Mahindra Group has been on the forefront of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in India. The group spent a massive amount of Rs 126 Cr on its various CSR activities in the year 2019-20, thus exceeding its prescribed CSR budget for the year by close to Rs 20 Cr.
In this interview with TheCSRUniverse, Mahindra Group CSR Senior Vice President Sheetal Mehta, speaks on CSR thought process at Mahindra & Mahindra Group. She talks about various COVID relief initiatives taken by its CSR team and innovative ways it adopted to continue its projects. She also talks on CSR laws and the changes in the law that can help corporates to make their CSR efforts more effective. Scroll down to read the full interview:
Interview Highlights:
- Mahindra Group CSR vision focuses on the constituencies of girls, youth & farmers, who are supported through programmes designed in the domains of education, health and environment.
- 50 crores contributed to the ‘Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in emergency situations fund’ (PM Cares Fund)
- As part of programme tweak amid COVID, the Mahindra Pride programme is providing training content through digital platforms like Zoom/Google Meet as well as WhatsApp groups.
- For Poject Nanhi Kali, Mahindra CSR collaborated with adaptive learning platform Mindspark. Powered by artificial intelligence, the platform provides customised learning solutions to girl students even in remote areas through technology access.
- In order to ensure that the change that corporates are trying to bring about through CSR is more sustainable, MCA could bring for profit projects which create shared value into the ambit of CSR.
Interview with Sheetal Mehta, Senior Vice President- CSR, Mahindra Group
Q: You had a massive CSR budget of Rs 126 Cr in 2019-20. What drives your CSR thoughts at Mahindra & Mahindra?
A: The Mahindra Group has been a socially responsible corporate since inception, going beyond the legal & statutory requirements to make responsible investments in the community.
Apart from the setting up of its not-for-profit organisations namely the K C Mahindra Education Trust in 1954, and Mahindra Foundation in 1969, the Mahindra Group celebrated its 60th year in 2005 by redefining Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and pledging 1% PAT for CSR initiatives specifically to benefit the economically and socially disadvantaged communities. In 2005, an integral part of the CSR pledge was launching of an ESOPs "Employee Social Options" platform which offered Mahindra employees a portfolio of options for volunteering and giving back to the community.
Since the Companies Act became effective in 2014, the Group has been investing 2% PBT for its CSR initiatives. The CSR vision focusses on the constituencies of girls, youth & farmers, who are supported through programmes designed in the domains of education, health and environment. By investing in these national priority areas, the Mahindra Group enables individuals and communities to RISE.
Q: What are your ongoing key CSR activities?
A: The Mahindra Group has a clear focus to benefit girls, youth & farmers, who we support through innovative programs in the domains of education, public health and environment.
Some of the flagship CSR projects in the field of education include Project Nanhi Kali which has provided educational support to over 450,000 underprivileged girls across 14 states of India. The Mahindra Group has also set up a variety of scholarship programs, which range from providing opportunities to youth from low income group families to undergo diploma courses at vocational educational institutes, to allowing meritorious students to pursue their post graduate studies at reputed universities overseas as well as pursue studies at the Mahindra United World College in Pune.
Through our livelihood training project, the Mahindra Pride Schools & Classrooms, we have ensured over 320,000 youth from socially and economically disadvantaged communities are equipped with employable skills, and have placed majority of these students.
The Mahindra Group has also contributed to the cause of environment by planting over 18 million trees across India through Project Hariyali. Through this project, we have not only contributed to greening the environment but has also supported the livelihood of coffee growing tribal farmers in the Araku valley.
The Mahindra Group is also implementing an ambitious Road Safety project aimed at making the Mumbai Pune Expressway a ‘Zero Fatality Corridor’ i.e. ‘zero’ deaths due to accidents.
These are some of the main CSR programs of the Mahindra Group. In order to encourage employees to volunteer regularly for community building initiatives, the Mahindra Group has set up a unique platform called ESOPS (Employee Social Options).
Q: What has been your COVID relief initiatives?
A: The socio-economic impact of the unprecedented COVID pandemic has been felt by all businesses, communities and stakeholders and the impact has been particularly magnified for vulnerable and marginalized groups.
Initially, some of our factories were utilized to manufacture face shields, face masks, sanitizers and aerosol boxes and we distributed approximately 4,04,700 face shields, 14,33,950 face masks and 624 aerosol boxes to frontline COVID warriors such as healthcare providers, police etc.
The Mahindra Group also provided immediate relief in the form of distribution of cooked food to 2,94,508 individuals & ration & other essentials to 1,64,291 individuals and communities around our offices including migrant labourers. The Club Mahindra resort facilities in Naldera, Baiguney and Kumbalgarh were offered as temporary Covid19 care facilities.
Mahindra Logistics launched ALYTE, a free emergency cab services in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Cochin, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru and Delhi, which carried out over 3000 trips reaching out to more than 3500 people.
Further, our Company set up a COVID-19 relief fund under the aegis of Mahindra Foundation, to provide relief mostly in the form of sustenance grants and also food and dry ration to those most severely affected by the pandemic e.g. small businesses & traders, workers in the supply chain, and daily wage labourers.
The Mahindra Group also contributed Rs. 50 crores to the ‘Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in emergency situations fund’ (PM Cares Fund). These are only some of the initiatives undertaken by the Mahindra Group in response to the COVID pandemic.
Q: How did you continue your CSR programmes amid strict social distancing protocol?
The Covid19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown has inevitably disrupted the operations of many CSR projects. Despite the challenges, wherever possible we have explored alternate solutions. For example: –
From July 2020, the Mahindra Pride Schools and Classrooms (which provide livelihood training to youth from socio economically disadvantaged communities) launched an online training module through which over 13,000 youth have been trained pan India. The Mahindra Pride programme is providing training content through digital platforms like Zoom/Google Meet as well as WhatsApp groups.
While we were compelled to suspend our on-ground operations due to the school closures caused by the COVID-19 crisis, the Nanhi Kali team has been regularly in touch with each girl and her family. Through phone calls and virtual meetings (with girls who have access to a smartphone), the team conducted virtual summer camps, shared online lesson plans and also helped spread awareness in communities on COVID-19 prevention measures. Further, we used this time to conduct comprehensive online training and capacity building sessions for the Nanhi Kali tutors and programme team. More significantly, to ensure that girls continue their education at this critical time, Project Nanhi Kali has doubled its efforts by investing in providing quality digital education to girls, so that they are equipped to face the post-COVID world. In collaboration with leading EdTech organization, Educational Initiatives, we will be providing every girl with access to a personalized, adaptive learning platform called Mindspark. Powered by artificial intelligence, this software matches the level of instruction to the unique learning level of each girl, ensuring that she learns with understanding. For Project Nanhi Kali, Mindspark has been customized to be pre-loaded onto digital tablets, allowing girls to access quality education even in remote locations.
Q: What is the budget outlay for your CSR activities in the financial year 2020-21?
A: The CSR budget for M&M Ltd in Financial year 2020-21 is Rs. 112.56 Crores.
Q: What can be the changes in the current CSR law that can help corporates in being more productive and effective in implementation of their CSR activities?
A: The MCA has explained that the Schedule VII must be "interpreted liberally", making it fairly inclusive and allowing Companies to implement a wide range of CSR activities.
Inorder to ensure that the change that corporates are trying to bring about through CSR is more sustainable, MCA could bring for profit projects which create shared value into the ambit of CSR. There is also some merit in considering the use of the company’s own products for CSR, as eligible CSR spend. For example, during the Covid19 pandemic donation of ambulances by automobile companies or the donation of medicines by pharma companies, should be considered as permissible CSR activities.
Q: What are your suggestions and message to your corporate colleagues on building a strong CSR environment in the country?
A: In the recent times, India has witnessed a strong philanthropic momentum with the active participation of companies through their CSR, which has very well supplemented the focused efforts of the government. However, it must be kept in mind that India has significant distance to cover on almost all SDG’s. Its ranking on global development indicators like the Human Development Index (HDI) and the SDG index has not improved substantially in recent years. Hence, while the private sector’s CSR contribution to meeting SDG’s is critical, there is a need for CSR spending to be more strategic and SDG focussed.
My recommendation would be that for impact of CSR spending to be enhanced, Companies must consider collaborations with all stakeholders i.e. Govt, community, philanthropists etc. through which a multiplier social impact can be achieved. At the Mahindra Group we believe in the power of collaborative partnerships to help our CSR projects achieve scale and sustainable impact.
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