PARTICIPATIVE GOVERNANCE IN CSR- CONCEPT NOTE

In recent years CSR has been gaining momentum in India. For business, it is no longer an optional activity for the Corporates, but one it must engage in. The responsibility of development of the country is no longer the sole responsibility of the government and its agencies. Business too has to step up and take the onus, be responsible to the society, to the country, and to the planet. Given the kind of financial resources and expertise they possess, their potential to have a positive effect on development is considerable. CSR is no longer just philanthropic gestures but active engagement with the community and the society in large. The inclusion of the CSR mandate under the Companies Act, 2013 is an attempt to supplement the government’s efforts of equitably delivering the benefits of growth and to engage the Corporate World with the country’s development agenda.More recently, on 27'"February 2014, the Government of India has notified the rules for CSR spending under Section 135 of the New Companies Act 2013 along with Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2014 effective from l" April 2014. The new rules have made it mandatory for all companies including foreign companies with branches or projects in India who have a minimum net worth of Rs. 500 or an annual turnover of Rs. 1000 crore or those having a net profit of at least Rs, 5 crore. Organisations that meet with any of the conditions mentioned above, are required to spend at least 2 percent of their'average' net profits of the block of previous three years on CSR activities. SAKALA MISSION has been actively researching CSR on through student interns who have collected data from the field and analyzed the shortfalls in implementing the CSR. Of the various recommendations given by the interns one of them is to conduct one-day workshop on CSR in Bangalore to bring corporates, Government and NGOs face to face. This will be organized in collaboration with Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs to provide training modules and implementation strategy for identifying and initiating CSR activities according to companies areas of interest. It also helps Government to understand and frame review and renewal mechanisms that are corporate friendly and promote interest of companies in governance. “Monitoring and Evaluation framework” of CSR committee forms a crucial component of the agenda for the workshop. To showcase the CSR activities of companies that have worked along with Government to implement development initiatives. During the course of our research we have also found that public-private partnerships are a very effective way to address challenges of health, education, livelihoods, infrastructure, community development, women's empowerment etc.,by filling the gaps in government budgets through CSR. We believe that our focus on corporate responsibility helps us manage our SERVICES more effectively and identify ways to apply our technology and expertise to benefit the environment and society, mitigate risks, reduce costs, protect brand value and identify market opportunities. We believe that CSR-Sakala Mission can lead to better governance and quality of life for people of Karnataka. Hence on 3rd September 2014 from 10.30 AM to 4.30 PM, Sakala-CSR workshop will be held at Conference Hall, Vidhana Soudha in association with INDIAN INSTITUTE OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS and JSW Foundation. The CSR WORKSHOP topics are :

CSR Policy and Formulation of Strategy,

Scope for IAs in CSR Partnerships – Corporate Connect,

Monitoring and Evaluation. CSR WEBSITE DETAILS: www.sakala.gov.in/csr