Bhaskar Chatterjee (right) speaks at the inaugural session of the conference at a Ranchi hotel on Saturday. (Prashant Mitra)

Ranchi, Aug. 3: Premier management cradle IIM-Ranchi today hosted a daylong conference on corporate social responsibility (CSR) at a city hotel. Delegates from the fields of business, academics and media attended the event.

Director-general and CEO of Delhi-based Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) Bhaskar Chatterjee was chief guest at the event called “National conference on inclusive and impactful CSR”.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Chatterjee said CSR services were not restricted to charitable work. “CSR is about integrating economic, environmental and social objectives with the company’s operation,” he added.

He further pointed out that while a number of organisations were renowned for their CSR initiatives, many more needed to pull up their socks.

On the Companies Bill 2011 that is awaiting approval by the Rajya Sabha, Chatterjee said once it was cleared, IICA would be able to furnish definite figures on CSR expenditures of over 7,000 companies in the country.

“In the coming years, India will need trained professionals to handle CSR services effectively. Keeping that in mind, we will start a certificate course for 300 professionals from next January,” he said.

Earlier, IIM-R director M.J. Xavier delivered the welcome address for the conference. “Ancient Indian society was an inclusive one in which hunters and gatherers shared food with members of their community. In contemporary times, human greed has changed the scenario. So, now 80 per cent of resources are controlled by only 20 per cent of our population,” he said, adding that making CSR mandatory would pave the way for a more inclusive society.

General manager of Patna circle of State Bank of India K.K. Das spoke about difficulties faced by their staff in extending CSR support in remote areas, citing the example of three officials abducted from Palamau last week.

A number of panel discussions was held on the later part of the day. Speakers from corporate and educational sectors deliberated on the role of CSR in global value chain, how it balances regional economy and related topics.

The conference also saw an exclusive discussion on the role of media in promoting CSR activities. Representatives of a number of news channels and portals attended the talk.