CSR a Strategic Component of Govt and Corporate: Pati
Partnerships among Govt, Corporate world and Civil Society organizations has multiplier effect for development in the state said Chief Secretary Sri Gokul Chandra Pati while addressing a national level Multi-Stake Holder Dialogue on CSR ( Corporate Social Responsibility) and Development in Odisha in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. Sri Pati added that CSR should be taken up as a growth strategy of an industry and it should be brought to the Board Room of Corporate houses. Sri Pati called upon the experts to come out with actionable suggestions for making CSR a strategic component of both the Corporate Houses and Government. Chief Secretary further suggested that CSR funds can more effectively be utilized in skill development, providing quality education, and adoption of technological innovations in the areas of fly ash utilization, generation of power from solid waste, and enhancement of livelihood options etc. Sri Pati has emphasized in sensitization and involvement of the community in CSR activities.
The Dialogue and the Workshop was organized jointly by Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs ( IICA), Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Govt of India, Center for Youth & Social Development (CYSD), National Foundation for India (NFI) with active participation of Govt of Odisha and Unicef . Opening the Dialogue, Sri Jagadanada, Co-Founder of CYSD said that the objective of the workshop was setting clear and concrete agenda for CSR in Odisha through identification of areas of operation , building alliances between corporate entities , Govt and civil society organizations, setting CSR standards and adoption of best practices.
Dr Bhaskara Chatterjee Director General of IICA said that India is the only Country to have CSR legislation; and, the thought behind the CSR legislation is how to link CSR funds to enhance goals of development that actually benefits the people. He emphasized that no CSR money should be spent without a structured project with defined outcomes. A synergy between Govt and Corporate houses would be a big step towards grounding of development added Sri Chatterjee. Sri Sanjaya Kumar Panda, Union Secretary for Textiles, Sri T.V. Narendran Managing Director, Tata Steel India and Ms Yumi Bae Chief Filed Office Unicef Odisha addressed the inaugural session and shared their experiences. These experts emphasized on coming together of Corporates, Govt and Civil society through mutual trust building and definite action plan for augmenting the effects of social development.
The Dialogue and Workshop was organized in 4 sessions with the themes like context setting, identifying issues for CSR, sharing of best practices and innovative approaches for collaboration among stake holders and outlining the future road map. The representatives from reputed Corporate Bodies, Civil Society Organizations, Govt India, Govt of Odisha and Unicef participated in the Dialogue.