Ashima Bhat, Group Head, CSR, HDFC Bank believes that the India’s CSR space is still in a fairly nascent stage and evolving every day.
“I believe that as with any regulation, the industry is in a learning stage and we are working toward more meaningful implementation. At present, I feel there’s a need for better collaboration and learning between corporates to optimise efforts.”, he said.
While talking to a CSR Blog, she said, “We believe in making a real impact on the ground, rather than simply providing monetary support”.
“We are in an age where business and CSR are not separated from each other. As in case of business, one needs to look at new ideas to improve business, same applies to CSR.”, she added.
“We believe that Innovation creates interest and can solve issues that earlier would have looked impossible. Innovation can lead to increased engagement, interaction, motivation, productivity and collaboration. Therefore, we try to be as innovative as we could in our CSR processes.”, she further added.
“For change to take place, we firmly believe that we have to walk shoulder to shoulder with society in the quest towards Nation-Building.”
It is worth mentioning that HDFC Bank has spent Rs 443.8 crore (previous year: Rs 374.54 crore) on the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), in accordance with Companies Act, 2013 on sustainable development and program on empowerment of communities, reaching out to more than 5.4 crore beneficiaries in the process, during the FY 2018-19.
