‘Youngsters are now keen on joining firms that are in tune not just with profitability but also sustainability’

It was the panel discussion ‘What role can corporates play so that they can be a catalyst of social change’ that set the tone for the discourse at the third edition of the BusinessLine Changemaker Awards 2020 that took place here on Friday.

The session on ‘The Role of Corporates as Harbinger of Social Change’ was moderated by Venky Vembu, Associate Editor, Business Line, wherein he talked about the increase in the focus of the companies on the 3Ps: Approach- people, Planet and Profit.

“Earlier, Corporate Social Responsibilty (CSR) was considered bad but India was among the first countries to make CSR mandatory. LIC is a classic case where the business is totally integrated with the social welfare of the people. Our business in itself is a corporate social responsibility (CSR),” said Tapan Arandhara, Regional Manager, Pension and Group Scheme (North Zone), LIC.

Now, youngsters are increasingly looking at joining organisations which are in tune with sustainability and not just profitability, he added.

On its part, Dell has drawn up a social impact for 2030 initiatives focused on advancing sustainability, cultivating inclusion, transforming lives and upholding ethics and privacy. The initiative is likely to impact one billion people across the people.

“The aim is to execute the CSR activity well. We believe it’s our responsibility to ensure that all our progress happens around the pillars,” said Indrajit Belgundi, Senior Director, Client Solutions, Dell India.

For instance, if the aim is to go to the rural areas, it’s not only about providing education but also about ensuring sanitisation, water and cleanliness are available in schools, he added.

Belgundi went on to say that the aim is to ensure that social empowerment is done in an effective manner.

The third edition had awards under six categories: Changemaker-Financial Transformation, Changemaker-Digital Trnasformation, Changemaker-Social Transformation, Young Changemaker, Iconic Changemaker, Changemaker of the Year.

All the winners were felicitated by the Vice-President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu. The event also had a session featuring Piyush Goyal, Minister for Commerce and Industry and Railways that was moderated by Raghavan Srinivasan, Editor, BusinessLine.

The BusinessLine Changemaker Awards were supported by Nestle India, LIC, Tata Sons, Dell, Qualcomm and Pepsico.