IICA celebrates Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav with an exhibition of ESG-CSR “Benchmarking the best practices”

Shri Rao Inderjit Singh: Evolution of Revolution – Sustainability, ESG-CSR in a new paradigm shift

Thousands of industry leaders have witnessed a revolutionary evolution of ESG and CSR at the campus of the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), IMT Maneasr. About 30 top companies exhibited their practices in the sphere of sustainability, Environment-Social-Governance (ESG), and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

School of Business Environment (SoBE) in IICA has set the right direction for companies to be more responsible in their approach toward society, the economy and the environment. IICA is a think tank under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs working towards strengthening the ESG-CSR ecosystem in the country among its other initiatives.
 
Shri Rao Inderjit Singh, Union Minister of State for Corporate Affairs was the Chief Guest at the event and participated virtually. He said that Ministry’s contribution to promoting Good Corporate Governance has further facilitated the ease of doing business in the country. Government lays strong emphasis on the reinforcement of ‘minimal government & maximum governance’, public trust and ease of doing business. The Government has repealed over 25000 compliances and nearly 1500 union laws.

The Amrit Kaal will focus on the next phase of Ease of Doing Business (EoDB 2.0) and Ease of Living and the government following the goal of ‘trust-based governance’ to improve the productive efficiency of capital and human resources. He emphasised that Sustainable Development is now recognized as a Fundamental Right of the people. The Supreme Court of India has held that sustainable development is to be treated as an integral part of life under article 21 of the Constitution of India. Hence, complying with the principle of sustainable development is a constitutional mandate. He said that as an Individual everyone has a  great responsibility for their Shoulders. Until individual mindsets don’t change Massive revolutions are difficult in achieving the SDG Goals.

Shri Rajesh Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs said that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has made remarkable contributions by introducing the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mandate under the Companies Act, and the National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental and Economic Responsibilities of Business and also an updated version of National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct (NGRBC). The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has mandated Business Responsibility and Sustainability (BRSR) reporting on the top 1000 listed companies by market capitalization. The foundation of BRSR is inspired by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ Report on Business Responsibility Reporting (BRR) and National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct. 

Secretary, of Corporate Affairs, released a book titled “Benchmarking ESG & CSR” a compilation of the case studies on identified practices on sustainable development projects by companies through their ESG and CSR initiatives. The book was edited by Dr Garima Dadhich and Dr Ravi Raj Atrey. An essay competition was also organized by IICA, three winners received awards for their best essays by the Secretary, of Corporate Affairs. In a Panel discussion on Corporate Governance, Shri Inderdeep Singh Dhariwal, Joint Secretary MCA Chairing the Technical Session 1 spoke about the youth’s contribution towards the revolutionary change of Corporate Governance. Sh Manoj Pandey Joint Secretary emphasised Women’s Financial Literacy during the 2nd Technical Session while Chairing.

Shri Praveen Kumar, Director General and CEO, IICA in his welcome address said that It is well-known that the economy is the backbone of any nation and one of the key drivers of this backbone is the corporate sector. They have played a significant role in the remarkable Indian Growth story and they would have to continue their exceptional contribution to ensure that the economy keeps attaining greater heights.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) provides the enabling framework for corporates in order to make them effective contributors to national development. The IICA is the only institution that has a mandate to strengthen corporate affairs in the country.  30 Exhibitors working on ESG-SDG-CSR exhibited their best practices being carried out by them. The Exhibition was inaugurated by Secretary MCA Sh Rajesh Verma. Around 30 Companies participated and exhibited their Best Practices.

Ms Nandita Mishra and other panellists also expressed their views during the technical Sessions.

During the Inaugural programme winners of the Essay, the competition was announced.  The topic of the Essay Competition was “Corporate Governance: Evolving Vision For  New India”. The contest was open to the students and young professionals upto the age of 30 years in Bilingual language i.e. Hindi or in English. Tremendous response to this competition was received in terms of entries. 3rd Prize Mr Sartaj Singh 2nd Prize  Ms Nandini Agarwal and the! st, a prize to Mr Samyak Sanghvi from Ahmedabad were felicitated with the cash prize and a certificate.

In the Technical session on Impactful CSR towards strengthening ESG, Ms Anita Shah Akella, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs Chairing the technical session stated that Corporate has been playing a key role by making contributions to the betterment of society through their CSR initiatives. Presently they are witnessing a transitional approach from CSR to ESG in their functioning. A women-centric approach, a gender-sensitive approach, is required in any initiative, particularly when we talk about the CSR and ESG aspects.

Particularly the governance aspects of ESG should focus on Women’s Rights in an organizational setting. Other dignified speakers in the panel were Ms Naina Lal Kidwai, Ms Namita Vikas, Dr Inderjeet Singh, Mr Shrabjeet Sahota, Dr Suranjali Tondon, and Ms Neetu Ahuja and Dr Garima Dadhich. The panel concluded that achieving a paradigm shift in ESG and CSR may be destined through such initiatives of the IICA which motivate those doing good work and inspire others to follow. IICA’s upcoming Certified ESG Professional Course will also be a landmark in this sector in the country. I

In another technical session, emphases were made on Financial Inclusion and Literacy of Women. Dr Naveen Sirohi emphasised on the importance of women’s empowerment and financial literacy. The speakers were Shri Manoj Pandey, Joint Secretary, MCA, Sushmita Phukon, Seema Singh, and Namita Vikas. 

Mr Arjan De Wagt Deputy Representative Unicef India, Smt Nandita Mishra – Economic Adviser MCA, Mr Agrim Kaushal Adviser DPE and Shri Vishram Kumar Meena, Additional Dy Commissioner Gurugram also graced the programme.

The event ‘Promoting Impactful CSR and Good Governance’ was organised in collaboration with NITI Aayog, the Department of Public Enterprises and Unicef India in light of requirements under Amrit Kaal. The programme was facilitated by Dr Garima Dadhich, Head of the School of Business Environment in support of Dr Lata Suresh Head KRC, Dr Ravi Raj Atrey and Ms Sudha Rajagopalan under the able guidance of Shri Praveen Kumar DG & CEO, IICA.

Our dedicated contributions today will witness a great revolutionary change tomorrow and will have far-reaching impacts the day after, said Dr Garima Dadhich and Dr Ravi Raj Atrey Faculty of School of Business Environment in IICA during an interview describing the book which was released during the Inaugural session.

Dr Lata Suresh was the master of ceremony during the event and is also a media coordinator.

Disclaimer : This is an official press release by PIB.