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Corporate Social Responsibility Award

BUSINESSWORLD-FICCI-SEDF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AWARD-2006

The Businessworld-FICCI-SEDF Corporate Social Responsibility Award was instituted in 1999 to distinguish and applaud the socially responsible ethics of corporates in India.

Since then we have seen the augment to the number of companies, which are becoming cognizant of their social responsibilities. Business houses are ever more willing to re-evaluate their performance according to the Triple Bottom-Line (TBL) concept of factoring Financial, Social and Environmental indicators. The belief is that involvement and concern about all stakeholders enhances not only the goodwill of the company which reflects directly in its Corporate Reputation but also facilitates the creation and conception of general welfare of society as a whole.

Selection Process
To recognize the contribution of corporate India in promoting socially responsive business practices, FICCI-SEDF has instituted the Corporate Social Responsibility Award, the first of its kind in India with a unique three-tier selection process.

Stage I
The entries received were thoroughly scrutinized by Grant Thornton, International Accountants & Business Advisers. Responses were tabulated and a quantitative analysis (1st Assessment) carried out on the pre-defined parameters including Institutionalization of CSR, Community as a Stakeholder, Community Development, and Other CSR Practices including HR Practices, Environmental Practices etc.

There were seven companies shortlisted at the end of this assessment. They were:-

  • SAIL
  • Neyvelli Lignite Corporation
  • TCL
  • Zensar
  • HSBC
  • HZL
  • NTPC

Stage II
It was then followed by an on-site assessment by a recognized NGO, Business & Community Foundation (BCF) that visited all the seven companies and their project sites for qualitative analysis and evaluated their work.

Stage III
The final selection for the Award was made by a special jury drawn from relevant corporate and social spheres. This year's panel of the Jury included Dr.Abid Hussain (Chair), Dr. Girija Vyas, Justice Leila Seth and Mr. Mark Runacres.

On 5th of May, the assessment partners, Grant Thornton and Business and Community Foundation made presentations before this prestigious panel of jury which was followed by presentations by the 6 short listed companies.

The Jury appreciated the efforts made by all the companies and was full of praise for the corporate initiatives in CSR. It unanimously gave the following results:

The winner - Corporate Citizen I

  • SAIL which has constituted a specific Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Group, formed at Corporate Level and as a matter of policy; the Budget allocated for Corporate Social Responsibility [CSR] is 2 % of budgeted distributable surplus. Most of their work takes Community Development into its purview with a focus on Education, Water, Roads and Connectivity, Healthcare among many others.

1st Runner-up - Corporate Citizen II

  • Neyvelli Lignite Corporation (NLC): whose NLC's major focus area is resettlement and employability of Project Affected Persons. It also looks at Income generation programmes for destitues, women and people with disability. It also involves itself with environmental issues like land reclamation, irrigation and afforestation among others.


2nd Runner up -Corporate Citizen III

  • TCL: which has established trusts & societies that take up development work. It works in fields like natural resource management, livelihood development, health, education and infrastructure. Their "Community Development Policy" takes into account principles like: sustainability, participatory approach, transparency, networking & partnership and volunteering & focus on development through diverse interventions.

Certificate of Recognition

  • Zensar Technologies: which works on CSR issues through the Zensar Foundation, which works with Akansha on non-formal and IT education. Their Community development initiatives also address youth and healthcare oriented issues. The Foundation has been working on multiple social programs with several NGOs. This was the first time that the Jury felt the need to especially recognize the commendable work done in CSR in a short span of time.

Certificates of Appreciation

  • HSBC: where the key focus areas include education, environment, financial literacy, livelihoods, disaster relief and micro-finance. HSBC has been an active participant in relief and rehabilitation after Gujarat earthquake, Tsunami tragedy, Mumbai floods and Mumbai bomb blasts.
  • HZL: HZL's CSR initiatives have been prioritized on local needs which focus on Health, Education, Sustainable Livelihood, Social Mobilization, Infrastructure Development, Water harvesting, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Environment Conservation. In
  • NTPC: which has adopted various policies addressing concern of different stakeholders including environment and social aspect. These policies are operationalised through a dedicated institutional set up. The NTPC Foundation addresses domains of social development at National level with special focus on Distributed Generation and facilitating economic self-reliance of physically challenged and economically weaker section of the society

AWARD PRESENTATION CEREMONY

The Awards were presented in a grand ceremony on the 7th of May 2007 at the FICCI Auditorium, New Delhi. The Awards were given away by the Hon'ble President of India, H.E Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam who was also the Chief Guest. During his address the President applauded the efforts and initiatives by the corporate sector, especially and laid emphasis on the inclusion of small and medium industries into the ambit of CSR. He also spoke of the need for business practices to reinvent and mould themselves around societal needs and orientations. He appreciated the work of FICCI-SEDF for social development and promotion of CSR.

Others present on the occasion included Shrimati Rajashree Birla, President, FICCI Committee on CSR who gave the vote of thanks, Dr. Abid Hussain, Chairman of the Jury, Dr. Amit Mitra Secretary General, FICCI, Shri Rajesh Jain, COO, Grant Thornton, Amita Joseph, Executive Director, BCF, and several other business leaders, dignitaries and professionals from relevant corporate and development sector.