In India, social responsibility is associated with charitable and philanthropic activities a corporate house undertakes in the community. While charitable and philanthropic work in the community comes under the ambit of social responsibility, the scope of the term “social responsibility” is much larger.
Definition of social responsibility:
Social responsibility is defined as responsibility of an organization for the impacts of its decisions and activities on society and the environment through transparent and ethical behaviour that contributes to sustainable development(ISO 26000: Guidance on Social Responsibility)
India refers to The Companies Act Schd VII Section 135 to define Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Definition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR):
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) means and includes but is not limited to (i) Projects or programs relating to activities specified in Schedule VII of the Indian companies Act 2013; or (ii) Projects or programs relating to activities undertaken by the board of directors of a company (Board) in pursuance of recommendations of the CSR Committee of the board as per declared CSR Policy of the company, subject to the condition that such policy will cover subjects enumerated in Schedule VII of the Act. ( National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct-2018 )
The Companies Act-2013 is applicable to registered business organisations in India. Hence,“CSR”mainly refers to the mandated social responsibility programmes initiated by corporate business houses in India
Definition of organization
…entity or group of people and facilities with an arrangement of responsibilities, authorities and relationships and identifiable objectives(ISO26000: Guidance on Social Responsibility)
The term social responsibility came into widespread use in the early 1970s. The view that social responsibility is applicable to all organisations emerged when different types of organizations- and not just those in the corporate business world- recognized that they too had responsibilities for contributing to sustainable development.
How is SustainableDevelopment linked to Social Responsibility?
Social responsibility is about meeting the expectations – social and environment – of the immediate society impacted by the decisions taken by the business organisation.
Sustainable development, on the other hand, is a much larger concept and is about meeting the economic, social, and environmental expectations of the society at large.
Bluesky recently inspected an organisation providing urban transport solutions using electric cars. The cab drivers, a healthy percentage of them being women cab drivers, were signed in as business associates of the company on a progressive profit-sharing model. So while the organisation demonstrated social responsibility by providing employment opportunities and revenue generation to a community of drivers, the business also contributed to the sustainable development of the region by contributing in reduction of carbon emissions, increased financial inclusion, equal opportunities and an improved standard of living for their community of drivers and clients.
Therefore, an overarching goal and long-term impact of an organisation’s social responsibility contributes to sustainable development. A comprehensive and independent inspection of an organisation’s social responsibility initiatives based on international and national social responsibility standards are a good indicator of a business’s contribution to sustainable development.
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