CB Bureau‘There is huge responsibility on the shoulders of
corporate groups as they have to ensure that the funds mandated for corporate
social responsibility (CSR) are utilized efficiently,’ said Col. Prakash
Tewari, group vice president, CSR and education, at Jindal Steel and Power
Limited, in conversation with CauseBecause.
Asked if he believed that leaders at corporate groups
needed to converse and brainstorm often for knowledge sharing, Tewari agreed
and suggested, ‘Some corporate groups may even join hands if their CSR focus
areas are same, as they can then share resources, implement and monitor
projects efficiently, and also save time otherwise spent on scrutinizing
non-government organizations who help in implementation of projects.’
Citing the example of a place in Chhattisgarh where
Tewari is currently stationed for one of JSPL’s CSR initiatives, he said, ‘Here
about 3 to 4 large companies have a mandate of investing in CSR initiatives and
there are only a few NGOs who can implement large-scale programmes. Hence, it
makes sense for all the companies here to create a network that works together
rather than working in isolation and funding the same agency for similar
programmes. While the talks are on, any resolution of this sort will come only in
the near future.’
‘CSR has potential to bind companies together. In this
competitive business environment, this is the only area where corporates will
not mind sharing knowledge and resources as the focus of CSR is not business
development, but the development of the nation and its people,’ Tewari
emphasized.
Appreciating the CauseBecause initiative
‘CoffeeForCause: Conversations around CSR’, Tewari said such events were the
need of the hour as it would not only bring leaders at corporate groups
together but also allow NGOs to present their ideas directly to these leaders ”
this would give the latter an opportunity to find out what precisely were the
development sector organizations doing. As Tewari said, ‘We may even find the
right partner to collaborate with and initiate some new CSR project.’
Col Prakash Tewari is one of the Thought Leaders to be
felicitated at CoffeeForCause scheduled to be held in Delhi on 2 May 2014. Tewari
is a distinguished professional and has dedicated many years in the development
domain. He has been director policy (ecology) in the Integrated HQ, Ministry of
Defence, India; head, CSR and rehabilitation & resettlement, Tata Power
Company Limited; and managing trustee of Tata Power Trusts. He was conferred
with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
” Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction 2005 Award for distinguished
professional leadership and personal commitment to ongoing programmes in Asia.
Click here
to see other leaders to be felicitated at Coffee For
Cause.