Pleased with the corporate sector’s overwhelming response to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Summit, governor C. Vidyasagar Rao has instructed the Maharashtra government to establish a single window CSR cell under the chairmanship of finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar to provide impetus to the state CSR project.
The CSR Summit was held at Raj Bhavan on the eve of Saturday with the governor as chief guest. Mr Rao instructed that the CSR Society be registered under the Society Registration Act and Mr Mungantiwar be appointed as chief of the society, he being minister for planning.
A team from Mr Mungantiwar’s office had visited Gujarat last year to study the Gujarat model of CSR and submitted its report to the
state finance ministry. A society will be registered in the state on the lines of the Gujarat model. Finance ministry officials said nodal officers will be appointed in each district to conduct CSR programmes and supervise them. Officials said that most probably, the District Planning Officer (DPO) will be the nodal officer in each district working for CSR Society. “Also, IAS officials will be appointed by Mr Mungantiwar if needed,” added an official.
Meanwhile, Mr Mungantiwar has appealed corporates to work in districts where the human development index is very low. “Public and private sector companies are implementing various projects at numerous locations through their CSR funds. If all this work can be brought together, development of the state can be accelerated,” he said. The corporate world can help in areas like sanitation, tree plantation, skills development and development of anganwadis through their CSR funds, he added. There are 97,000 anganwadis in the state that the government is planning to digitise and make smart.At the summit, the government showcased CSR projects for nine departments including
subjects like Swachh Bharat Mission, Conservation of Forests, Development of Anganwadis, Skills Development, Renewable Energy, Department of Cultural Affairs, Development of mobile connectivity in tribal areas, Solid waste and waste water management under the Swachh Bharat Mission in rural and urban areas, and the Tribal Sports Academy.
