CSR Strategy for Remote Areas

The essence of CSR is in the social responsibility, which expands its purview to every nook and corner of the country. Theoretically It is true, but are the ground realities testify in favor? When you scratch the surface, the asymmetry in the focus starts appearing. Jammu and Kashmir (including Ladakh and Jammu) for instance, received INR 35 Cr of CSR fund in 2018-19. The amount is approximately 0.2% of the total sum invested in social work by the corporate world. Similarly, North-East states received INR 82 Cr, which is slightly better at 0.45%. The maximum chunk of which went to Assam out of 7 states (Data source; National CSR Portal). The skew is heavily bent towards the developed states. 

Since the inception Corporate social responsibility has become a great channel of development for urban slums and rural areas. To those who are new to the concept, here is the brief; As per Indian law, any firm meeting the criteria has to spend 2% of average profit of last three years on social development projects. The firm has to prescribe the amount at the starting and present the report to its shareholder after completion of the year. The amount spent for the FY19 (Financial year in India is April to March) was INR 18653 Cr. To give you a fair sense on the amount, it is more than the budget allocated to many states by GOI (Government of India), e.g. sanctioned budget for 2020 for Union territory of Ladakh is INR 5958 Cr. The CSR fund was approximately 30% of the MGNREGA fund for the same year (A huge scheme for the development of rural sector). The corpus is ever-growing with more corporates meeting the criteria. The changed mindset towards the CSR has also helped in bringing attention. It is also seen as a tool to enhance brand equity. 

The CSR funds have been on a rise during last decade.

The corporate focus has brought upon many positive changes in the development sector. It has strengthened the infrastructure of rural areas on various aspects. The sector has worked extra-ordinarily on education and skill development. The biggest positive element, however, is the transparent audit and reporting mechanism introduced by the corporate sector. They have successfully illustrated that the impact of a social work can also be measured and monitored. There are many examples of failure of government schemes in the absence of a proper audit methodology. The corporate way of working has shown the path to the bureaucracy, who have adopted the efficient mechanism from their corporate counter parts. 

Despite of all the positive elements, the growth has not reached to the far-off locations. There are two reasons behind the skewed result; The CSR act recommends a company to work in geography of operations, and the general appetite for huge impact numbers by the corporate world.  The latter is a part of a chain which over-emphasize upon the statistics. The Board asks the CSR teams for it. The teams in turn directs the implementing agencies to have bigger numbers in report. This results in targeting only populated cities.

Quantitative techniques work well to some extent, but there are many qualitative impacts which need to be taken into account. This is the reason that we probably need a better matrix which weighs the initiative at remote locations appropriately. 

Let’s take an example from Global Himalayan Expeditions (GHE) work at Ladakh. GHE has provided green energy access to more than 120 villages of Ladakh and Meghalaya. Many of the villages are quite an inaccessible especially in the Zanskar valley. It takes Three to four days just to reach a village, which has a typical population of 100 individuals. The entire project takes 13-14 days to complete with a lot of hard labor work. There are two ways to fathom the impact of the program. One is conventional quantitative measurement technique, which says that 100 individuals got electricity for X amount and Y man-days project work. What is the result of the herculean task? A meagre 100 souls. Do you see the problem? 

The other way to highlight the impact is that a village inaccessible by road, certainly not having any exposure to the outer world, which remains totally cut off during the harsh winter months, has never seen the electricity in its life, finally got green energy access. The children can study, women can cook and make handicrafts after sunset and the wild animals keep at bay due to light, on the top of it, it is environmentally friendly and adding no carbon to Himalayan ecosystem. The step has increased the productive hours of an individual by 6. If you count the indirect and qualitative impact, it is huge. 

The first approach shifts the focus to the towns and metros, because those are the densely populated areas. As a result, the number of donors in the such locations are higher against the receivers. The Number of NGOs/ Social enterprises are also high for the convenience of operations. They make the efforts to enhance the lifestyle of the slum dwellers, whereas the rural population strives for basic amenities.   

 
Map Source: mapsofindia
J&K and North-East states received only 0.2% and 0.5 % of CSR funds in FY 19

Are there no corporates working in such areas?

There are a handful of teams working in the remote areas. They have been the catalyst of the development work in such locations. We have worked on energy access, education and livelihood with corporate collaborations in such areas. We are also expanding the intervention to health care and cultural preservation, but there are only a few partners ready to walk the last mile. 

There have been two major approaches of the CSR teams when it comes to remote locations:

1. A stand-alone intervention with impact on a particular SDG or Focus area: A corporate CSR policy typically includes Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) provided by United Nation or internal focus areas. The projects and implementing partners which align with the policy are selected. The project usually is one-time investment on a particular thematic area. The outlook yields limited benefit and sustainability. 
Take an example of company X to understand it better. X decides to go to a remote Himalayan village with the focus area Education. It sponsors the cost of a computer center set up. The students of all the nearby villages, who come to the school are beneficiaries. X reports the development to its board members and stake holders. 
Is there a disadvantage of the approach? The answer is ‘No’. The children got an infrastructure and exposure to modern education. The company reached to a geography which needed the support. It got a huge appreciation from the internal and external stakeholders. It is a win-win for everyone. 
Is it possible to have a better approach? The answer changes to a ‘Yes’ if you twist the world slightly. 

2. Reinvesting Approach: If X of the previous example had evaluated the community requirement of the village, it would have known about the other pressing issues. It could devise a sustainable development strategy for the village, which enabled the dwellers with the basic amenities. The ultimate goal of the SDGs is to create equal opportunities at a local level. This is also the focus area of GOI. 
The approach has multiple benefits. The biggest of which is that it completes the circle of development. A holistic spread ensures that the population thrives locally. It also brings the focus of the Government to the area for infrastructure development. It can result in increased tourism and/ or employment opportunities for different areas. The community can achieve the financial sustainability, which is at the heart of all the efforts. 

Opportunities at remote areas

The remote areas have been deprived of development since independence. That means an intervention is required in almost all the social sectors. The locations have tremendous potential for growth if supported properly. They have business potential and can be supplier of raw material and spices, the youth is eager to learn and can be groomed to become a talent pool for Human resource requirements. Following are some of the opportunities which can be considered for reinvesting strategy- 

Culture and Heritage

One unique theme which is more or less common and can be looked upon for the reinvestment strategy is Culture and Heritage. India is known for rich cultural heritage. Every village and region are a preserver of a unique custom and tradition.  

The areas that we have worked intensively at, are Ladakh and Meghalaya. They lack basic facilities like Energy access, Education, Livelihood and Healthcare, but have one commonly found strength; Heritage. Ladakh is known for monasteries and anecdotes around the great scholars who have lived there. Most of the villages of Ladakh and Zanskar have their own Gompa (Monastery), which is centuries old in majority of the cases. These structures are not only the keeper of history and religion, but they also promote education. They are in fact the only source of education in areas like Zanskar.  Strengthening the structure may have a ripple effect on the region. It will result in strengthening the education and livelihood through tourism.

Let’s take another example from GHE’s work. As a part of energy program, it has electrified a 2500 years old monastery of Zanskar. The monastery of Phugtal is built around a cave in a unique beehive formation. It is located on a hilltop and you can watch entire Lugnak valley from it. It is also home to around 100 Lamas who come here at a tender age for education, since there are very options nearby. The electrification work has helped the inhabitants and monastery on every front. In the absence of electricity, the Lamas used Kerosene oil lamps for reading. The fumes generated had put a carbon coating on the roof and other valuable objects. The electrification project has helped the Lamas preserving their ancient scriptures. The Monastery has constructed an accommodation with electricity access for tourists. The place is likely to boost spiritual tourism which to make it financially sustainable. GHE has electrified many such ancient structures at Ladakh and Zanskar, which have become a source of development for themselves and nearby villages. 

Phugtal Monastery of Zanskar is a 2500 years old structure designed in a bee hive structure around a cave.

North-East states on the other hand has a rich tribal culture. The region is home to hundreds of tribes which sustain their age-old practices even today. The tribes have unique art and craftsmen skills which can be preserved and promoted. This will also have long term positive effect by increased revenue through handicrafts and tourism. 

The theme attracted INR 190 Cr CSR fund in 2018-19, which is just 1% of the total amount. A segregated approach towards the development sectors (Education, Poverty, Clean water etc.) may not attract stakeholders, but a holistic approach, like we have seen in example can. The long reinvesting strategy may positively affect the other sectors like livelihood, rural development and poverty eradication through culture and heritage. 

Healthcare

Although the segment attracts a hefty CSR fund, the benefit has not reached to the distant points. Current Pandemic has highlighted the need to strengthen healthcare infrastructure of rural India. This is essential to make our country ready for all the future pandemics. 
Strengthening of healthcare has multiple benefits at locations like Ladakh and North-East. These are tourist locations, hence tourism sector which generates income and jobs is a natural beneficiary.  

The other sectors which can be looked upon are Carbon Neutrality and Livelihood. The development work needs to reach to the communities which are deprived of it for ages.  Furthermore, the corporate teams need to shift from a one-time investment strategy to more sustainable and reinforcing policy. The distant communities need a comprehensive plan which combines the segregated sectors with a focus to revive local economy. That will be a true victory of CSR efforts in our country.