Corporate social responsibility: For the masses, by the masses!
Every company has a role to perform other than maximizing profits, and this holds true in all countries. Some theorists like Friedman might argue that social responsibility is like a government interference, but isn’t that way the only way forward? Corporations must add to the uplift of the downward classes. This only helps them to get better employees in return.
Corporate social responsibility is not a cloak covering up all the illegal and ugly practices of corporations, but is an essential tool for companies to gather goodwill. CSR is an essential component of business as it effectively adds to the progress of the area it is set up in. Corporations, when they make money only for the stakeholders and ignore social aspects, turn into merely exploitative mechanisms.
So, I believe that corporations must take on the task of improving the lives of the masses that surround them. This is not an emotional plea, but a logical one, as only such corporations, that have large mechanisms can turn the futures of millions of people around. It is also befitting for an organization to be socially active, as the work of the government then becomes easier with private and public partnerships.
CSR also improves the reputation and responsibility of the company. Companies are basically made for the people, by the people and profits too, should be enjoyed not only by the stakeholders of the company, but also the public in general.
If you look at ground realities then, companies such as TATA, have done wonders for states like Jamshedpur and Reliance for Jamnagar. They have increased employment, improved infrastructure and provided relief to thousand people from the clutches of poverty. So, CSR remains to be a vital necessity for companies and more and more companies should become socially responsible companies.
Neha Singh
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