ABSTRACT
The concept of corporate social responsibility, which is still relatively new in India, has been gaining popularity over the past several years. CSR has received a significant amount of attention from the upper management of big firms all over the world, and it has developed into a standard operating procedure for companies. It makes it much simpler for business procedures to mirror the ideals of society. CSR is considered as the time at when several initiatives aimed to assure the continued socioeconomic progress of the community come together. This is the point at which CSR takes place. Taking into account the possibility that incorporating corporate social responsibility into businesses might play an essential part in the process of creating social value, which is especially important in a growing country like India. The particular objective of this dissertation is to explain the concept of CSR and examine its progress from the perspective of India as well as the rest of the world. In essence, it focuses on the CSR initiatives that have been carried out by Indian businesses and emphasizes the rules that govern CSR in India. The concept of CSR in India faces a variety of challenges and this study provides suggestions for addressing these problems and accelerating India’s CSR operations.
- INTRODUCTION
India has a long history of business involvement in social causes, as evidenced by the philanthropic activities of the Tata, Birla, Ambani, and Goenka families, who began their enterprises as family-owned proprietorship businesses and watched them grow into the massive corporations they are today, along with the ongoing social transformation. A collection of people working together to achieve a common goal creates an organization, and in a similar way, CSR is ingrained in the daily operating philosophies of organizations.
Rajas and Maharajas made charitable contributions and donations to underprivileged groups of society in the distant past. Gandhian Trusteeship Theory might be seen as a powerful ally in the fight for CSR. Gandhiji believed that the wealthy should donate some of their assets to help the less fortunate. The right to lead a moral life that is on par with that of millions of other people, is what belongs to me, not a decent amount of riches acquired via inheritance or commerce and industry, according to Gandhiji. The community owns the remaining wealth, which must be used for the good of the community.[1]
An evolutionary sketch of CSR in India may be defined in four methods or models in chronological sequence, according to Altered Images: the 2001 State of Corporate Responsibility in India Poll, a survey carried out by TERI.
Model Based on Ethics (1930s-1950s): According to the this model, commercial must manage money in the society’s interest in addition to its own, acting as the trustee of the community. This strategy was successful in inspiring and motivating numerous family-run enterprises to make contributions and donations in support of socioeconomic development.
State Ownership Model (1950s-1970s): This is based on Nehru’s Mixed Economy and Socialism Theory. The first PM of independent India, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, formerly held the opinion that the State should bear a significant portion of the responsibility for wealth creation in order to eliminate inequality in the distribution of national revenue. In other words, Pandit Nehru once said that although private company ownership is encouraged, the State must also assume its responsibilities in a similar way in order to significantly reduce the gap between the wealthy and the poor. State ownership of the firms so played a significant role in carrying out CSR.
Milton Friedman Model(1970s-1990s): According to Milton Friedman, businesses should operate legally in order to maximize their profits, which would then be distributed to society in the form of taxes paid to the government’s coffers.
Stakeholders Model (1990s- Present Era): The result of globalization and the liberalization of national economies in the post-globalization period, which is also known as the stakeholders age, was the need for stakeholders’ interests to be considered in relation to the essential profit that businesses needed to achieve. The Stakeholders Model was widely acknowledged to have gained societal and commercial acceptance by the late 1990s. Business organizations may be said to have been persuaded that protecting the interests of stakeholders, including consumers, creditors, governments, workers, etc., was essential to their continued existence. In their annual reports, more than 90% of Fortune 500 businesses used to discuss their CSR practices and policies. Most businesses who are part of the Fortune 500 league have recognised the importance of CSR to organizational objectives and publicly pushed CSR initiatives that were highlighted in their annual reports. India joined the CSR movement along with the rest of the globe after realizing how challenging it is to compete in the market without supporting socio-economic reasons.
[1]C. V. Baxi and A. Prasad, CSR -Concepts & Cases (Excel Books, New Delhi, 2005).