There should also be a provision to give priority to work in remote locations in CSR laws, says Tara Chand

A seasoned development professional with over 15 years of experience, Tara Chand who has spent several years working in different capacities with the Government of India and several state governments is currently the Corporate Social Responsibility Head at OakNorth (India), a UK bank . In this interview with TheCSRUniverse, Chand talks about CSR laws in India and impact-driven social responsibility.

Q: What drives your CSR thoughts at OakNorth India? 

OakNorth’s mission is to empower growth businesses as this makes the world a more interesting, dynamic and diverse place to live. To continue reinforcing the positive impact growth businesses have on communities and economies globally, we donate 1% of our Group profits to supporting charitable causes and socially-minded enterprise. CSR is therefore at the heart of our business operations globally.

Q: What are your ongoing key CSR activities?

OakNorth undertakes many timely, strategic, results-driven, and professionally managed development initiatives consistent with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Incorporating our core values - Right Ambition and One Team - OakNorth supports multiple non-profit organisations with wide-ranging initiatives to resolve specific problems and improve standards of living in local communities.

We seek to create and support opportunities for conservation of natural resources, female empowerment, education particularly in STEAM subjects, social mobility, entrepreneurship and mentorship, and inclusive development of underprivileged communities.

We invest in long term, replicable and sustainable development models that effectively address the various social needs and problems our communities face today. Our teams volunteer for a number of initiatives and participate in donation drives, as well as provide matching grants.

Q: How has your CSR programme implementation been impacted/affected due to COVID pandemic?

Like all activities, our CSR initiatives have also been affected due to COVID. While we invest in long term, replicable and sustainable development models that effectively address the various social needs and problems that communities face today, our near-term employee volunteering initiatives have been affected due to COVID; however, many employees have continued to volunteer with various organisations to share their knowledge and skills virtually.

We hope to be able to restart in-person CSR activities with precautionary measures in coming months based on local conditions and government directives.

Q: What are the new measures and initiatives you are taking to continue your CSR activities while adhering to the COVID protocols?

With the ongoing COVID-19 crisis is impacting communities around the world, OakNorth has contributed to a number of initiatives globally, including supporting The Akshaya Patra Foundation which has provided dry ration kits to underprivileged families in Delhi NCR and Bengaluru, as well as Seva Mandir, an NGO that’s providing hygiene and dry ration kits, including nutrition to families with children attending pre-school education centers that have also been funded by OakNorth over the years.

We devised a separate strategy for each of our projects taking COVID-19 into account. We have established a quarantine centre in one of the Emergency Shelters supported by us for female children and adults. We are ensuring that all government protocols and instructions are followed by our staff while implementing our CSR initiatives.

Our ground level workers are visiting homes of people to provide them all kind of support and also engaging with children to provide the psycho-social assistance to overcome the stress of COVID and lockdown in view of closure of our education and daycare centres.

Q: What is the budget outlay for your CSR activities in the financial year 2020-21?

As mentioned earlier, we donate 1 percent of our Group profits to supporting charitable causes and socially minded enterprise. This 1 percent excludes the statuary requirement of the Indian Companies Act.

We are one of the few companies who have been supporting social causes since its inception even when we did not meet any of the three conditions prescribed in the Indian Companies Act for undertaking CSR activities. We have allocated more than the statuary requirement fixed under the Companies Act.

Q: The CSR has fundamentally changed after it was made mandatory by Companies Act 2013. What are your thoughts on CSR laws in India?

We believe many positive changes have come to the CSR rules since the introduction of the CSR provision in the Companies Act. This shows the commitment from government towards the communities and CSR. The government of India and various other state governments have taken numerous steps to help corporates undertake CSR activities by supporting government run initiatives. There should also be a provision to give priority to work in remote locations with a special focus on aspirational districts. However, I still believe that corporates should be given freedom to undertake CSR activities.

Q: What can be the changes in the current CSR law/provisions that can help corporates in being more productive and effective in implementation of their CSR activities?

The total CSR outlay of companies is minuscule when you compare it with government budget earmarked for social development.

We believe that government should support corporates in undertaking CSR activities and CSR funds should be used to develop innovative models of development in various sectors to bring about positive change.

Corporates can add a lot of value if they develop models of change and development to address specific social issues.

Q: What are your expectations from your CSR implementation agencies/partners in today’s changing scenario?  

We believe that working with communities typically requires specialized knowledge and skills, which are best available with nonprofits working with the communities on the ground. We look for good governance, efficient monitoring, reporting and communication.

Nonprofits should be self-regulated and must adopt best governance practices to ensure transparency and trust. One of the major challenges faced by nonprofits is the lack of succession planning and second rung leadership. In the past, we have seen some nonprofits closing down once the founding team retires.

Q: What are your suggestions and message to your corporate colleagues on building a strong CSR environment in the country?

The biggest challenges CSR leaders face are around the scalability, sustainability and effectiveness of CSR initiatives. To overcome these challenges, like-minded business should come together to undertake CSR initiatives in remote rural locations, preferably aspirational districts aligning to government schemes.

Businesses should move away from cheque book charity approach to impact-driven social responsibility. Businesses should seek opportunities which go beyond a simple donation, to other areas where they can contribute - such as the resource of their teams, technology, expertise, brand, etc. There is so much that businesses can offer in addition to money, but it takes time to find the right opportunities where there are clear synergies.