10 years of CSR (Act) in India – Part 1 of a short story (with the bigger picture)

10 years of CSR (Act) in India – Part 1 of a short story (with the bigger picture)

Jul 6, 2023

To begin with If you have to handpick anecdotes, stories, people, developments, incidents… to tell a story summing up what happened in this particular domain in the past decade, a domain that you have been actively involved in and one where you are

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Understanding SRoI  It’s not just economic analysis of social projects

Understanding SRoI
It’s not just economic analysis of social projects

Aug 23, 2021

‘Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.’ ~ Leonardo Da Vinci                                                                    

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Are CSR stories deflecting our attention from companies’ sustainability?   Notes on India’s top CSR spenders

Are CSR stories deflecting our attention from companies’ sustainability?
Notes on India’s top CSR spenders

Jun 24, 2021

Companies covered  Reliance Industries   | ONGC | Tata Consultancy Services | HDFC Bank  | Infosys   Companies seeking to squeeze the most brand value out of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) spends is fair enough. Yet, when they go on and on

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Why top Indian companies are investing substantial CSR funds in agroforestry  – 7 Reasons and 1 Thought

Why top Indian companies are investing substantial CSR funds in agroforestry
– 7 Reasons and 1 Thought

Feb 10, 2021

‘Nature is pleased with simplicity. And nature is no dummy.’    ~Issac Newton The recently released annual reports (including sustainability and CSR reports) of some of India’s largest public sector undertakings and large business entities have one thing in common. They all claim

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The small and common things we do that are not environment-friendly

The small and common things we do that are not environment-friendly

Jan 7, 2021

Let’s face it. We can’t be perfect, especially when it comes to helping or saving the environment. As much as you or I may be trying, it isn’t possible that we are not contributing to destroying the environment in some small or big

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What can we do (or not do) to keep air pollution down: Ideas from a 10-year-old

What can we do (or not do) to keep air pollution down: Ideas from a 10-year-old

Sep 16, 2020

Air pollution is ghastly, but there certainly is a lot of it. Everywhere in the world, there is a bit”in some places it’s more, some have it less. When the whole world had a lockdown period, pollution had decreased a great deal due

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CSR: Who should write your mandatory report?

CSR: Who should write your mandatory report?

Jul 23, 2020

[dropcap size=big]W[/dropcap]hile the next few months are about guessing when will the new guidelines making CSR impact reports mandatory be passed, one must also wonder who will be measuring the ‘impact’ in the first place. While I write down a few principles that

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CSR post-Covid-19: A floor test for India Inc.?  Hear it from top decision makers  

CSR post-Covid-19: A floor test for India Inc.? Hear it from top decision makers  

Jun 24, 2020

With inputs from: Aditya Birla Group | Hero MotoCorp | Tata Power | Toyota | Volvo | Mahindra | Standard Chartered | Piramal Swasthya   What if the company does not make profits? Will your social interventions be able to sustain themselves?  

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Five years of Hero MotoCorp’s CSR: Outcomes from evaluations

Five years of Hero MotoCorp’s CSR: Outcomes from evaluations

Jun 23, 2020

In March, just before the lockdown started, I managed a visit to Imphal to evaluate if Mary Kom’s boxing academy was doing fine. I had to meet a few kids training under her and maybe predict if the academy had the potential to

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CSR for Covid-19 – some confusions despite FAQs

CSR for Covid-19 – some confusions despite FAQs

Apr 15, 2020

Over a week before the launch of Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES Fund), several corporate groups were mulling over ways in which to do their bit towards relief measures for the Covid-19 pandemic with their corporate social

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