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Corporate social responsibility
Need to ensure inclusive growth
by Sucha Singh Gill
The corporate-led model of development adopted in 1990-91, has given as high as a 9 per cent rate of growth in income. But this growth is concentrated largely in the secondary and tertiary sectors. The agriculture sector has lost in a big way in the share of national income. Its share has fallen from above 31.3 per cent in 1990-91 to 15.3 per cent in 2009-10 (National Accounts Statistics). But the work force engaged in this sector is above 53.2 per cent (2009-10 figures). Consequently, less than 47 per cent of the work force engaged in secondary and tertiary sectors accounts for 8.5 per cent of the income. The major part of this income has shifted to top income brackets in the post neo-liberal reform period. The major gainer is the organized sector which employs just 7.6 per cent of the work force (in 2004-05) and accounts for 45 per cent of the national income. All the work force in the organized sector is not so rich. It is the top section of the employees in the executive category, especially in the private sector and employers who constitute less than 1 per cent of the work force, who are the beneficiaries of the development process. The share of the private organised sector in the national income (GDP) has increased from 13.1 per cent in 1993-94 to 24.9 per cent in 2009-10. Thus, the corporate-led growth model has produced benefits to it and has worked to the disadvantage of the non-corporate sector, especially the unorganized (employing 92.4 per cent of the work force) sector, including agriculture (which employs 53.2 per cent of the work force. Therefore, the negative burden of the changes in income distribution must be shared by the corporate sector which is the major gainer. The data brings out that this sector is not ready to share its booming prosperity with other sections of society. Even the workers and employees in this sector are not partners in this prosperity to the extent that this sector is gaining from the development process. The share of wages (including salaries) called compensation to employees in the income of the private organized sector was 43.8 per cent and operating surplus 56.2 per cent in 1993-94, this changed to the disadvantage of workers during the last two decades. The share of wages in 2009-10 has declined to 24.8 per cent compared to 43.8 per cent in 1993-94 and the share of operating surplus has increased to 76.2 per cent from 56.2 per cent during this period. This classification of share of wages is partly biased because compensation to employees includes the salaries of top executives which run into more than crores of rupees per month. Still this share is falling because workers and employees at the lower level are not getting an annual rise in their income in commensurate with the rising income in the corporate sector. This is born out by many studies in the individual corporate companies reported from time to time. The corporate sector also does not share its prosperity with the small and tiny sector engaged in subcontracting with the large sector. Therefore, small and tiny sector in sub-contracting represents the sweating labour where the distinction between workers and owners is blurred. Inclusive growth is possible if the corporate sector is ready to share its prosperity with the workers and employees who are working at low wages and salaries. In addition to this, there is public perception that the corporate sector has no respect for laws and rules which are essential to protect the environment for sustainable development and also which ensure livelihood of peasants and forest-dwellers, especially when these laws and rules delay projects or put an extra burden or liability on the investors. Three instances are worth mentioning here. These have come in the form of three rulings of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) which started functioning in July 2011. First, the NGT held that data had been “cooked up” to give environment clearance to the expansion of a sponge iron and captive power plant in Chhattisgarh and that the mandatory public hearing was not held. The tribunal commented on the casual approach of the consultant tasked to conduct the Environment Impact Analysis (EIA) and recommended that the Environment Ministry develop appropriate mechanism to check the authenticity of the environment data. In the second ruling it stayed a 300-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Kutch on the ground that the EIA had not been conducted. In the third ruling, in response to an appeal by a local environmentalist, it has put on hold a hydel project on the Alaknanda river which was cleared by the Environment Ministry despite an adverse report by the Forest Advisory Committee. The proposed dam will endanger the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Valley of Flowers. These are instances of cooked up data, avoidance of procedures in the EIA and bypassing of adverse reports to remove hurdles in investment by big players. Similarly, there are a number of examples of land acquisition of peasants and forest-dwellers for mega projects under SEZs leading to their displacement, loss of habitat and livelihood. In some areas these people through a resistance movement were able to save their displacement and livelihood, the prominent being Singur and Nandigram in West Bengal. But in a large number of places they were displaced and uprooted. The owners of land and residential plots received some compensation but no rehabilitation. The landless lost their livelihood and no compensation. They became victims of development and especially of mega projects. Those who benefited from this development did not share the concerns of the displaced people both in the rural as well as in the urban areas where slums were cleared or highways and overbridges were built. This pattern of development has produced exclusive rather than inclusive growth. It is imperative that those who benefit from modern progress must share their prosperity with those who are bypassed or harmed by the very development process. This can be partly mitigated by effective implementation of the corporate social responsibility idea effectively. This would also involve effective mechanism of rehabilitation and settlement of displaced sections of the population. This has to be done by observing environment protection laws and rules in letter and spirit. But this itself will not produce inclusive growth unless the people of the region where the corporate projects are located are empowered through capacity building. This would require establishment of educational institutions to provide them education and skills at affordable fees so that they could access the job opportunities created by modern projects. At this stage a large majority of the rural population of agricultural labour (98 per cent) and 70-80 per cent of peasants, who have no access to higher education, cannot be partners in the development process. The present system of education does not provide the capacity to these people to get skills and education to be employable in the modern secondary and tertiary sectors. They are not only denied access to education, but also modern health care. Corporate hospitals are not for them. They are poor and most of them suffer from undernourishment. This makes the development process exclusive and non-sustainable.n The writer is Director-General, Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh.
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Mistaken identity
by Vivek Atray
Of all the human traits on view in our world, the most comical one is the tendency to mistake one particular individual for another. My wife is particularly prolific in this respect. She mistakes sundry people like uncles, bosses and friends for others on a regular basis. At an official dinner a few years ago she mistook my boss for a junior of mine and spoke condescendingly to him for a while before realising her folly. Imagine the plight of my boss when he had to explain the finer points of the official hierarchy to her. And imagine my fate when that boss met me later! Another howler that she all but committed (this time as a newly-wed) was when she almost touched the feet of a colleague of mine; erroneously thinking that he was my uncle. On an impulse she decided to confirm with me if she had correctly recognised him. That saved the day for sure. I told her with a look of unabashed horror on my face that I would have resigned from service had she touched that chap’s feet! Another set of errors typically occurs when twins are involved. William Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors”, which inspired the delightful film “Chupke Chupke”, being a case in point. I have been lucky to witness the phenomenon in real life too, since my sisters are identical twins. One of them was on a date with her fiancé at a restaurant one day when an elderly relative spotted the two. The other twin had recently got married and the old lady thought that she was the one having fun with someone other than her new hubby. Needless to say, the news about the scandal that never existed spread like wildfire! Another incident dates back to the time when the twins were toddlers. Our maid made one of them eat and then tried to make the same one eat all over again. One wailed since she was very hungry and the other because her tummy was already bursting! I too am prone to this syndrome. When I get a call from someone who states emphatically that he is Ajay or Sanjay, I keep wondering which Ajay or Sanjay I have the pleasure of conversing with. Invariably, I end up making the wrong guess. My wife is the undisputed president of the mistaken-identity club though. Recently she called up one Anil, thinking that he was our new driver. “Please pick up the kids from school at 12 noon, Anil!” “Ok, Maam, I will do so. My kids study at the same school”, responded the other. Despite being surprised by that bit of information, my wife continued with the instructions. “And also bring along some eggs and a loaf of wheat bread, Anil!” It was then that the other realised that something was amiss. “Maam, I’m Anil from so-and-so bank, your accounts manager!” The series of apologies that she has had to proffer continues till
today.
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Kony 2012 – A cause or a cult of sensation?
Cause – Stop Joseph Kony, Ugandan guerrilla warlord and child abductor; Fighters – Invisible Children, Medium – Documentary and the soapbox –
Youtube!
Nosheen Kapoor
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Among the million causes floating on the Internet, the Kony 2012 movement is not just another feel-good, sign-up-for-pledge-and-forget movement. It has spawned into a cult sensation backed by massive celebrity support and sustained by full blown enthusiasm of the young Americans. As of March 19, 2012, the documentary has received 83 million views which sure hints at our socially responsible selves and the widespread impact of the latest effort of Invisible Children. For those of us who are unaware about the Stop Kony movement and Invisible Children organisation, here’s what the latest hullabaloo is about. Invisible Children is a non-profit organisation founded in 2004 to create awareness about the LRA’s (Lord Resistance Army) atrocities in Central Africa. LRA’s leader Joseph Kony is an international criminal who forces children into sex slavery and serving as child soldiers. Having a strong hold in Uganda, Central African Republic, Sudan and South Sudan, Kony has never been arrested although he was convicted of gruesome war crimes by the International Court of Justice in 2005. So when Invisible Children’s Jason Russell created Kony 2012, it was not an arrow in the dark but a well-intentioned project that sprung out of a personal friendship and the universal dream to bring about peace and justice to the millions of children who have been brutalised by the warlord Jospeh Kony. So far so good! The real twist in this fantastic coming together of ideals and virtual-activism came when along with high-praise and explosive support along came some back-breaking criticism and the eventful public breakdown of the film-maker Jason Russell a few days ago. The organisation and Jason Russell were accused of laundering millions of dollars under the aegis of this movement and also echoing of the typical white American patronising and saviour impulses. Some are even hinting at Christian missionaries working on the sly. Many African nations, along with other experts on the continent, are denouncing the video on grounds that the video “over-simplifies a complex situation in war-stricken African nations”. The Ugandan Prime Minister went on record and said that Kony’s operations have considerably subsided since 2004 and the man in question is no longer in the country. Others simply attacked the endeavour to bring awareness about Kony as just another fad and “slacktivism” which will hardly bring about any real change in the fate of children having suffered or are still suffering in these countries. If this wasn’t enough, Jason Russell, the man behind the documentary further left the Invisible Children nervous and embarrassed after he was caught naked in a San Diego street, incoherent and performing obscenities. He was allegedly suffering from exhaustion, malnutrition and dehydration and is now recovering in a mental facility. The organisation explained away the incidence as one of breakdown, saying that Jason baulked under negative criticism and all the contempt amassed on him. Interestingly, the more recent Afghanistan massacre carried out by a US soldier has hardly stirred the American young crusaders ready to fight for humanitarian causes. There’s no dearth of causes in this world but perhaps what is required is to stop treating them as cause but clear and present danger. With the Internet’s immediate and limitless reach, there’s a great tendency of a serious movement losing its effectiveness and becoming popular culture which is usually swallowed down with other routine pills that the world around presents us from time to time. Undoubtedly, such projects create unprecedented awareness but do they ruffle enough feathers to bring about some real change? Invisible Children are planning another campaign as a follow up of the video to be carried out on April 20. On this day they will put up posters in their hometowns and give out bracelets, stickers and campaign buttons. The Kony 2012 video/ movement has raised a very unique concern. Does this increased social-ability and ‘revolutionary’ virtual mass culture amounts to something in actuality or is it simply an instrument to have better-feeling consciences? We need to understand the significance of action and not only revel in the glory of awareness. Kony definitely needs to be arrested and punished for his devilish deeds and if Kony 2012 documentary plays a role then it’s mission accomplished but if the movie ends ups being a lost cause, then we should think of new ways to go beyond the awareness and develop a culture of action. Social movements like these do solicit a great admiration and attention for the young enthusiasts who have the potential to change the world. But somehow, somewhere these movements are also the ones, most susceptible to falling into the commercial/ consumerist traps and the noble and humanitarian spirit often sneaks out through the back door. The flak Invisible Children is drawing for a dubious financial record and the chauvinist American impulse is the perfect example of a social concern gone the pulp way. Viral or verbal, awareness is always a good thing but only if it’s viable enough to go beyond the initial euphoria and mass gatherings. It’s high-time we got down from our virtual soapboxes! The writer is a copywriter at CueBlocks Technologies Pvt. Ltd
Youthspeak
 You take a handful of passionate people, who believe in fighting for the rights of their counterparts in another country, make a video showing the atrocities of cruel tribal leader, it goes viral, and you have a full-blown movement on your hands. And if it's a movement whose video has 83 million 'likes' on YouTube alone, it is by no means a 'weak' movement. If you look at the bright side, it has made governments of both the countries come out and showcase an opinion, Kony is fast becoming a household name, and nobody has been hurt/killed in the protest. For most Indian youth, a protest is associated with 'lathi charge', 'tear gas' and an 'indefinite fast', this is perhaps a great example to learn from..
—Tushar Bhatnagar, 24, is a Chandigarh-based internet marketer/writer/blogger
 With over 83 million views, Kony 2012 is a joining of hands in a technical way to plough-through a problem-ridden Ugandan nation. With the inability to comprehend fully the situation, our knowledge base is subject to what Google and Wikipedia tell us and we are made to believe in what is presented to us. Whether Kony 2012 is a real cause or not has not been yet established but it's tricky how no form of print or electronic media covered it before. The atrocities are tragic yet the element of doubt stays. But still, if this whole endeavour of spreading and promoting Kony 2012 manages to save even a single family or even a single life, or makes the life of a group easier then it can be stated as a real good use of internet power..
— Meenal Bhardwaj, 25, is doing her CA in Chandigarh
 In the absence of an unbiased historical perspective about this man, the viewership of the video does not necessarily equate to awareness. Also, it is highly likely that the views are not a true reflection of the number of people who have seen the entire video. It is 30 minutes long - and hence the chances of the people being truly "aware" are not very high. In spite of these minor flaws, the only reason that the atrocities of this horrible man are known to a large percentage of the population is the video and this might generate enough public pressure on the powers that be to act against the man swiftly.
— Ayush Baheti, 21, is a fourth-year student of chemical engineering, IIT Bombay
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Jason Russel’s endeavour is a huge success when it comes to raising awareness and inspiring , but the mission to rebuild a nation is simplistic and detrimental. The problem lies with our understanding of creating change. Kony 2012 is an awareness campaign, but when it makes a transition into an attempt rewrite the history of a nation we must understand the causes we support and their implications. The endeavour to get rid of Kony means not only getting rid of Kony but changing the culture, the rhetoric, such a campaign ignores larger political systems at play. Donating to rebuild a nation on a weak foundation is like building on sand, it is bound to crumble and ends up being a futile distraction to actual efforts. Donating time and money to NGOs taking over governance ends up sustaining kleptocratic regimes. Rebuilding a nation requires political systems to reflect internal politics, not systematic destruction of the existing leadership and imposing a cookie-cutter democratic institution from a foreigner’s perspective. Well-intentioned efforts can often make things worse. History is replete with examples where rivals are supported by the international community to topple the existing regime only re-creating another monster. The Arab springs success shows social media was an effective powerful tool to communicate, inform and inspire but change is a grassroots endeavour and not a Facebook status away.