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Indifference towards Ageing Issues in CSR initiatives.
Highlights
We have been following the IndiaCSR which is a eJournal regularly published by the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) supported by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. It gives out in every issue news about CSR concept and the new projects undertaken under it by various Corporate Houses. During the last few months we have not seen a single project being undertaken by any Corporate House to benefit the issues arising out of the fast ageing population.
We have been following the IndiaCSR which is a eJournal regularly published by the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) supported by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. It gives out in every issue news about CSR concept and the new projects undertaken under it by various Corporate Houses. During the last few months we have not seen a single project being undertaken by any Corporate House to benefit the issues arising out of the fast ageing population.
We would not be surprised if this year also turns out to be same or worse in this regard as the previous year when according to the analysis published by Forbes India less than 1% of the total CSR spending during that year was meant to mitigate the sufferings of the elderly.
The following diagram worked out by CSRidentity.com shows comparative spending under CSR during the year by the Indian Companies for different social activities.
In fact in the amended Company Law which was passed by Parliament in 2013, issues of elders were even not mentioned in the schedule VII of the section 135 of the Act. The social activities which qualify for CSR support are described in this schedule. It was rather an aggressive follow up later by Associations of Senior Citizens and HelpAge India that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs relented and included a clause in schedule VII, reading as follows,
“ Old Age Homes, Day Care Centres and similar other activities which benefit senior citizens”
It was obviously a half hearted effort as most of the major issues of the aged are not covered. We had to be satisfied by an assurance that the above clause will be very liberally interpreted.
While the sectoral break up shown above less than one hundredth of the total CSR contribution was spent during that year on issues of the fast ageing society, according to IndiaCSR the amount spent during 2014-15 on elder issues is almost negligible.
It is very unfortunate because neglect of issues and problems arising due to the ageing of population can lead to serious socio-economic problems in addition to causing hardship to the 10.5 crore senior citizens in the Country.
According to a survey 51% of this segment belong to BPL category who can not afford even two square meals a day. The 10.5 crore elders need health care, social security, suitable shelter, in short an environment where they can age with dignity and purpose.
CSR activities can have a well defined social impact that is replicable and sustainable. It is possible through partnerships and alliance with responsible NGO’s
We have more than 13.3 lakh Companies registered in India out of which around 1% that is 16,252 (according to IICA) fall under the purview of CSR made mandatory from 1st April 2014. It was expected that the 16000 and odd Corporate Houses would be able to contribute around 20,000 crore rupees per year to social sector which would have sort of revolutionized it. However, it is now being realized that it was a gross over estimate and CSR spending during this year may not exceed 5000 crore rupees.
The reasons for the shortfall appear largely to be two fold, firstly this being the initial period, many Companies are adopting a wait and watch policy, and secondly many among those which are conscious of their responsibility under CSR find it difficult to identify a suitable and trust worthy NGO or partner who has the required experience and capacity to execute the social welfare programme which the Company has in mind. 90% of the Companies prefer to spend through NGO’s though many of them have their own in-house Foundations or Trusts to handle this responsibility.
It is however, expected that during the present fiscal year that is 2015-16, the CSR spending may increase by 3 to 4 times. Therefore, it is the right time for us to make an all out effort to take advantage of this concept for the welfare of the ageing community. This issue was discussed at length in the seminar on CSR for Elders organized by the Association of Senior Citizens of Hyderabad (AOSCH) during last Noember. Following few suggestions emerged as a result of deliberations in the Seminar.
1] All senior citizens’ associations and NGO’s if they are interested in taking advantage of CSR support, should get themselves registered as a trust or society (if they are not) and get recognition by the IT Department under section 12A preferably 80G.
2] If they are already engaged in philanthropic activities, they should get themselves enrolled as a NGO with Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment or the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA).
3] Since the general awareness in the community and the CSR teams of the Corporate Houses of the concerns of an ageing society is very very poor, it will be useful to meet the CSR officers of the donor Corporate Houses and inform them of the age related problems and the role the Corporate Houses can play to mitigate them. It may even be useful to submit a list of programmes which will benefit senior citizens and can be supported under CSR. It will help the Corporates to identify programmes which fall within their policies and budget.
4] It will also be useful to prepare some model project reports on issues generated by the phenomenon of ageing and to circulate them among the senior citizens’ associations in different sectors along with a list of Companies operating in that sector which are obliged to participate in the CSR programme.
5] For successful execution of this programme, we need a sort of “Match maker” who enjoys the trust of the Corporate Houses and is familiar with the NGO’s in the field. We had expected that the National Foundation of CSR (constituted by IICA) will play an active role in this regard. The intermediary CSR consultant organizations which have come up in most of the Metro cities are partly fulfilling this gap.
6] We should also take up with the authorities that as most of the Corporate. Houses tend to concentrate their CSR activities in and around their main centres of operation or their head offices etc, major part of the Country is deprived of the benefits of this concept. They should be asked to give equal importance to district towns, talukas and villages away from their head offices.
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7] Since it will be impossible to reach the 16000 companies which fall under the purview of CSR and 30 lakh NGO’s registered, it will be better to set up a website on which all important information in this regard is displayed.
AOSCH is already preparing a few model schemes aimed at the welfare of the elderly with special reference to requirements of Telangana State but they can be applicable in other States also with some changes. A list of about top 600 Companies which are obliged to contribute under CSR, is already available and can be shared. We are trying to collect details about more Companies in this category. They will also be displayed on the website.
Some organizations have come up specially in metro cities which specialize in co-ordinating between a NGO or Senior Citizens Association desirous of undertaking an activity/project to serve the elders and a suitable donor Corporate House. They can prepare the project report, obtain expert advice if required and help in executing the project, sometimes against payment of small percentage of the project cost.
By RN Mital
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