Going beyond the mandate of corporate social responsibility (CSR) laws in India, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has made giving a way of life within the Company to create impact for society as part of its larger focus on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
As part of this broad initiative, the company has formalised programmes to enable employees to give back to the society. This includes connecting their payroll with the company's platforms of iCare iShare Payroll Giving programme, DaanUtsav and participation in marathons to contribute towards society. Similarly, it also connects employee-wellness seamlessly with CSR by contributing stipulated amounts to non-profit organisation against their efforts to stay fit and quitting bad habits.
Employees have the autonomy to direct a portion of their salary to the cause of their choice, in partnership with GiveIndia, through the online iCare iShare programme. On its part, the Company doubles the impact with a matching contribution of its own.
Additionally, the Company celebrates the festival of ‘Joy of Giving’ with its annual DaanUtsav initiative, where employees are encouraged to donate to fulfil small joys of underprivileged children living in child care homes. The proceeds are disbursed to the non-profit organisations to distribute gifts to children.
In the same spirit of giving, the Company is connecting employee-wellness with its two new initiatives - #Stayfit and #Commit to Quit. By setting specific targets for employees, and rewarding those who achieve them with financial donation to Tata Memorial Hospital for cancer patients. The Company is seamlessly integrating wellness with giving back. In FY2023, the employee participation led to Rs 26 lakh as donation to Tata Memorial Hospital. Employees also participated in the Tata Mumbai Marathon, the proceeds of which have been donated towards the cause of underprivileged children. Overall 1000 employees have participated in various such initiatives.
Ms. Urvi Chhaya, Senior Vice President, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance said, “To create a larger impact for society, our crucial stakeholder, we have consciously made “Giving” a way of life within ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. As one of the largest life insurance companies in the country, our CSR initiatives revolve around the core proposition of protection and programmes involving protection of life, health and livelihoods.Through our CSR projects, we have contributed over Rs. 2011.7 million and touched over 1.8 million lives, over the years.”
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has also pledged Rs 3.0 million to support underprivileged children in India as part of its CSR initiative. For this, the company has partnered with two non-profit organisations, Catalysts for Social Action (CSA) and SOS Children's Villages of India (SOS Villages), that work with disadvantaged children in India.
Over the next three years, the Company has plans to extend support to over 300 underprivileged children through the two programmes. With CSA, the programme is designed to improve the health outcomes of underprivileged children living in eight child cares homes of Maharashtra. With SOS Villages, in the first phase of the programme, the Company is upgrading the infrastructure and equipment of a physiotherapy lab for special children living in SOS Children’s Villages homes of Madhya Pradesh. The phase 2 of the programme will involve extending support for corrective surgeries, assistive devices, and hospitalisation expenses for the underprivileged and differently-abled children living in SOS Children’s Villages.
Through its partnership with CSA, under their flagship programme “ASHA", the Company had earlier been able to make a positive difference in the lives of over 1000 underprivileged children living in various childcare homes in India. The programme is aimed at the holistic development of children on interventions around education, skill development, vocational training, food & nutrition, and health & hygiene. Besides, the ‘After Care’ initiative is a key component of the programme for children aged 18 years and above, which aims to integrate them into society through support on higher education, skilling and life skills. According to the company, over 40 children are the beneficiaries of the ‘After Care’ module of the programme and they have been pursuing higher education/vocational training and jobs of their choice.
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance allocates 70% of its annual CSR budget to the ICICI Foundation, which focuses on promoting sustainable livelihoods and implementing targeted social and environmental projects. In FY2023, the company through ICICI Foundation’s ICICI Academy of Skills, has taken forward a skill development programme for underprivileged youth and a health programme wherein the Company has donated a cardiac ambulance to a charitable hospital in Pune.
