NEW DELHI: National Stock Exchange of India Limited was awarded the FICCI CSR Award for Exemplary Innovation at the prestigious 16th FICCI CSR Awards on 30th November in New Delhi at the FICCI CSR Summit and Awards. An eminent jury, chaired by former SEBI Chairman, U. K. Sinha determined the top awardees.
Project Chunauti is a model project currently implemented by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in the MDC Home, Mankhurd under supervision of the Hon’ble Bombay High Court. This programme benefits 103 differently abled children.
It started in response to the abuse and exploitation of mentally challenged orphan children in Mentally Deficient Children’s (MDC) Homes in Thane and Panvel.
These children are one of the most vulnerable groups, having neither family nor protection and been subject to abuse, trauma, malnutrition and neglect.
The objective of the project is to rehabilitate the mentally challenged children through integrated and intensive counselling, education and basic life skills sessions.
Currently 3 children from the MDC Home are going through training in Hospitality skills.
The theme for the year was ‘CSR: Investing in Generation Next’. Inaugurating the conference, P. P. Chaudhary, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs, Law & Justice, Government of India said, “while most of the developed countries face the risk of an ageing work force, India has a very favourable demographic profile and Government believes that engaging young people in policy dialogues and decision making processes are chief determinants in the socio-economic empowerment of the youth. Business chambers like FICCI hold a prime force in this movement, bringing all relevant stakeholders together to one platform for shared learning, cooperation and for creating a conducive environment for empowerment of our youth”.
He also added “India Inc. is not only providing expertise and management skills but also through their CSR programmes, investing in capacity building of youth and designing market oriented skills. Companies through their CSR initiatives are working on various issues plaguing today’s youth such as health, water, environment, drug abuse, livelihood etc”.
Vikram Limaye, MD & CEO, NSE added, “As part of the Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, NSE is committed to providing long term support to programmes such as “Chunauti” which are model reformatory programmes that will positively impact the lives of the most vulnerable stakeholders. I am deeply honoured that this approach to rehabilitation, reformation and education along with strengthening systems and protocols has been recognized and NSE has been awarded the FICCI CSR Award for Exemplary Innovation for Project Chunauti.”
Rajashree Birla, Chairperson, FICCI Aditya Birla CSR Centre of Excellence shared that from over 20% BPL Indians, India as a nation could be free from poverty over next 5 years. Ms. Birla highlighted the need to accelerate rural entrepreneurship for Generation next. More support and resources need to be provided. Agri-processing is a huge untapped opportunity that must be leveraged for Gen Next.
The summit deliberated on Strategies to Educate, Engage and Empower Gen Next through strategic CSR, entrepreneurship and driving change through media.
The summit also had special talks by TedX speakers on Stories of Change. Speakers included Nawneet Ranjan-Recipient of the Google Rise Award, Gautam Karajgi –Leader of the Anandwan Smart Village, and Pankaj Dixit – Co-founder of Liter of Light
An exclusive highlight of the conference was the 7th Korea-India CSR Forum. The forum covered dialogue exchange between Korean Companies and Ministry of Corporate Affairs about ground realities of CSR implementation and showcase of how the Korean Companies in India are promoting, supporting and leveraging the youth initiatives in India through CSR.
The Award and summit was attended by CEOs, CSR Heads, NGO heads, Government officials and Academia.
