Wipro spent Rs 181 cr towards CSR in FY2019-20: Report

Technology giant Wipro has spent Rs 181.8 crore towards corporate social responsibility activities in the financial year 2019-20, according to the latest integrated annual report released by the
company.

Notably, the actual spend is much higher than the prescribed amount every year, for the past five
years, likewise for previous years as well, since the firm has been engaged in Nation Building
decades before the mandate came into effect. 

Over and above the annual spend of Rs 181.8 crore, the company pledged Rs 100 crore towards
COVID-19 relief work.

The sum is being invested in helping frontline health professionals fighting the pandemic, medical
aid, and essentials for the most vulnerable people affected by the coronavirus pandemic and
resultant lockdown, the report states.

“As the world’s best scientific minds scramble to find a vaccine or a cure for the virus, as businesses we have a deep responsibility to the communities within which we operate. Our response is an integrated set of carefully targeted actions that we are implementing in close collaboration with the Azim Premji Foundation and Wipro Enterprises Pvt Ltd, where we have jointly committed Rs. 1,125
crore, Wipro’s Chairman Rishad A Premji said.

“Our commitment rests on two crucial pillars, the first is to balance short-term relief with medium-
term requirements over the next 12-18 months and the second is to prioritize our effort to the most
vulnerable sections of society who have been most adversely affected,” he added.

According to the report, the majority portion of the CSR budget is directed towards education and
skilling initiatives. “The belief is that a good education brings about a better society, as has been proven in countless impact studies. The interventions span primary and secondary schooling, and
higher education in India and abroad,” it states.

The company also empowers disadvantaged communities in a meaningful way through the
Community Care initiatives, which are run through Wipro Cares. The platform matches employee
contributions with Wipro Limited contributions in a 1:1 ratio (the company matched employee
contributions for COVID-19 in a 2:1 ratio).

In FY 2019-20, the CSR programme provided primary healthcare across five states to 1,22,000 people
and restored livelihoods of 8,000 unfortunate people whose lives were devastated by floods and

cyclones. The solid waste management project in Bengaluru and Mysuru reached out to 12,000
waste workers, the report states.

“From agro-forestry to urban solid waste management and sustainable farming, the Community
Ecology programmes cover diverse ground. It is helping farmers in rural Tamil Nadu be more
effective in their sowing practices. The cities of Bengaluru and Mysore have hundreds of workers in
the informal waste sector who have better health and food security via this CSR initiative,” the
report states.

By Murtuza Merchant
Email: murtaza.merchant@crowdteck.com

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The changing landscape of Bhendi Bazaar

Placed in the heart of South Mumbai is Bhendi Bazaar – an iconic part of Mumbai’s cityscape, the characteristics of which are etched in history as a confluence of different cultures, faiths and bazaars, manifesting itself at the core of Mumbai’s cosmopolitan identity.

However, for the past few decades, the 150-year-old Bhendi Bazaar has been at a point of appalling urban decay. The century-old infrastructure was unsuited to the demands of modern urban life. The narrow lanes have made it almost impossible for vehicular traffic to move, while the lack of footpaths have created a pedestrian’s nightmare. Sanitation facilities in a pitiable state, and inadequate fire and safety measures have left the population vulnerable to natural calamities.
With Bhendi Bazaar’s redevelopment project completing its first phase, the outlook of this area has improved significantly. The journey of change first began with the establishment of the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust in 2009. Spread across 16.5 acres of land, the entire project covers around 250 dilapidated buildings, 3200 families and 1250 shops.

The ₹4,000-crore project was envisioned by the late Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, the 52nd leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community. 

As part of the first phase of the project, around 610 families and 128 businesses have moved back into the new rehab towers named “Al-Sa’adah”.
Fatima Sheikh, a 48-year-old homemaker who recently shifted to Al-Sa’adah feels that the new premises have upgraded her and her family’s living standards considerably. “The best part is that my children can now play on the podium area safely which was more of a dream in the old Bhendi Bazaar,” she says.

Families who used to live as tenants in as small as around 50 to 60 sq.ft. houses for ages have now become the owners of homes with a minimum of 350 sq.ft. carpet area. Old and dilapidated buildings have replaced tall, modern skyscrapers with ample open spaces for children to play, walking and sitting areas for seniors, and basement levels for commercial, residential and visitors’ car parks. Besides that, the towers are equipped with sustainable practices like sewage plants, solar panels, rainwater harvesting and waste convertors.

While Bhendi Bazaar has been a regular destination for food connoisseurs, popular fast-food chains like McDonald’s and the likes have also arrived in the neighbourhood. With the continuation of the popular old food brands – like Fakhri Farsan,Taj Ice Creams and Tawakkal – and the introduction of new businesses, the project has opened up new business avenues and increased footfalls to the area.
According to Farzin Jethpurwala, a 41-year-old foam merchant, the redevelopment of this area was essential as the infrastructure had lived its age. “Instead of single building redevelopment, cluster-based development is the best possible solution for areas like Bhendi Bazaar which needed a complete makeover,” he said.

Meanwhile, 35-year-old Aliasgar Unwala whose family are living and doing business in Bhendi Bazaar for over 70 years shares how the new shop in Al Sa’adah Shopping Arcade has not only given them the ownership title but has also improved the hygiene and cleanliness levels around his shop.
The completion of the first phase of the project is ushering Bhendi Bazaar into a new era of change but work on other sectors needs to start soon.

According to an SBUT spokesperson, the majority of the residential and commercial tenants have been shifted to transit facilities or provided rental compensation to make way for construction in other sectors. “The demolition of the last few buildings have begun and we’re inching a step closer to begin construction of the next phase soon”, he added.

By Murtuza Merchant
Email: murtaza.merchant00@gmail.com

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Government Programmes, CSR Initiatives to Tackle HIV/AIDS in India

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare digitally addressed a ministerial
meeting of the Global Prevention Coalition (GPC) for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
prevention, conducted on November 18 th  2020, and highlighted the strength of working in solidarity.

Acknowledging the success achieved by Global AIDS response in reducing new infections, improving
access to prevention services for key population and treatment services for People Living with HIV
(PLHIV), reducing AIDS-related mortality, enabling a reduction in mother to child transmission
of HIV and creating an enabling environment, Dr Vardhan noted that the organization “has shown to
the world a model where multiple stakeholders can come together and work cohesively towards a
common goal.”

The conference was hosted by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on behalf of the Global HIV Prevention Coalition (GPC).

Global HIV Prevention Coalition (GPC)

GPC is a global coalition of United Nations Member States, donors, civil society organizations which
was established in the year 2017 to support global efforts to accelerate HIV prevention. The
members of the coalition include the 25 highest HIV burden countries, UNAIDS Cosponsors, donors,
civil society and private sector organizations. Its goal is to strengthen and sustain political
commitment for primary prevention by setting a common agenda among key policy-makers, funders
and programme implementers.

The member states of the coalition had made a commitment to reduce new adult HIV infections by
75 per cent at the end of 2020 from 2010 levels. In addition to this, the UNGA has made a
commitment to end AIDS by 2030, making the conference of this year very significant.

India’s fight against HIV
India’s model to fight against HIV is centered around the concept of Social Contracting through
which the Targeted Interventions (TI) is implemented. The program is aimed at providing outreach,
service delivery, counselling and testing as well as ensuring linkages to HIV care.
In addition to this, the government of India has enacted The Human Immunodeficiency Virus and
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Prevention and Control) Act, 2017 which has provided a

legal and enabling framework for safeguarding the human rights of the infected and affected
populations. A new initiative called ‘Project Sunrise’ was launched by the Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare in 2016, to tackle the rising HIV prevalence in north-eastern states in India, especially among people injecting drugs.

CSR Initiatives to fight against HIV in India

Vedanta’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Campaign in Jharsuguda
Vedanta, under its project ‘Jagruti’ organized HIV/AIDS awareness campaign in Jharsuguda’s rural
margins, reaching out to more than 2000 people. The members of the company’s Mobile Health Unit
(MHU) team sensitized the masses on the various facets of HIV/AIDS, including prevention of the
diseases and the need to address the associated stigma and discrimination of the affected.

Ambuja Cement and Apollo Tyres Initiative to Tackle HIV/AIDS among Truckers

The trucking community is notorious for being carriers of HIV/AIDS. The Dhulagarh Truck Terminal in
Sankrail, on the outskirts of Kolkata, is a major transport hub with approximately 6000 trucks halt
there every day so that truckers can park their lorry, await entry into the city at night, drop off and pick up a new load and continue the routine. The truck drivers work in tough conditions with
unusually long working hours and also stay away from their family for months. The difficult road and
driving conditions and the long working hours take a toll on the physical and mental health and
wellbeing of truckers and many of them access Commercial Sex Workers with a small percentage of
the truckers using condoms. This has led to a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the trucking
community.

Ambuja Cement Foundation in partnership with Apollo Tyres Foundation initiated the establishment
of a Health Care Centre under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. It was established in 2009 at the Dhulagarh Truck Terminal and provides a range of health care services such as the prevention,
identification and treatment of HIV/ AIDS along with other sexually transmitted infections.

By Murtuza Merchant
Email: murtaza.merchant00@gmail.com

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CSR activities increase with competition: Study

According to a new study, if there is more competition in the market among companies, they tend to
spend even more on Corporate Social Responsibility.

A research paper authored by Prof. Ross Levine from the University of California, Berkeley – Haas
School of Business, Wenzhi Ding and Chen Lin from the University of Hong Kong and Wensi Xie from
the Chinese University of Hong Kong analysed 90 per cent of the world stock market capitalization
and concluded that in the face of intensified competition, companies increase their CSR spending as
a profitable strategy to build trust and goodwill among consumers.

The paper titled ‘Competition Laws, Ownership and Corporate Social Responsibility’ is the first study ever which aims to understand the behaviour of companies pertaining to their CSR activities in
different scenarios.

“When I first started reading about corporate social responsibility, it was couched in terms of
business leaders acting on good intentions, ethics, and morality. I was a bit sceptical,” said Levine, an expert on how regulations shape economies.
“It’s possible they could have good intentions, but I wondered about that being the driving force behind big investments in strengthening connections with workers and customers and suppliers and communities.”

For the purpose of the study, Professor Levine and his co-authors used a dataset of competition laws
across countries, including rules on mergers and acquisitions, to create an index of which countries
are more or less favourable to competition. They combined that with data from Thomson Reuters on
CSR activities related to worker safety and benefits, treatment of customers and suppliers, and
environmental protections. The sample included about 14,000 firms in 47 countries from 2002 to
2015.

The expected outcome was that of reduced CSR spending in an intensely competitive environment
as for-profit companies would want to cut down on their costs to book more profits. However,
through comprehensive research, they observed a pattern across the globe of a higher level of CSR
activities associated with increased competition among companies.

According to the report, the reason behind such increased spending was attributed to benefit the
stakeholders. It states that, as firms cannot write and enforce formal contracts for every little activity it conducts, it has to rely on several ‘implicit’ agreements. In order to secure such agreements, the companies need their stakeholders to place trust on them and their actions. Therefore they engage in CSR activities to display their trustworthiness to its stakeholders.

The study also noted that the relationship between competition and CSR is even stronger in
countries where those socially responsible activities are more highly valued. To measure this, the
authors constructed a country-specific measure of how much citizens value things like workers’
rights or the environment, which they call their social norms index. Through such analysis, it was
found that the relationship between CSR and competition was twice as strong in countries that were
in the top half of the index.

By Murtuza Merchant
Email: murtaza.merchant00@gmail.com

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Rs 15-lakh CSR fund for BioNEST-PU

BioNEST- Panjab University, a bio-incubator, has received Rs15 lakh under the corporate social
responsibility (CSR) funding from Fresenius Kabi Oncology Limited (FKOL), Gurugram.

FKOL is a public company known for its R&D and manufacturing of oncology drugs. The company has
been in a cooperative relationship with the incubator since 2017 and has sanctioned a sum of Rs65
lakh till date for the establishment of various facilities at BioNEST-Panjab University (PU) campus.
The incubator will get quantitave PCR/ real time-PCR facility from FKOL in its fourth phase.

The real time PCR forms a basis of many advanced molecular biotechnology techniques and more recently as an analytical system during the pandemic.

Recently, the BioNEST-PU got a 250-litre scale bioreactor at its scale up facility.
“Having useful facilities onboard as a part of the incubator will encourage more startups to come
and work independently for product development. We hope for more industrial collaborations with
the university in near future,” said Prof Raj Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, PU.

“The Quantitative PCR facility will be used by microbiologists, incubates, scientists, faculty and
researchers working in the fields of food safety, food spoilage, molecular biology, analytical systems and fermentation and for the microbial risk assessment of water quality and in public health
protection,” said Dr Rohit Sharma, project leader, BioNEST-PU.

By Murtuza Merchant
Email: murtaza.merchant00@gmail.com

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CSR: Over 210 families get access to safe sanitation due the efforts of Tata Steel Foundation

Sustainable sanitation and proper hygiene are crucial factors for maintaining the health of any
community. However, in several rural areas, access to a decent toilet is considered a luxury and
open defecation is still rampant.

This was the case in the rural clusters surrounding Katamati region situated in Keonjhar district of
Odisha, until Tata Steel Foundation constructed over 210 toilets in households, thus giving access to safe sanitation for over 210 families from the community.

The work for constructing these toilets, which are also known as Individual Household Latrines was
started in the year 2017. Tata Steel Foundation identified several hamlets in the rural areas of
Keonjhar district, where locals did not have access to safe and hygienic sanitation. Due to
unavailability of toilets, many of the locals would defecate in the open.

To solve this issue, Tata Steel Foundation started the project of constructing toilets by initially
constructing over 93 toilets in Thakurani village. Later, 33 more toilets were constructed in Daladiri hamlet of Deojhar village and currently 135 toilets are being constructed in Murgabeda Hamlet of Deojhar village of which 90 have been completed. Moreover, these toilets make use of two soak pits for managing the waste, making them sustainable.

Sukanti Nayak, a local of Thakurani village says, “Before these toilets were constructed by Tata Steel, we had to walk a lot to find an isolated place in the open for defecation. The situation used to get even worse during the rainy season and the practice of open defection was highly unsafe and
unsanitary for women.” Sukanti is just one of the several women from the community who now has
access to good sanitation.

The benefits of improving sanitation are also recognised by the United Nations, and to further this,
World Toilet Day is celebrated on November 19 to raise awareness on the importance of having
access to safely managed sanitation. This year the theme for celebrating World Toilet Day is
‘Sustainable Sanitation and Climate Change’. This is in accordance to achieve the sustainable
development goal of ‘Water and Sanitation for All’ set by the United Nations.

By Murtuza Merchant
Email: murtaza.merchant00@gmail.com

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CSR of Mirae Asset donates COVID-19 testing equipment worth Rs 60 lakh

The CSR arm of Mirae Asset Financial Group has increased the COVID-19 testing capabilities of 2
premier institutions in Mumbai and Thane.

Mirae Asset Foundation (MAF) has donated 1 RNA extraction and 1 rt PCR machine and a laboratory
freezer to the Haffkine Institute, Mumbai and 1 RNA extraction machine to the Rajiv Gandhi Medical
College & Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital, Kalwa, to support the two institutions in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The total cost of the machines is approximately Rs 60 lakh. Also made available are 2400 viral
extraction test kits to ensure seamless processing of testing capabilities.

The 120-year-old Haffkine Institute of Research & Training and CSTM Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi
Medical College Kalwa serve the healthcare needs of the people in Palghar, Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-
Virar, Roha and NMMC region, Thane, Diva, Mumbra, Kharghar and Thane Urban surrounding areas.
These areas are among those that reported high incidences of COVID-19 cases.

The fully-automated machines minimise chances of secondary infections for lab personnel while
increasing the number of test results on a daily basis. The machines have a capacity of conducting
144 tests per day in an 8-hour shift at each of the institutions, with results that are now available much faster.

Presently at Haffkine’s, this infrastructure addition increases throughput by 50 per cent. From 200
tests per day it can increase to 300 with optimum usage of resources. At Kalwa, 192 tests are
manually processed; with this technology addition, it would increase to 336 tests a day.
Mirae Asset Foundation is a Mumbai-based not for profit charitable organization registered as a
Section 8 company in 2018, and part of the Mirae Asset Financial Group’s CSR activities.
Ritesh Patel, Director of Mirae Asset Foundation says, “It is a small gesture towards a massive
initiative, but we believe in this scenario every little bit can go a long way. Staff at the Haffkine Institute and CSTM Hospital, Kalwa, have been bravely doing their best to control the cases of COVID-19 in their area. We trust this state-of-the-art testing infrastructure will assist them in their fight against the pandemic as well as all other communicable diseases.”

The Director of Haffkine’s and the Dean of CSMH at Kalwa have been endeavouring to increase their
testing capabilities and their capacity to process and report while keeping their staff safe.
This programme has been undertaken with inputs from Dr Priya Abraham, Director of the National
Institute of Virology who advised prioritising testing and diagnosis as the strategy to curb the spread.

At Haffkine Institute, support of the outgoing Director Dr Rajesh Deshmukh, IAS and the present
Director Mrs Shaila A, IAS as well as the Director-in-charge Ms Seema Vyas IAS, all of whom provided
seamless coordination as also the Commissioner Dr Vipin Sharma, IAS of the Thane Municipal
Corporation ensured fulfilment of the Mirae Asset Foundation’s COVID-19 health systems
strengthening CSR initiative.

By Murtuza Merchant
Email: murtaza.merchant00@gmail.com

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25 police personnel get new bikes through CSR

As many as 25 police personnel whose motorcycles were burnt by a mob at D.J. Halli and K.G. Halli in
August received brand new two-wheelers after a corporate sponsor stepped in to help.
The police personnel who were part of the patrolling team had rushed to the spot from in and
around the station on the night of August 10 as thousands of people gathered to protest a
derogatory social media post on Islam by Naveen Kumar, the nephew of Pulakeshinagar MLA R.
Akhanda Sreenivasa Murthy.

They had parked their bikes near the two stations to join their colleagues to maintain law and order.

The mob attacked D.J. Halli police station and set fire to vehicles outside K.G. Halli station. Around 146 vehicles were gutted, including the 25 motorcycles belonging to the patrolling police party.

The Police Department could not claim the insurance owing to technical reasons.
“As a result, the 25 police personnel had to make do without their bikes, which in turn affected their professional and personal lives,” said S.D. Sharanappa, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East).
The matter was brought to the notice of the higher-ups and TVS Motor Company stepped in to
provide new motorcycles as part of their corporate social responsibility initiative.

On Thursday, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai along with senior officials, including DG&IGP
Praveen Sood and Police Commissioner Kamal Pant handed over the bikes to the police personnel at
a programme, under the banner, ‘We are with you’.

By Murtuza Merchant
Email: murtaza.merchant00@gmail.com

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CSR: Bolo Indya to donate half the earnings from Bolo Meets sessions to NGO

Short-form content platform Bolo Indya has pledged to donate 50 per cent of earnings generated
from the Bolo Meets sessions to Shades of Happiness Foundation (SOHF) on the occasion of Diwali
and Children’s day.

SOHF is a Delhi based youth-driven NGO that works for the education and empowerment of
underprivileged kids.

Bolo Indya has recently launched Bolo Meets, the industry’s first engagement led peer-to-peer
service capability for creators to market their specialized skills on the platform. It has already
delivered more than 25,000 personalized video sessions on the platform.

Bolo Indya pledge campaign is a 5-day campaign. The platform also urges its 65 lakh users to join the cause and book more Bolo Meets sessions this festive season for the extended support that can be
provided to the NGO.

Commenting on the pledge, Tanmai Paul, Co-founder, Bolo Indya said, “Festive season is a time to
share love and bring happiness to the lives of people. Through this CSR initiative, we have taken a
baby step to make some difference to the lives of underprivileged children who deserve to celebrate
the festive occasion of Diwali like everyone else. We stay committed to launching CSR initiatives in
the future which may help us to give back to society.”
\

By Murtuza Merchant
Email: murtaza.merchant00@gmail.com

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CSR arm of Sterlite Power rolls out post-COVID teaching package across Uttarakhand

EdIndia, the strategic CSR arm of Sterlite Power, has collaborated with Uttarakhand Education
Department, in order to address the teaching-learning challenges in post-COVID classrooms.

EdIndia launched a state-level online orientation session for over 28,000 primary teachers of the
state on 3rd November 2020. Dr. Mukul Sati, Additional Project Director Universal Education,
Uttarakhand, and Seema Jaunsaari, Director – State Council of Educational Research & Training,
Uttarakhand, – formally launched the post-COVID Teaching package in the session, while addressing
the participants online. The enthusiasm and active participation of the 4,000 teachers, who joined
online on EdIndia’s YouTube channel, was evident from their comments in the chat box.

When schools re-open, teaching would be a challenging task due to students’ learning loss which has
happened during the long academic break. This Post-COVID Package will help the primary teachers
of the state to address the academic and emotional needs of the students, in classrooms.

What is the EdIndia post-COVID package about?

The package provides carefully designed teaching plans and resources for teachers, in context of
post-COVID situations. This will help teachers to build platforms for teaching new competencies by
re-strengthening the previously learned areas and connecting them with the new ones. This content
will be delivered in series of courses and activity booklets.

With this collaboration, EdIndia is now in partnership with four state governments and has been
successfully creating a niche in the EdTech sector. EdIndia Foundation, an ed-tech non-profit
supported by Sterlite Power, leverages ed-tech to impact education at scale. It is a strategic CSR arm of Sterlite Power Group Companies and works nationally with field offices in Rajasthan and
Maharashtra.

By Murtuza Merchant
Email: murtaza.merchant00@gmail.com

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