In these very columns we had said it before that to give a semblance of correcting the private sector bias, a 2% tax was levied on the book profit of the corporate sector to be credited to a fund. We had said at that time that this policy, announced as a watershed in creating a CSR approach that is both voluntary and statutory with the prescribing requirements, is a mere ‘tick the box” approach ; It defeats the spirit and intent of the concept of CSR, without necessarily leading to any better outcomes. Now, it is proving not only to be impractical and cumbersome, it is also acquiring a peculiar nasty ethnic overtone, for the potential beneficiary has to carry around his begging bowl all around the corporate world looking for potential sponsors and seeking their consent for financing his project. And who is not aware of the prejudices and the ethnic demarcations/ compartments of our private sector?
Yes, it is true that by tinkering with the intricate nexus weaved by the corporate world with other stakeholders through the voluntary CSR and forcing the corporate sector to fit within a given template, the subtle bonds between the private sector and the non-state agents, sometimes built along ethnic and even religious lines, are more of a mess now. Anyway they were not serious about the CSR for their friends were already mowing it down claiming that “ this imposition would have a dastardly effect on business everywhere.” And asking “Is the CSR a friend or foe of business”. We are also asking “ Is it a friend or foe of NGOs , Associations for the young, middle-aged and elderly, and Communities. ”?
