Kolkata: Swanky bus shelters and roadside toilets, financed by corporate houses as part of their social responsibility, are often passed off by politicians as their “work for the people”.
As money and projects take political colours, the term, ‘corporate social responsibility (CSR)’, translates into ‘corporate political responsibility (CPR)’.
No one can really raise a question if a company donates to the Prime Minister or chief minister’s relief fund. Explaining how CSR was being used politically, Kanchan Gaba, secretary of NGO Turnstone Global, said, “A contribution to the PM’s relief fund is considered a CSR activity under the law. I know a lot of companies that cough up money for such projects to build bridges with the Centre.” The political influence seems even stronger when it comes to smaller companies, which do not even have a CSR committee to examine the impact of the projects. The absence of such panels help the use of “donations” under CSR for political ends. “I feel the company registrars should be stricter about CSR and a proper impact analysis should be carried out,” Gaba added. This apart, instances are not hard to find where the government has displayed the work of a corporate as its own.
But these don’t quite add up to the Rs 550 crore CPR in the Bengal assembly polls. The amount is just a guesstimate based on certain parameters.
Under the law, a company of over Rs 500-crore networth or with a Rs 1,000-crore turnover or with a net profit of Rs 5 crore is supposed to spend 2% of the net profit under CSR. An approximately 8,000 Indian companies meet the definition. But what does it mean for Bengal? The net profit of the top 11 listed companies from Bengal is around Rs 18,500 crore and 2% of it adds up to over Rs 360 crore. This is not all. There are around 150-200 listed companies from Bengal, and many more unlisted, mid-size companies that earn a profit of over Rs 5 crore. The profit from smaller listed and unlisted mid-size companies could be another Rs 4,000 crore, and they can spend Rs 70-80 crore as CSR. Till two-and-a-half years ago, 1,600 companies were listed with the Calcutta Stock Exchange, of which 200 were from Bengal. As some are now defunct, the total fund for CSR from Bengal companies would be close to Rs 550 crore.
According to an expert, top 10-11 companies from the state, which have national presence, carry out projects under CSR across the country. “They have their own infrastructure and are not dependent on others. These companies are not influenced while paying for social responsibility projects. But mid-size and smaller companies often do that with the NGOs and with the help of local leaders,” he said.
Under the new Companies Law, sanitation, safe drinking water projects, promoting educational skill, development of skill, empowering women, training to promote rural sports and contribution to PM’s relief fund are considered as valid projects under CSR. Some of them are often utilised politically. “One can find a lot of public toilets, built by corporate houses across the country, including Bengal. Similarly, a lot of new drinking water facilities can be found in the city, which have been funded by these firms. These work are often carried out following requests from the local MLAs, MPs and even ministers,” the expert said. He pointed out a leading MNC set up centres for vocational training, which fits into the category. “A few years ago, a company with national presence set up a polytechnic college in north Bengal in the constituency of a former influential Union minister,” he added.
Echoing him, Mukti Rehabilitation Centre secretary K Viswanath said CSR was not immune to political influence. “There are two kinds of companies, one which is concerned about the real impact of the projects and the other that uses CSR as a tool to satisfy political compulsions,” Viswanath said.
This article was taken from here.