A N N O U N C I N G
Karmayog Corporate Social Responsibility Ratings
of India’s 500 largest Companies
www.karmayog.org/csr“Every company harms the environment and people!”
Corporate Social Responsibility is thus just about two aspects:
1) The steps taken by a company to neutralise, minimise or offset the
harmful effects caused by its processes and product-usage.2) The further steps a company takes using its resources, core
competence, skills, location and funds for the benefit of people and the
environment.This is the basic premise for Karmayog undertaking a rating of the Corporate
Social Responsibility activities of India’s 500 largest companies (by
sales).This is the first time that such an exercise has been done in any country.
The results of the Karmayog CSR Rating are extremely disappointing.
They are as follows:
———————————————————— ——————
Karmayog CSR Rating – No. of Companies – % of Companies
0 – 229 * – 46 %
1 – 91 – 18 %
2 – 139 – 28 %
3 – 37 – 7 %
4 – 4 **- 1 %
5 (highest) – 0 – 0 %* Companies not doing CSR as per information from their websites and annual
reports
** The 4 companies with a 4 out of 5 rating are HDFC, Infosys Technologies,
Tata Steel, and
Titan Industries
———————————————————— ——————–Observations from the Karmayog CSR Rating of India’s 500 largest companies:
1. Most companies are not doing any CSR
2. Many companies are only making token gestures towards CSR in tangential
ways such as donations to charitable trusts or NGOs, sponsorship of events,
etc.
3. Most companies believe that charity and philanthropy equals to CSR; very
few companies are using their core competence to benefit the community.
4. Most companies use CSR as a marketing tool to further spread the word
about their business. For instance, donation of a token amount to some cause
on purchase of a particular product. The fact that companies are hiring
advertising agencies for their CSR further highlights this.
5. Only 5 Indian companies (from this study) publish a Corporate
Sustainability Report to measure and assess the impact of their business on
the environment
6. Very few companies openly state the processes followed by them, the
damage caused by these processes, and the steps taken to minimise this
damage.
7. Very few companies state how much they spend on CSR. There is no mention
of the amount spent in any of their balance sheets or annual reports. Most
companies just list and describe their CSR activities and seem to be
spending minimal amounts on CSR.
8. Very few companies are engaged in CSR activities in the local communities
where they are based.
9. Very few companies have a clearly defined CSR philosophy. Most implement
their CSR in an ad-hoc manner, unconnected with their business process.
10. Most companies spread their CSR funds thinly across many activities,
thus somewhere losing the purpose of undertaking that activity.
11. Most companies appear reluctant to themselves fulfil their CSR unless it
is mandatory by law.The full report is available here:
https://www.karmayog.org/redirect/strred.asp?docId=11691A sector-wise analysis is also available here:
www.karmayog.org/sectortablesofcsr/Enlightened businesses worldwide, small and large, have begun to realise
that responsible practices enhance profitability & ensure long-term
survival. For those that disrespect the environment or living beings, we, as
responsible citizens, need to individually and collectively, reward or
penalise them through our voices and our wallets.ABOUT KARMAYOG
www.karmayog.org is a unique free platform for concerned citizens – for
social and civic issues – since June 2004.Karmayog provides a networking platform for ordinary citizens and NGOs to
engage with government organisations and media, as it believes that
citizen’s
viewpoints are necessary for holistic and doable solutions for social and
civic problems.Contact:
Karmayog
C/o Shri R.O.Somani Charitable Trust
Shreeniwas House, 2nd Floor,
H. Somani Marg,
Fort, Mumbai 400 001
Tel.: 022 – 22940109 / 22013535
Email: info@karmayog.org
Website: www.karmayog.org