Swachh Bharat campaign allows corporates to build on social returns

Experts from UN global compact, apex bodies, administration, NGOs, industry as well as public and private institutions believe that effective support from Indian Inc can help in executingSwachh Bharat campaign successfully. In a day-long conference organised by Indian Centre for CSR (ICCSR), experts deliberated on innovating the ecosystem required to implement the national campaign successfully.

Mr. Ashok K. Pavadia, Additional Secretary and Advisor, Interstate Council Secretariat, MoHA, GoI said, "Manufacturers should not only focus on the immediate use of their products but also analyse the life cycle of the product. There is a need to identify ways to make sure that the product does not end up as wastage at the end of its life cycle. As waste management is a priority, it is the responsibility of manufacturers to prevent the waste product from polluting our country."

Mr Mathew Cherian, Chief Executive, HelpAge India, notified that Swachh Bharat Campaign needs to focus on solving the sanitation problem across the country open defecation is yet to be eradicated from the country. Indian Railways need to manage the problem to a large extent. He further added that five of the top ten diseases leading to deaths in India are related to water and sanitation. It is imperative that the new toilets being built across the country utilise water effectively.

Swacchh Bharat campaign is a Government of India initiative to clean the streets, roads and infrastructure covering 4041 statutory towns of India in the next five years. Over 3 million government employees, students and public at large are participating in India's biggest ever cleanliness drive. The government has committed over INR 16000 crores of the 62,000 crores needed and the movement will provide 2.5 lakh community toilets, 2.6 lakh public toilets and solid waste management facilities.

Advocating the need for CSR to make Swachh Bharat Campaign a success, Mr. Rajesh Tiwari, Director General & CEO, ICCSR said, "Environment and society are two important pillars of CSR and the need for corporates to cater to both cannot be overemphasised. Social returns are imperative for corporates alongside financial returns to sustain their competitive advantage as has been effectively demonstrated through global best practices. Swachh Bharat campaign allows the corporates an excellent platform to build on social returns.

During the conference experts deliberated and recommend initiatives for the corporates to utilise Swachh Bharat campaign as a platform to build on their social equity. CSR experts from Jindal Steel, SAIL, HelpAge, Aditya Birla, IOCL, DLF, Cairn, Amity University were amongst others who shared their CSR initiatives during the conference.

Source : Equity Bulls

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