Role of NGOs in implementing CSR projects in India

India is one of the fastest developing economies in the world today. This is quite expected as industrial development is happening across the length and breadth of the country. India is now attracting foreign investment in interesting numbers and a huge boom in growth is expected in the coming few years. While one section of the country is experiencing tremendous development, there is another section of the country which needs special intervention to bring it up to speed.

Rural transformative development programmes in India

Rural development is an aspect that has been discussed has been a part of industrial development discussion in the country. This is because rural development has to go hand in hand with industrial development, for the benefit of the country’s growth. For this reason, the concept of corporate social responsibility is the one which is stressed upon. Corporate social responsibility is the community development programme that every corporate in the country should undertake, in a way as to return to the community what it has taken from them.

The Indian government has made it mandatory for most large corporates to dedicate a certain amount of their profits in CSR projects in India. NGOs play an important role in ensuring the implementation of these CSR projects. Initiatives of NGOs are:-

-          These NGOs work in sync with the government departments.

-          NGOs enjoy the benefit of having a greater understanding of the locality, better rapport with the locals and trusted resources who know the best approach to implement programmes.

-          Several corporate have undertaken rural development programmes in India. There are several local and international NGOs too who have initiated programmes for the upliftment of rural India.

For instance, the Reliance Foundation has made several interventions to help villages enjoy benefits of the development in the country. The foundation has taken initiatives to create sustainable livelihood options in rural India, facilitated community empowerment and undertaken institution building for the benefit of villagers in India.

Through such intervention, the foundation aims to help rural India come up to speed with rest of the country. India is an agrarian country and a major portion of the population is involved in agriculture for its livelihood. With such advancements happening in the country, it is important that positive impact of these developments is felt in rural India too. The foundation has been involved in creating avenues for inclusive growth in the country for years and aims to bring about a holistic growth scenario in the coming years. With this objective, Reliance Foundation is a major facilitator of CSR in India.