Corporate

Social Responsibilities

Textile Industry
1. Arvind Ltd 2. Bhilwara Technical Textile Ltd 3. Raymond Ltd 4. Vardhaman Textile 5. Welspun India Ltd

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is: An obligation, beyond that required by the law and economics, for a firm to pursue long term goals that are good for society The continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as that of the local community and society at large About how a company manages its business process to produce an overall positive impact on society

Corporate social responsibility means: Conducting business in an ethical way and in the interests of the wider community Responding positively to emerging societal priorities and expectations A willingness to act ahead of regulatory confrontation Balancing shareholder interests against the interests of the wider community Being a good citizen in the community

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF CSR AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1.ARVIND LTD. Arvind Products Ltd. is a flagship company of Lalbhai Group. All CSR activities are taken up by the Lalbhai Foundation for the Group. The Trust/ Foundation for CSR is Strategic Help Alliance for Relief to Distressed Area (SHRADA) Trust. In the 1980s Arvinds management were faced with a challenge. How could Ahmedabad attract the best management talent as well as customers? This desire to usher in change resulted in the following CSR initiatives: a. Children b. Community Welfare c. Education d. Environment e. Healthcare f. Poverty Eradication g. Rural Development h. Vocational Training

Main CSR activities are: a. Education Through the Sharda Trust, the Companys CSR vehicle, Arvind has been involved in upgrading the standard of municipal schools in Ahmedabad and building a pool of employable youth with current skill sets. Today, over 700 students from three municipal schools benefit from supplemental English, mathematics and computer education in classes equipped with state-ofthe-art facilities, across 3 locations. b. Rural Development Urban infrastructure In an effort to make Ahmedabad a more attractive city to work in, Arvind focused on two areas: - Development of C G road: Ahmedabads most popular street received a makeover so that both the urban dweller and visitor can enjoy a clean, organized and enjoyable shopping experience. - Upgrading of slums: newly constructed homes, a water connection and adequate sanitation facilities. upgraded with access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities. Lalbhai Rural Development - NLRDF has designed its programmes to fill the rural poor needs of financial help, better job prospects, skill upgrading programmes, better infrastructure, etc. Upgrading the infrastructure in a rural primary school - NLRDF constructed in a nearby primary school, a room with RCC structure to avoid rain water leaks into the schools building during monsoons and also enough space for teaching the growing number of children in the area. Helping the rural poor in improving the yields in their farms. c. Vocational Training Vocational Programmes for rural poor - Arvind Limited located in nearby Ahmedabad, was desperately looking for young people with minimum educational qualifications to work in their garment factory. In this situation, NLRDF saw a unique opportunity to help the poor youth in the Khedbrahma taluka. NLRDFs team requested Arvind Limited to provide training for about sixty youth from the Taluka for working in the companys garment factory. The company readily agreed to do so. Now these sixty young persons are working in the companys garment factory and earning a regular monthly income. More

than earning a regular income, these young persons have found a direction for improving their career. Training Garment Workers The Trust has also undertaken programmes to train youth as Sewing Machine Operatives in collaboration with National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) Gandhinagar, and organized their placement with Arvind and other Garment manufacturing firms. Practical English and Computer Applications Training The trust has conducted training programs in computer applications and practical English speaking for unemployed youth. The skills of the youth were upgraded to a level where they could find employment in BPO, ITES, and Banking & Finance firms.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Arvind Ltd should itself find opportunities to help the societies instead of NLRDF approaching them. For instance, educating youth from Taluka. Use of environment friendly raw-materials. They should also concentrate in the quality of work life of their employees. For eg, safe working environment, redressal system, fair work schedules, etc.

2. BHILWARA TECHNICAL TEXTILE LTD CSR has always been an integral part of the LNJ Bhilwara Group's vision and at the forefront of their Core Value of Good Corporate Citizenship. The company believes that a substantial business success cannot be achieved solely through maximizing short term profits; it requires market oriented yet responsible behavior. BTTL being privileged to be a part of this group is committed to carry on the long tradition of community service and a strong sense of Corporate Social Responsibility towards various stakeholders

Their CSR activities are: a. Employee Welfare Providing a competitive and challenging work for employees environment that respects their health, having ethical recruitment, remuneration, promotion and other policies that allows them to move to better living conditions, ensuring a safe working environment for them, having fair policies for the solution of employee disputes.

b. Community Development Undertaking community development and area development programmes and creating job opportunities.

c. Environment Ensuring the purchase of environment-friendly supplies. RECOMMENDATIONS: They should concentrate in improving the living standard of the less privileged people. For eg, free garments, education opportunities, providing basic amenities, etc. Further increasing their CSR activities to health care and children welfare.

3. RAYMOND LTD Incorporated in 1925, Raymond Group is one of India's largest branded fabric and fashion retailers. It is one of the leading, integrated producers of worsted suiting fabric in the world, with a capacity of producing 31 million meters of wool & wool-blended fabrics. Raymond is a well established company which has a lot of corporate social responsibility activities. Raymond as a company tries its best to give back to the society in every way it can. The areas which their CSR activities cover are: a. Children b. Community Welfare c. Education d. Healthcare e. Poverty Eradication f. Rural Development g. Vocational Training h. Animal husbandry

Main CSR activities: a. Rural development b. Education c. Animal Husbandry As a company that has always been socially responsible, Raymond has displayed an innate desire and zeal to contribute to the welfare and social upliftment of the community. Their CSR initiatives in education prepare children for life and equip them to take on challenges of tomorrows world. The Raymond Rehabilitation Centre for the welfare of under-privileged children was inaugurated on 3rd July at Jekegram, Thane and as part of other similar projects for the welfare of common man, under the aegis of the Sheriff of Mumbai with an intention of making less fortunate children independent and self-sufficient in life, the centre provides free vocational training workshops to young boys and girls over 16 years. Raymond Embryo Research Centre:

Raymonds association with animal husbandry dates back to three decades when Raymond Limited established a sheep breeding farm at Dhule in Maharashtra for research in various aspects of sheep management and reproduction in 1970. Raymond was the first organization in India to introduce Embryo Transfer in Sheep (1977). J.K. Trust Gram Vikas Yojana:

With the objective of transfer of the technical expertise gained over three decades to the grassroot level, J. K. Trust Gram Yojana (JKTGVY) was launched in 1997. The mission of JKTGVY is to significantly improve the quality of life in Indias rural areas through a Cattle Breed Improvement Programme (CBIP) that achieves the following goals: Reducing Infant Mortality and Malnutrition: Surplus milk generated by high milk yielding cows helps to reduce infant mortality (especially caused in age group of less than 12 months) and reducing malnutrition among children. Creating Employment: To provide employment opportunities for rural educated unemployed youth. Alleviating Poverty: Increased milk production by the participating farmers effectively supplements their income by sale of surplus milk.

RECOMMENDATION: Raymond helps the society in the best way it can, but one area they can look into is training underprivileged people and giving them a chance to work in the company.

4. VARDHAMAN TEXTILE LTD Vardhaman Group is a leading textile conglomerate in India. Vardhman has evolved through history from a small beginning in 1965 into a modern textile major under the dynamic leadership of its chairman, S.P.Oswal. His vision and insight has given Vardhman an enviable position in the textile industry. Under his leadership, Vardhman is efficiently using resources to innovate, diversify, integrate and build its diverse operations into a dynamic modern enterprise.

Their main CSR activities are: a. Rural development b. Community welfare c. Education Sri Aurobindo Socio-Economic and Management Research Institute is engaged in the promotion of education, research and publications highlighting social and economic issues facing the society. The Institute runs a Human Resource Development Centre for providing career counseling and guidance to college students in Punjab. The teams of experts also visit the colleges in the state to prepare college students for gainful employment in the industry. Sprung from a keen desire to set up an educational institution in Ludhiana and inspired by the writings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, the Trust has set up a college - Sri Aurobindo College of Commerce and Management (affiliated to the Punjab University) with the mission to create an institution with distinction dedicated to the ideals of creating disciplined career oriented young people ready for going for administrative and management roles in enterprises or to set up their own business as entrepreneurs. A Vardhaman initiative to improve the yield of cotton in Punjab in 2001 when the State had suffered a shock of crop devastation and area under cotton cultivation was dwindling, led to the experiment to adopt villages and see whether concerted efforts in bringing knowledge to farmers could

improve the yield of cotton. The experiment was successful as it improved the yield of cotton in adopted villages. It found mention in the President's broadcast on Technology Day (11/05/04) as a 'technological event which has the potential to penetrate into our everyday lives'. The Village Adoption Programme also found mention in the President's address to the nation on the eve of India's 56th Republic day. The President of India was gracious to bless one of the participating Villages -'Gehri Buttar' (District Bathinda) by his presence on December 10th 2005. Vardhman is actively engaged in the activities of Nimbua Greenfield Punjab Limited formed by a consortium of Industries of Punjab for developing a common facility for storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes generated by the Industry with a Government of India grant.

RECOMMENDATIONS: They can also concentrate on employees welfare activities. Work towards eradicating poverty, starting from the areas surrounding their work place.

5.WELSPUN INDIA LTD Welspun is Asia's largest and the 2nd largest Terry Towel producers in the World[5] based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was incorporated on 17 January, as a Private Limited Company in the name of Welspun Winilon Silk Mills Pvt. Ltd. at Mumbai. It was established to manufacture Polyester filament yarns and texturised yarns. In 1995, the name changed from Welspun Polyster to Welspun India Ltd. CSR activities: Welspun is committed to conduct business in a socially responsible and ethical manner. Sustaining mutually accountable and responsible synergies, they serve with passion to their Customers, Shareholders, Employees & Society at large. To meet their commitment they seek to respect the rule of appropriate international standards and strictly follow their 6 Guiding Principles (The 6 E's) : Enrichment of mind:

Mental wellness signifies a state of flourishing of the overall being. They believe that nurturing of the mind helps to reach high levels of emotional, psychological, physical and social wellbeing.

Enrichment of body:

Living a healthier life improves the quality of life. Feeling physically better and having control over life can greatly increase mental health as well. They believe achieving health and remaining healthy is an active process. Education:

To meet the learning needs of all children, youth and adults, they strongly promote and support the Right to education, specifically of the girl Child. Welspun Vidya Mandir (A school up to Standard X) at Anjar, Gujarat, aims towards all round development of Children. Empathy:

They believe that effective understanding, communication and relationships are essential to develop solutions and avoiding or diffusing conflict. By helping others, they help themselves to grow. Empowerment of women :

Welspun enables women to realize their full potential. They work for equal access to women on health care, quality education, career and vocational guidance, employment, equal remuneration, occupational health and safety, etc. Welspun builds and strengthens partnerships with civil society, particularly women's organizations and work towards changing societal attitudes and community practices by active participation and involvement of women. Environment :

Ensures compliance with applicable Health Safety and Environment (HSE) legislation. Enhance occupational environment is integrated in all managerial decisions including selecting / procurement of materials, machinery equipment, placement of personnel and setting up of projects. Welspun strives to conserve natural resources & energy by constantly seeking to optimize the consumption and advocate for wastage control & recycling measures.

In addition to their guiding principles, Ethical Business Conduct is strictly followed and they practice the principles of accountability, honesty and integrity in all aspects of their business. Besides this, they strictly comply with all the laws that regulate and apply to the company, its systems and the conduct of its business.

They work with governments and agencies (including the Universal Declaration Human Rights by UN) to support and respect Human Rights within their sphere of influence. They promote universal respect for observance of human rights and fundamental freedom - particularly those of their employees, the communities within which they operate and parties with whom they do business, without distinction as to ethnicity, origin, religion, gender, language or disability. They believe that Local Stakeholder Engagement is extremely important and they adhere to a collaborative, consultative approach in their communities by supporting innovative programs in health, education, environment, as well as cultural and civic projects. They take utmost care to integrate community investment consideration into decision-making and business practices and assist in local capacity building to develop mutually beneficial relationships with communities. Employee Relations takes prime position at Welspun. They ensure to provide maximum employment and economic opportunities in the communities where they operate and they make sure that employees are treated fairly and with dignity and consideration for their goals and aspirations and that diversity in the workplace is embraced. Fair labour policies, while respecting the national and local laws of the countries and communities where they operate are practiced. They are additionally committed to provide equal opportunity in all aspects of employment and will not engage in or tolerate unlawful workplace conduct, including discrimination, intimidation, or harassment.

RECOMMENDATION: One area Weslpun can concentrate on is employing the people they are helping get educated. RECOMMENDATION TO ALL THE FIVE COMPANIES: From the above, we can clearly see that all the five companies are doing their best to serve the society in whatever way possible. One activity all five companies can adopt is by giving back the raw materials consumed to the environment by ways of planting cotton, silk etc. This will help in balancing the environment and prevent destruction of natural resources. COMPARISON: 1. Trust/ Foundation for CSR: Arvind Ltd: SHARDA Trust Bhilwara Technical Textile Ltd: No specific Trust Raymond Ltd: J.K Trust Vardhman Textile: No specific Trust Welspun India Ltd: Welspun Foundation for Health and Knowledge

2. Main CSR activities: Arvind Ltd Education - Upgrading the standard of municipal schools in Ahmedabad - Supplemental English, mathematics and computer education in classes equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.

Rural Development Urban infrastructure Lalbhai Rural Development Upgrading the infrastructure in a rural primary school Helping the rural poor in improving the yields in their farms. Vocational Training Vocational Programmes for rural poor Training Garment Workers Practical English and Computer Applications Training Bhilwara Technical Textile Ltd- Employee Welfare Providing challenging work, fair policies for disputes, safety environment, etc. Bhilwara Technical Textile Ltd Employee Welfare Providing a competitive and challenging work for employees Safe working environment and fair policies Community Development Community development and area development programmes and creating job opportunities. Environment Ensuring the purchase of environment-friendly supplies

Raymond Ltd Rural Development Raymond Rehabilitation Centre set up for the underprivileged children at jekegram. Education Smt. Sulochanadevi Singhania School at Thane, Maharashtra and the Kailashpat Singhania High School in Chhindwar ,M.P.

Animal Husbandry Raymond Embryo Research Centre for cattle at Gopalnagar, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. First organization to introduce Embryo Transfer in Sheep. Cattle Breed Improvement Programme.

Vardhaman Textile Rural Development The Institute runs a Human Resource Development Centre for providing career counseling and guidance to college students in Punjab. Community Welfare Actively engaged in the activities of Nimbua Greenfield Punjab Limited Education Sri Aurobindo College of Commerce and Management (affiliated to the Punjab University) with the mission to create an institution with distinction dedicated to the ideals of creating disciplined career oriented young people ready for going for administrative and management roles in enterprises or to set up their own business as entrepreneurs.

Welspun India Ltd Education Welspun Vidya Mandir (A school up to Standard X) at Anjar, Gujarat , aims towards all round development of Children. Vocational Training Employee Relations takes prime position at Welspun ensuring provision of maximum employment and economic opportunities in the communities. Environment Ensures compliance with applicable Health Safety and Environment (HSE) legislation.

From d above, we see that all five companies have similar CSR activities, except for Raymonds Animal Husbandry activity.