Education Remains Top CSR Priority For IT Firms: Nasscom

IT firms in India are spending quite a lot on education as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), industry association body Nasscom Foundation said at a conference on Wednesday.

At the CSR Leadership Conference Nasscom said, "Education remains the focus area of IT firms' CSR activities, with 76 per cent of multi-national companies reporting highest spend on it, followed by 18 per cent on gender equality and 12 per cent on hunger and poverty in fiscal 2016-17."

According to a survey report by Nasscom and global CSR platform Goodera, 62 percent of the Indian and multinational companies have spent 100 per cent of their CSR funds on education and allied social activities in the last fiscal.

According to the survey report titled ‘Catalysing Change’, the industry has accepted the 2 percent CSR rule with more IT firms declaring 100 per cent utilisation of their CSR budget. Moreover, firms below Rs 100 crore turnover are also fully using their CSR funds. While 58 percent of large firms and 53 percent of medium firms are spending 100 per cent of their CSR budget, 73 percent of small firms spend 100 per cent of their CSR budget.

Only 5 per cent of IT companies reported spend of less than 50 per cent of their CSR budget, as per the report. The survey also revealed that 43 percent of multinationals worked with central and state governments in their socio-economic projects in 2016-17.

The report added, "The IT industry has been at the forefront of social development initiatives and it is heartening to see the industry emerging as one of the most efficient and innovative adopters of corporate social responsibility."

Rajguru Tandon

BW Reporters The author is a correspondent with BW Businessworld with keen interest in HR and employee welfare.