The Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha Limited (IPICOL) organized a roundtable discussion on Corporate Social Responsibility in Odisha, at the IDCO Annex Building, Bhubaneswar on 17.05.2016. Representatives from various industries, state administration, bureaucrats, policy makers and members of civil societies participated in the roundtable discussions and touched upon relevant topics and challenges concerning Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
A first of its kind in the country, a research based report ‘CSR White Paper’ covering the CSR spending of 287 companies in Odisha was also released on the occasion by Shri Debiprasad Mishra, Hon’ble Minister, Industries, and School & Mass Education in the presence of Shri R. Balkrishnan, IAS, Development Commissioner, Shri Sanjeev Chopra, Principal Secretary, Industries, and Dr. Tapan Kumar Chand, CMD, NALCO. In his keynote address, Dr. Tapan Kumar Chand, CMD, NALCO, spoke about the science of CSR and stressed on an inclusive approach and sustainable mechanism during formulation of any CSR activities by the Industries. “With India being among the few countries having a well defined CSR policy for Corporates, it is essential that to compete at a Global level, we must also focus on transparency and accountability,” said Dr. Chand. Appreciating this endeavor of the State Government in bringing the industry captains and policy makers into one platform to share and discuss issues of CSR, he was optimistic that in future the CSR activities in the State would further get augmented.
On this occasion, Shri S.C. Padhy, Director (HR), NALCO, also briefed about the various CSR activities being undertaken by the company.
Among others, Shri Charudutta Panigrahi, Mentor of FIDR, Shri Maheswar Sahu, Head of Gujarat CSR Authority were also notably present on the occasion and shared the findings of the CSR report and shared the CSR experience respectively.