Tata Capital Limited Wins CSR Excellence Award for Environment
The CSR Journal Excellence Awards 2022 were hosted on 25 February 2023 at the National Stock Exchange in Mumbai. The Chief Guest of the event was Eknath Shinde, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The Chief Minister addressed a gathering of over 250 participants including senior bureaucrats, public representatives, social activists, youth leaders, artists, members of India Inc. and meritorious students. There is “no bigger religion than to help others,” was the key message conveyed by the Chief Minister at the awards ceremony.
The theme of the CSR Excellence Awards was India First with a focus on youth empowerment. Addressing the audience, the Chief Minister said, “Any kind of social work should be done from the heart. It is a big thing to identify those people who need help and support. The companies which are present here today are all doing a great job by extending your help and support to those who need it the most.” Also present at the event as Guest of Honour was Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Hon’ble Minister of Tourism, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Women & Child Development, Government of Maharashtra. He enlightened and inspired the youth with his wit and intelligence.
India mandated CSR in corporate governance in 2014 and since then this sector has seen enormous growth. The CSR Excellence Awards spanned across 5 categories: i) Education and Skill Training, ii) Health and Sanitation, iii) Environment, iv) Women Empowerment and Child Welfare, and v) Agriculture and Rural Development. The top five winners were Jindal Steel and Power, National Mineral Development Corporation Limited, SBI Foundation, PVR Limited and Tata Capital Financial Services Limited.
Tata Capital Financial Services won the award in the Environment category. The other winners in the Environment category, other than Tata Capital Limited, included Sterlite Technologies Limited and Indian Oil Corporation Limited. A CSR Journal Award for Excellence in Future Leadership – 2022 was also conferred during the aware ceremony and was given to Sudhir Mungantiwar, Minister of Forests, Cultural Affairs and Fisheries, Government of Maharashtra for his exceptional contribution to Nation Building.
The jury members for the Environment category of the awards comprised Prof. Bakul Rao of the Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas at IIT-Bombay, R.A. Rajeev who is a retired IAS officer and former-Metropolitan Commissioner and Director of Urban World Consulting and Shankar Deshpande from the Chief, Town & Country Planning Division of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority & Director of MMR-EIS.
Mr Amit Upadhyay, Editor-in-Chief, The CSR Journal was also present and said, “We at the CSR Journal do not define CSR as Corporate Social Responsibility. This is because CSR in the form of Citizen Social Responsibility plays a major role, particularly in India.” The event was hosted by Mumbai’s favourite RJ Rangeeli Ruchi who kept the audience enthralled with her unique style of presentation. Noted Sufi singer and the voice winner 2019 Sumit Saini rendered a soulful performance on the occasion while popular stand-up comedian Chirag Panjwani tickled the funny bone with his humour and sarcasm.
The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT Bombay) was the Knowledge Partner for the award shortlisting process and conducting background research which was done for months ahead of the event. The winners were chosen based on personal assessment of the jurors, following a live Q&A round which was conducted virtually before the event with the representatives of the project and programme in respective categories.