Private Sector Engagement in Livelihoods and Corporate Social Responsibility
165
more than 200 farmers. Cumulatively more
than 16,000 acres of wasteland have been
brought under cashew, mango and lemon
plantations in partnership with National
Horticulture Mission. Tata Steel also cre-
ated 152 irrigation structures including lift
irrigation facilities, creation/renovation of
ponds etc. in Jharkhand and Odisha. Over
the years several water harvesting structures
have been created irrigatingmore than 5,000
acres of land, benefiting 6,000 farmers.
Further, more than 700 SHGs have been
promoted covering for 9,000 plus women
facilitating small business units operated by
them. The women are supported in poultry
farming, pig and goat rearing, soap making,
phenyl making, mushroom cultivation,
nurseries to raise sapling, seedless tamarind
making, tailoring, paper bagmaking etc. The
company also invests in skill development
for employability. The skill programmes are
designed to train youth for entry-level posi-
tions in the organised sector. In 2013–14,
nearly 2,000 youth were trained in various
vocational trades across locations with 30
per cent of them being gainfully employed.
The
Mahindra Group
in a unique inter-
vention partnered with Naandi Foundation
to work with the Adivasi community in
Araku Valley. The centuries-old cropping
pattern of Adivasi community in Araku
was not adequate to feed an increasing
population. Naandi Foundation evolved
a horticultural development project on
marginal, degraded community lands to
enrich their local nutrition, their ecosystem
and augment the community’s income. The
participating Adivasi farmers grew Arabica
coffee through organic agriculture and have
started earning an annual income of more
than
`
100,000.
Maruti Suzuki
apart from other CSR
activities, supports skill development for
employability of youth. The Company is
currently working with 85 ITIs spread across
21 states to upgrade automobile related
trades. This initiative covered over 5,500
students in 2013–14. The Company under-
takes faculty training, students’ training and
organises job placement fairs at the insti-
tutes. A large number of students passing
out of these ITIs secure employment at the
Maruti Suzuki dealer workshops. In the last
three years, over 2,800 students from these
ITIs were employed in service workshops of
the Company’s dealers.
L&T
also is focused on skill development
in the livelihood spectrum of activities.
It
has set up eight Construction Training Skills
Institutes to train youth in trade skills relat-
ing to construction industry. Carpentry, bar
bending, masonry, electrician, welding and
scaffolding are the usual trades in which
courses are conducted, lasting three months
to six months. In 2013–14 the institutes
trained 45,000 candidates. The trained stu-
dents are provided certificates of proficiency
in the trade. They are free to work anywhere
or start own enterprise too. Many trainees
are placed on suitable jobs with L&T’s sub-
contractors in the different projects across
the country. L&T also runs a Project Neev
for differently abled people. These candi-
dates are trained in making handicrafts and
other products. L&T arranges for market-
ing of the products made by these persons
through different channels.
NGO Box and Renalysis Consultants
carried out a study of selected 100 BSE-
listed companies on their CSR spending in
2014–15. These 100 companies are a good
representation of large and medium com-
panies listed in the BSE. Nearly one-fourth
(27 per cent) of the companies spent more
than the prescribed CSR spend and about
two-third (64 per cent) of the companies
spent less than the prescribed CSR spend.
Two per cent of the companies spent zero
amount from their prescribed CSR spend
and 9 per cent of the companies spent
exactly same as the prescribed CSR amount.
Thirty-nine per cent of the companies spent
more than 50 per cent of the prescribed CSR
spent but missed the target of the prescribed
CSR spend. Reliance Industries emerged as
the largest spender with CSR spend of
`
7.6
billion.
It is clear that the companies struggle
to spend the CSR outlays in the initial years.
