India Inc needs to introspect over CSR role: Shaifalika Panda

According to her the new Companies Act has brought Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to the forefront.

New Delhi: Shaifalika Panda, Chief of CSR, Indian Metal & Ferro Alloys (IMFA), and CEO, Bansidhar & Ila Panda Foundation (BIPF), believes that companies should introspect and evaluate to assess their CSR strategic agenda and realign their strategy according to the present challenges.

Talking to Ashok Kumar for the Social Philanthropy Series on All India Radio's FM Rainbow channel, Shaifalika said business houses in India already had an idea about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) long before the introduction of Companies Act 2013. “But today CSR has been brought to the forefront,” she quips.

Shaifalika feels the changing landscape of CSR in India is calling for strategic interventions. “The introduction of the Act according to me should be viewed as an opportunity and people should look at the broader concept of responsibility where our actions will create a people-and-planet-friendly environment capable of generating socially responsible profit,” she said.

Shaifalika said that companies should introspect and evaluate to assess their CSR strategic agenda and realign their programmes according to the present challenges. “No company working alone can achieve the complete CSR agenda, hence, the Companies Act, 2013, gives an opportunity for collaboration,” she said.

According to her the end goal is same for everyone but there can be ten different ways to achieve that end goal. “Every company or sector can have their own vision or direction towards achieving that goal. Therefore, there is no chance of getting stereotyped in the CSR sector,” she explains.

For Shaifalika, there is no-one-size-fits-all formula for catering to the community. “You have to work according to your geography and strengths and that will add up to the collective goal but for each individual to reach that collective goal there will be individual goals,” she said. Listen to the complete radio interview:


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