NASSCOM discusses inclusion of CSR money to fund social innovations

New Delhi, Feb 13 (KNN) NASSCOM foundation hosted high profile panel to have a discussion over the theme 'Inclusion @scale - Is CSR the way?'. The discussion was held at the Industry's Flagship, NASSCOM India Leadership Forum-2016.

In a press release, NASSCOM said  that it has secured a grant of 50 crore for the upcoming financial year (2016-17).

The panel for discussion comprised of Larry Fox, Partner & Member of Board, Social Venture Partners; Kunal Kumar, Pune Municipal Commissioner; Jayesh Ranjan, IT Secretary, State of Telangana and Padma Shri Saurabh Srivastava, co-founder, Indian Angel Network and moderated by Dr Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman, NASSCOM.

The panel broadly debated on the influx of new age techno social innovations and how they can be sustained and their impact enhanced through the CSR funds. A discussion was held over whether the corporates could come together to solve the alarming social issues setting Pune based companies as example. The discussion was further preceded with a conversation over whether the IT Parks can use CSR money to retrofit their buildings for ease of access to the persons with disability and also manage their e-waste in a more responsible manner like how it is being run as a pilot project in the IT parks of Telangana.

Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman, NASSCOM, stated, “NASSCOM Foundation is aware of the responsibility entrusted to it by the industry and is taking all the steps in the right direction to enable the best use of the industry CSR funds. I am proud to state that the coming year will see the foundation spend increase five folds in its attempt to come closer to its goal of creating a truly inclusive India by using technology for creating a positive social change.” 

NASSCOM Foundation has been in collaboration with many corporate firms using their CSR funds to train people from underserved communities on employability driven skills. The foundation has signed various MoUs with the governments of Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana among others bringing about a positive change towards financial inclusion and simultaneously enhancing the talent pool, for the industry to hire from.

Enlightening about the issue, Shrikant Sinha, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation said at the event, “Our ongoing partnership with so many corporates is a great example of how CSR money can be used for the benefit of millions across the country – improving their livelihood and income prospects, creating a real impact in the community. It’s a great way to achieve inclusion in society.”

The event also beheld NASSCOM’s several successful programs undertaken in 2015-16. The projects were worth of 10 crores. Some of the major projects undertaken were in the field of Digital Literacy; Employability based skills development, Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities, encouraging social innovations, providing software and hardware support to NGOs and supporting in national emergencies like the Chennai floods. NASSCOMM claimed to have affected a roughly estimated 50 lakh people through the programmes.

The event concluded with Devendra Singh, Chief Minister of Maharashtra giving awards to some of the projects that were recognized as the best social innovations for the year 2015-16. (KNN Bureau)