April…?

In the advent of Social Media with 4G connectivity, it has become a culture of doing little and exaggerating much by making an event of anything – from a routine ritual to a reflex action! CSR is one such thing that is discussed, deliberated and devised more and learnt, understood and practiced very little in letter and spirit throughout its forming years as it completes 5 years of being in force today.

Another boasting trend that seems to be prevalent is a small group of like-mined tendencies coming together for a shared objective (‘common good’ is something different – bigger, better and sublime!) calling itself ‘India’ as if it represents this subcontinent of thousands of years of History, Culture, Ethnicity and Heritage populated by more than 1.3 billion people and second most populous country as well as the most populous democracy in the world living in 29 States, 7 Union Territories with 6 Major and many other minor Religions communicating in more than 447 living languages and decorated by vast diversity in Art, Architecture, Bio-diversity, Culture, Cuisine, Literature and Recreational Activities.

It is understood that an Event organized on 1^st of April (fool’s Day?) when one such ‘India’ would be ‘Celebrating’ CSR, that too by calling it a ‘Law’. This would be the First ever incident in the History of Mankind when a civilized society felt a need to celebrate a Law (without any apparent punitive action as such) may be because it is seemingly difficult to abide by and therefore definitely making it a Historic one!

I am not sure what all those High Level Committees with changing members, setup to Review the CSR Act and Amendments were up to or what good all the discussions behind the closed doors of AC cabins in Metros could do to the grassroots issues that CSR is fundamentally and intrinsically meant for, but I surely find it little unsettling and taking it in an antagonizing order to celebrate 5 years of ‘CSR Law’ by ‘India’ with introducing a CSR Marketplace…? I mean what could contradict itself greater than a ‘cause’ projecting its commercial platform in a glamorous event (Rahul Roy for glamour… seriously? This One Stroke Wonder with Aashiqui, major part of its success could be attributed to the songs and sensuous Anu Agrawal, though and his Non-acting performances that not only landed him in BigBoss but even earned him the First BigBoss Trophy!)  that is happening in a Capital – the most polluted city, with Capitalist outlook – that has created all the sustainability problems in first place; instead of taking it to the people who are affected by these ‘development’ economics and involving them in the process of seeking effective remedies designed by taking in consideration what the exact situation and solution is…?

No people’s problem will see the day of the light, let alone the sustainable solution, unless and until the decision (and policy) makers don’t put themselves in the last man’s shoes – just for figure of speech – the last man standing in the queues many times doesn’t have even foot, lest a Chappal or Shoes!

Anyway, so to sum it up for this Post and the Financial Year and the Tenure of the Governance – with everything that is glittering all-around, it definitely is a positive to at least remember legislation about CSR that was rolled-out as a Game Changer and according to a RBI notification ‘all Pay and Account Offices will remain open on March 31, 2019 (Sunday) to facilitate government receipt and payment transactions’. However it remains to be seen can the ‘India’ celebrating the ‘CSR Law’ can take it beyond the Anniversary Celebration, HLC Reviews, Sustainability Reporting and White/Green-Wash, let alone compliance, for it to-be-in-force and head for Integrated Reporting – in letter and spirit!

And what’s with the RBI to introduce a Credit Card and promote it on Sunday, 31^st March 2019 with a recorded phone message delivered through a call to the potential customer’s mobile number… Huh?

Image source: https://www.cgma.org/resources/reports/purpose-beyond-profit.html