Corporate Social Responsibility: An Indian Perspective

Business houses cannot consider themselves solely as a money making entity. Being beneficiaries and some of the biggest consumers of various social and natural resources, it’s their moral and ethical duty to give back to the society in various forms. Instead of being seen only as charity, corporate social responsibility should be considered as a vital part of the core business of a business entity. Companies upon realizing this reality have started setting aside substantial portion of their profits for various CSR activities and Indian companies are also not an exception to it. There are primarily two reasons behind companies becoming more socially responsible- the first one being the external reality of a rapidly changing society and environment which makes it obligatory for business organizations to adopt sustainable development for their own sheer survival, the second one being the internal reality of business innovation which makes it imperative to practice corporate social responsibility to become more profitable. Though a relatively new concept in India, it has picked up pace in the last decade or so due to both government prodding and also due to the realization by companies of CSR activities as an excellent way to connect with the populace. CSR is not only the various activities companies employ to utilize their profits for various social and environmental development, but also consists of the socially responsible methods to earn these profits and running a transparent business to realize an overall social and environmental sustainability. The present paper will try to explore the various aspects of corporate social responsibilities and will also try to assess the roles played by Indian companies in carrying out various types of CSR activities.