Understanding the term social responsibility:

The duty to act in the initial interest of the individuals and company towards both the environment and society is known as social responsibility. It is mainly the general ethics of the community to one and another. Social responsibility is an individual’s responsibility to contribute to the social development of society. 

The term corporate social responsibility with a slighter means differentiates itself from social responsibility.

The corporate social responsibility companies usually refer to companies maximizing the shareholder value in the business to benefit society. It is an essential aspect for both consumers and investors who seek profit and contribute to the community. Hence, it is an automated business model that assists a company to be socially responsible and accountable to the company itself, its stakeholders, and the general public. Activities like environmental conservation, philanthropy, and ethical labour practices are some actions to promote corporate social responsibility.

CSR practice will increase the company’s overall profit as the bond between the customer, employee, and stakeholders will become much more substantial.

Why should a company implement CSR?

Many companies see CSR as an essential part of their brand image, believing that customers will be more willing to do business with brands they perceive to be more ethical. As a result, CSR activities can be an essential component of corporate public relations. In addition, some company founders are incentivized to engage in CSR due to their convictions. The impact of CSR can be seen in several dominions.

For instance, companies have taken steps towards environmental measures like:

• installing sources of renewable energy
• purchasing carbon offsets

Efforts are taken to eliminate practices like slavery, and child labour and other poor practices. Nowadays, both large- and small-scale companies are participating in CSR. As it is ubiquitous among large-scale companies, small businesses sponsor local events and donate or through charities.

CSR and its Multi-facets

The duties of CSR have a extensive range of areas to cover. Following are the dominant fields, out of the eternal areas of development that organizations concentrate their CSR activities on: 

Environmental duty: it aims to use natural resources. The company should always keep in mind its responsibilities towards the locals as its setup should not harm the people living around. 

Human rights duty: The company has a responsibility to give their salaries on time and expect the employees to maintain a decent environment in the working area and complete the work assigned to each individual on time. 

Philanthropic duty: it includes charity and funding various educational and health programs which can benefit society. 

Economic duty: this is the initiative to improve firms’ business operation with sustainable practices.

How does society benefit from CSR?

The involvement of companies or corporations in the local community’s problems helps create a better ambiance in its surroundings. Corporate social responsibility offers a wide range of benefits to a company and contributes to the well-being and betterment of society. Rendering benefits to the entire society should be the imperative driver of CSR development and growth. Following are some ways CSR and Society are symbiotic entities: 

1)Better Products and Bigger Brand Image: Organisations involved do the society a service by taking and further implementing feedback. This creates a culture where superior products are manufactured. Better products then aid the brand and its image. 

2) Higher standard of Living and Better resources: Organisations contribute to a higher standard of living through their CSR activities. The success of local communities translates to thriving resources for the organization to tap into. For Example- The organization can source better employees locally, in better conditions, and with substantial perks.

3) Health Awareness: CSR actions mostly revolve around health and increasing its awareness. It takes various forms, like reducing factory elimination or preaching sustainability. This, in turn, influences societal behavior for the better and affects area HDI. 

4) Technical Advancement: Corporate Social responsibility of companies leads them to develop new technologies, innovations, and infrastructure that every member of society can use. Corporations that share their technologies contribute to the advancement of the whole community. 

Though CSR activities and their efficient implementation are usually presumed to be an obligatory burden, companies have started embracing it and using it to their advantage. Engaging in CSR values may result in developing better relations with governments. This cooperation can discover a better way to serve society and provide it with more significant economic development opportunities.

CSR Opportunities In Delhi 

Delhi is both the governmental and national capital of the nation. However, if anything, these tags only add depth to the semantics of CSR duties. Delhi is a hub of opportunities, and most of them can be taken advantage of through CSR obligations. There is a diverse range of corporate social responsibility partnership programmes in Delhi.  The thrust areas that Delhi is a host to are:

Skilling for Livelihood: Skill Development is an essential indicator of a country’s economic productivity, as it is an enabler of productivity and employability. However, compared to developed countries, where the skilled workforce is between 60% – 90% of the total workforce, India records a low 5% of force (20-24 years) with traditional vocational skills. The Government of India acknowledges that a lot needs to be done to render more employment opportunities for most Indians to participate in and contribute to India’s growth. A knowledge economy requires India to develop workers –workers and knowledge technologists – who are flexible, analytical, and drive innovation and growth. 

Malnutrition and Pre-Anganwadi: Malnutrition and lack of required healthcare for mothers and children are significant maternal and child health determinants. Poor development status of newborns, lack of adequate & timely care, and poor nutrition lead to deaths of thousands of children before they even reach the age of one. These are serious maternal and child health problems and require urgent attention. Organizations can work with Flagship programs to address these issues closely. 

Education: Education has always been a priority in the national plan for development, and a due mention of the same in various five-year plans reflects the same. It has been reported that when it comes to investing in philanthropic activities under the umbrella of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), companies in Delhi have been investing primarily in education and health. These two sectors account for nearly 90% of the total investment. Hence, organizations can make a meaningful contribution to the field.