Kolkata, 18th June, 2016: As per the last amendment, Sub Section 1 of Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 stipulates that companies having Net worth of INR 500 crore or more; or Turnover of INR 1000 crore or more; or Net Profit of INR 5 crore or more during any financial year shall be required to constitute a Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of the Board with effect from 1st April, 2014. All such companies are required to spend, in every financial year, at least two per cent of the average net profits of the company made during the three immediately preceding financial years, in pursuance of its Corporate Social Responsibility Policy.
As mentioned by United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), CSR is generally understood as being the way through which a company achieves a balance of economic, environmental and social imperatives, while at the same time addressing the expectations of shareholders and stakeholders.
A large number of companies are reporting the activities they are undertaking in their official websites, annual reports, sustainability reports and even publishing CSR reports.
HUL is one of the pioneers in this regard. Their CSR programs are known as Unilever Sustainability Living Plan. As stated in their website: “USLP has three global goals namely help more than a billion people take action to improve their health and wellbeing, reduce the environmental footprint of our products and enhance the livelihoods of people as we grow our business.”
Always mindful of its social accountability ITC believes that CSR activities are not only a matter of compliance but an integral part of the business. Their philosophy says “it is ITC’s belief that a company’s performance must be measured by its Triple Bottom Line contribution to building economic, social and environmental capital towards enhancing societal sustainability.”
Tata Steel’s vision is “to be a global benchmark in value creation and corporate citizenship”.
But there are a huge numbers of companies for whom it was an activity that was performed but not deliberated. As a result, there is limited documentation on specific activities related to this concept.
According to Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, a minimum of 16,000 Indian companies will be required to undertake CSR projects in order to comply with the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 with many companies undertaking these initiatives for the first time. Further, some estimates indicate that CSR commitments from companies can amount to as much as 20,000 crore INR.
iLEAD is therefore organizing a seminar titled “CSR: Planning & Strategizing: The way toward Corporate Citizenship” in association with the Institute of Company Secretaries of India on 18th June, 2016 at iLEAD.
iLEAD ,the leading Management & Media institute of Kolkata is also the partner institute of Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs [IICA]and offering Certification course in association with IICA.
This seminar would create a learning platform for those companies who are still not able to develop their CSR policy , are still not clear about the CSR Act and guidelines, who are spending money without any effective implementation mechanism at place and lastly who lack proper documentation. This seminar will address the topics like ‘The Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 along with Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2014 and other notifications: Clarifications and Interpretations’, ‘CSR Committee: Constitution and Roles’, ‘CSR Policy & Strategy’, ‘Implementation Mechanism’, ‘Schedule VII : List of CSR Activities and its Scope’, ‘How to identify the right implementing agency’, ‘Best CSR Practices : Presentation by Company’s CSR Team’, ‘Progress Monitoring’, ‘Report Writing’ and ‘CSR Audit’.
Speakers are coming from IICA, ICWA and ICSI. Speakers from CSR team of selected companies will also come to share their CSR Philosophy and Policy.
CSR Professionals/ Executives, Company Secretaries, Board Members, Social organization/enterprises, NGO’s, PR and Brand Managers, Management/CA/CS/Law/Marketing/PR students shall attend this seminar to know more about Companies Act, CSR policy & activities of leading companies.
About iLEAD: iLEAD, the Institute of Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Development is a world-class Institute in Kolkata offering degrees courses in Media and Management studies both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels i.e BBA, BBA (Hospital Management), B.Sc (Media Science), B.Sc (Animation, multimedia and graphic design) and M.Sc (Media Science). The institute is affiliated to UGC recognized Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT), formerly West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT). The institute started operating in 2010 with a vision to become one of the most respected names in education globally.
Recently ILEAD was adjudged as the 2nd Best Emerging Media Institute in India at The Edutainment Awards 2014. ILEAD also won the Best College Trophy at Managerial 2014 Inter B-School Fest organized by IISWBM (Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management), Kolkata which is one of the oldest business schools of India.
iLEAD also has tie-ups and MOUs with various universities and institutes around the world such as Yunnan Normal University Business School (in Kunming, China), Tennessee State University (TSU) (in Nashville, Tennessee, USA), University of Dhaka (in Dhaka, Bangladesh), Law and Management Business School (in Port Louis, Mauritius), Kathmandu University School of Management (in Kathmandu, Nepal) and Bhutan Media & Communications Institute (in Thimphu, Bhutan), Capital University (in Columbus, Ohio, USA), Corporate University OST-Friesland E.V. (in Leer, Germany), Kasem Bundit University (in Bangkok, Thailand) and Noble Institution for Environmental Peace in Toronto, Canada to name a few.