HYDERABAD: Zero corporate social responsibility funds (CSR) were spent in five backward districts of Telangana in 2020-21. As per the CSR data portal of the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA), a total of Rs 343 crore was spent in the last fiscal year in entire Telangana.
Dr Reddy’s, GMR International and ICICI Prudential are some of the biggest CSR spenders in Telangana. An analysis has revealed that education, healthcare, poverty, eradicating hunger and malnutrition are the key areas where CSR funds were spent. Since 2017, the lowest spent was in the last fiscal year, hit by the pandemic.
Jagtial, Peddapalli, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Nagarkurnool and Jogulamba Gadwal are the five districts with the least spent funds, indicating that there were not many industries in these districts. A majority of the funds were spent in Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Sangareddy and Medak as the CSR rules say that the funds should be sent in areas local to the company.
Experts said for IT and e-commerce companies, it would be difficult to decide the local area and hence they take up projects in backward areas.
As per the Companies Act, companies with a minimum net worth of Rs 500 crore or turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or net profit of Rs 5 crore have to spend at least 2 per cent of their average profit for the previous three years on CSR activities every year.
Retired IFS official M Padmanabha Reddy said: “As per the Act, the government has no direct role in the approval and implementation of CSR projects of a company. However, politicians tend to put pressure on the companies to decide which activity the money needs to be sent.”
He added: “Preference to local area in the Act is only directory and not mandatory in nature and companies need to balance local area preference with national priorities.” The MCA monitors the compliance of CSR provisions. For any violation, the government can take action against such non-compliant firms, experts said. (Times of India)
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