C.S.R. SHOULD NOT BE LEGALLY BINDING: PREMJI
NEW DELHI: IT czar and philanthropist Azim Premji on Saturday said companies should not be legally mandated to engage in corporate social responsibility as such contributions to society need to “come from within”.
Premji, who donated ₹7,904 crore in donations last year (₹22 crore a day), also highlighted that the Covid-19 crisis was a “wake up call” to look at fundamental issues like the need to improve public systems like health, and changing the structure of society to become more equal and just.
NEW DELHI: IT czar and philanthropist Azim Premji on Saturday said companies should not be legally mandated to engage in corporate social responsibility as such contributions to society need to “come from within”.
Premji, who donated ₹7,904 crore in donations last year (₹22 crore a day), also highlighted that the Covid-19 crisis was a “wake up call” to look at fundamental issues like the need to improve public systems like health, and changing the structure of society to become more equal and just.
“I do not think we should have a legal mandate for companies to do CSR. Philanthropy or charity or contribution to society must come from within, and it cannot be mandated from outside. But that’s my personal view. As of now, this is the law and all companies must follow it, Premji said.
He added that it is important that individual and personal philanthropy is separated from a company’s CSR efforts.
“When I travel in the field and meet our teams and our partners’ teams who have singlemindedly dedicated their lives to
helping the country improve, that is about the biggest satisfaction one can derive,” he said during an All India Management Association (AIMA) event where he was presented with the AIMA Life Time Achievement Award for Management.
Premji noted that the pandemic has had a very unequal impact with the disadvantaged having suffered “exponentially more” and inequality widening significantly, while advising that one needs to start on the path of philanthropy early.
“Start right away, even if you start small. Try to help build institutions and support programs. We must have a strong set of civil society institutions that you can contribute to. Your experience in business has eminently qualified you to build scale, this is an integral part of nation building,” he added.