduct (Jiao Luo, 2012). An
which sometimes are nothing more than just a statutory compliance. The
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
CSR mechanism lacks the necessary discipline and strictness and thus
structure. Every PSU adopts its own method of documenting their impacts
and conducting their field survey (Some of them don’t even do that). This
h. These CSR projects have a very long gestation period. Social processes are
indeed slow and require patience but in this case, without any robust plan
i. The CSR initiatives of the PSUs are under the pangs of excessive
PSUs it is nothing more than ‘an easy way out’ and for government it is
yet another way to raise huge funds for its projects. CSR in the PSU sector
j. There is a major issue of trust-deficit between the NGOs and the corporate.
The former believes in understanding a social issue at its core and adopting
whereas, the latter wants quick, quantifiable ,visible results. This leads to a
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
recognizing and selecting the most effective NGO for a particular issue.
(Kaur, 2014)
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
RECOMMENDATIONS
After having a detailed analysis of the conditions of CSR in the Oil and Power sector
impact and findings of the CSR activities initiated by the PSUs. These
records will help us to trace the course of the action of the activities, and
will help in figuring out the drawbacks and will assist further
b. Need of Expertise: The sector needs more expertise and focus where
which aim at facilitating the interaction of Corporate on one hand and the
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
platform to exchange their ideas and resources. Such initiatives need high
c. Capacity Building: Even though the PSUs need to seek some expertise in
one’s own capacity and involving itself more and more in the planning and
establishing special CSR cell within the company itself and many more of
e. Role of Media: Media has always been a very powerful method to reach
initiatives of these PSUs should look out for more media presence as it
objectives to draw closer and aid the PSUs with the CSR operations. Very
results showed that just like iceberg, except the recognition and
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
appreciation, the larger part of CSR initiatives for the company are
glamorous publicity.
reliability of the CSR operations of the PSUs and avoid any dubious
Integrity Pact by TII needs more encouragement and structure as they can
be a very effective method of ensuring checks and balances over the CSR
operations.
issues without a substantial plan, should try to narrow down their focus to
some integral areas which they can specialize in and should formulate a
more extensive and innovative plan which could be their flagship project
and hence become something distinct to that PSU. This will not just make
the approach more directed but will also act as a footprint to be followed
by other corporations.
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STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
CONCLUSION
In a retrospective fashion, there is no doubt that the situation of CSR in India has changed
drastically. It has taken a major leap from a mere compliance based approach to a more
strategic and planned approach in order to mitigate the social woes of the society it co-exists
with. With the change in definition, its importance has changed too. The world around is now
keen and aware to see that in what ways are the Responsible Corporate citizens paying their
debts towards the society. This is certainly increasing pressures on the corporate as well as
the communities. Indian PSUs are already very aware of their responsibilities and obligations
towards the society. All they still lack in is the right direction and approach. In order to
become a co-existent part of society, PSUs need to fit in the shoes of the communities and try
to make CSR a household term. The compliances of CSR has to be done in a way that it
involves maximum shareholders and generate their interest towards this economically and
socially feasible ‘charity plan’. Once the PSU is able to create a synergy between all the
stakeholders of the society, it would be a win-win position for all the interest groups. PSUs
have to emphasize on the changing needs and aspirations of the citizens and the society. The
approach has to be more sensitive, compassionate and at the same time more focussed and
specialized. The discussion gets even more severe for sector such as Energy which falls under
one of the highest spenders of CSR in India. (Ramanathan, 2015). It is high time for PSUs in
the sector to understand the seriousness of the situation and make an attempt to rope in all the
related stakeholders, choose a specialized co-partner/expertise for the execution and aspire to
(Karnani, 2013). Thus to facilitate it, PSUs have to start taking genuine interests in their
34
STATUS OF CSR AMONG PSUS IN INDIA
social endeavours which is undoubtedly their share of burden too and assist the process of
35
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