Maruti Suzuki, the country’s leading auto major, is planning to increase its investments in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities,
which saved its establishments from attack during major riots and agitations – including the recent Jat agitation in Haryana and the Patel agitation in Gujarat.
The company says that it had understood the importance of CSR after the attack on its factory in 2012 at Manesar in Haryana. The auto major plans to invest more than the required mandatory 2 per cent of average net profits of last three years as per Company Law 2013.
The leading Indian auto major spent Rs 78.46 crore as against the required Rs 64.5 crore last year. Maruti Suzuki had spent only Rs 37.25 crore in FY 2015 as against the stipulated Rs 50.01 crore.
“The CSR activity had created mutual trust ensuring harmony in the area; this helped us during Jat agitation in the Rohtak area. The whole village surrounded the R&D facility from damages by agitators and kept a vigil,” said Ranjit Singh, General Manager – CSR and Sustainability.
After Manesar, the company understood, the failure to engage and address village concerns can be negative, since trade unions could seek support of local communities leading to social unrests and political instability. Maruti Suzuki has focused its CSR activities in three areas: skill development, road safety and community development.
It has supported 13 Indian Technical Institutes in 27 states for skill development and trained 14,000 youths each year. “Last year, 44% trainees were hired from Automobile Skill Enhancement centres. Over 1100 (21%) students absorbed in Maruti network from Automobile Skill Enhancement centres and in 2015-16 alone, 2500 technicians were hired in Maruti Suzuki service network,” said Singh.
The company plans to join hands with dealerships to expand its CSR activities across the country. “We did not want to spread our CSR activities thin and hence were focused in the areas surrounding the factory and R&D centres,” said Singh.
This article was taken from here.