Taking the India Growth story forward

Updated on: Thursday, December 16, 2010

CII Eastern Region in association with Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technologies (CAPART) organized CSR - CSO Bridge: Moving the Growth Story Forward through Inclusive Partnerships on December 2. A flagship initiative to channelise the capacities of change makers; individuals and organizations, the programme was aimed at establishing a bridge to strengthen the existing links between industry and voluntary organizations for sustained inclusive growth.

An exposition was also organized to showcase NGOs, covering areas such as disability, education, environment conservation, health, rural livelihood and women empowerment that enabled corporates to identify projects for partnerships.

The Inaugural Session of the Conference was attended by various eminent dignitaries like Rekha Goswami, minister-in-charge, SHG & Self Employment Department, Government of West Bengal, Dr. Nandita Chatterjee, deputy director general, CAPART, Tapas Kumar Lahiry, CMD, Bharat Coking Coal Ltd, Mukul Somany, Immediate past president, CII (ER) & MD, Hindustan National Glass Ltd, Aloke Mookherjea, past chairman, CII(ER) & chairman, Education & Skill Development Sub-Committee, CII (ER) and Ashesh Ambasta, chairman, SDCA Sub- Committee, CII(ER) & VP and head – Social Investment, ITC Ltd.

The event also saw the release of a “Study on Market Analysis & Business Strategy for West Bengal Handicrafts Artisans”. The successful participants of the CII-E-Junction Communication Skill development course were awarded certificates.

In her address as the chief guest, Rekha Goswami emphasized on the need for proper framing of policy documents in the SHG sector, a key element in the area of poverty alleviation and empowerment of marginalized women. She also emphasized on the role of microfinance as a formidable strategic development in the area of financial access.

Dr Nandita Chatterjee urged for a stronger complimentary relation between private corporate sector and civil society to create a win-win situation for both the sides and make CSR initiatives successful. She went on to touch upon the tie up of CII and CAPART in bridging the gap between CSR and CSO under which initiatives like identification of policies, showcasing of project implementation and facilitation of direct linkages are being promoted. Under the CSR CSO Bridge initiative, 4 regions like Indore, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chandigarh have been identified, the culmination of which is being targeted in early 2011 at a National Conference in Delhi with all the regional takeaways.

Tapas Kumar Lahiry engaged the audience on the issues of displacement and rehabilitation. According to him affected people should be adopted and rehabilitated in model villages. He went on to reveal that his organization is going for one of the biggest rehabilitation process in the country under which 1lakh families will be relocated in the Jharia area with an investment of Rs 9000 crore.

Advocating stronger partnership between the corporate sectors and NGOs, Aloke Mookherjea opined that the existence of any corporation is not based on its shareholders but on the societal permit.

Heralding the call for inclusive growth of society, Mukul Somany dwelt at length on the identification of robust corporate investment in agriculture and rural infrastructure.

Taking the India Growth story forward

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