Why was CSR not made mandatory: finance panel

Committee asks Corp Affairs Ministry why Bill does not reflect 2012 suggestions

NEW DELHI: It has reported that the members of the Finance Standing Committee of Parliament want to know why the Centre did not approve certain key recommendations, such as mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility, while amending the Companies Bill, 2016.

Officials of the Corporate Affairs Ministry, who appeared before the panel to brief it on the amendments, were told by the members that in 2012, the panel had submitted a detailed report on the Bill.

“The present Bill does not reflect the suggestions moved by us in 2012. The Centre has brought the Bill again before us without taking the earlier efforts seriously,” a member of the panel told BusinessLine. It was the first meeting of the panel on the amendments. Another member said the officials told them that a committee is looking into the suggestions given by the panel and that a view would be taken very soon.

“We asked them to make a presentation on the Centre’s views on the earlier recommendations. We had suggested that CSR should be mandatory. It is an important step. The UPA Government overlooked it. Is the NDA also going to take the same stand?’ he asked.

Former Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily is the Chairman of the current Finance Standing Committee.

The committee’s report on the earlier Bill, submitted when BJP leader Yashwant Sinha was chairman, said that the legislation should state clearly that the CSR activities shall be around the area in which the company operates.

The amended Bill removes the prohibition on directors and key managerial personnel of a company from engaging in forward dealing.

“Such suggestions need a closer look. But before that the Centre should give us a clear reason on what happened to our earlier recommendations,” the member added.

(Business Line)