The State Government of Odisha on Friday proposed institutionalisation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities for making these more comprehensive, useful and sustainable.
The issue was discussed at a high level meeting presided over by Chief Secretary AP Padhi at the Secretariat here.
It was decided that a State level council will be formed as a facilitating agency to help CSR planning of corporate houses in line with the development needs of Odisha.
Principal Secretary in Industries Department Sanjeev Chopra said the proposed State council will facilitate CSR spending by companies and help them report on development outcomes. Such coordinated approach will lead to target oriented utilisation of CSR funds, Chopra said and added that the council has been proposed to be set up on Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha Limited (IPICOL) premises with steering committees at State and district levels.
As per the existing provisions of law, companies with net worth of Rs 500 crore or more or turnover of Rs 1000 crore or more or with a net profit of Rs 5 crore or more have to spend two per cent of their average net profit on CSR activities.
According to official sources, around 287 corporate houses spent about Rs 344.12 crore in 2014-15 on CSR activities. Of this, Rs 96.15 crore was spent on infrastructure while Rs 71.93 crore and Rs 51.23 crore was utilised in education and health sectors respectively.
While Rs 40.57 crore, Rs 29.06 crore and Rs 11.55 crore were spent on environmental protection, livelihood promotion and vocational training respectively, Rs 44.16 crore was spent on other CSR activities. However, 90 per cent of the funds were spent only in 10 districts and unsystematically spread in various sectors.
Members present at the meeting agreed that formation of the council will help utilisation of funds in a more systematic manner.
Principal Secretary in Steel and Mines Department Raj Kumar Sharma, Special Secretary in General Administration Department Ashok Kumar Meena, Secretary in Panchayatiraj Department Deo Ranjan Kumar Singh, representatives from corporate houses, different industries, IPICOL and various trade and industry bodies were present.
This article was taken from here.