Corporate social responsibility (CSR, also called corporate

conscience, corporate citizenship, social performance, or sustainable

responsible business) is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into
a business model. CSR policy functions as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism
whereby business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the
law, ethical standards, and international norms. The goal of CSR is to embrace
responsibility for the company's actions and encourage a positive impact through its
activities on the environment, consumers, employees,
communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere.

Social responsibility is “an organization’s obligation to maximize its positive impact

and minimize its negative impact on the society”. In other words, it is “the concept
that businesses should be actively concerned with the welfare of the society at
large”. Social responsibility can be broadly divided into two parts: human
responsibility and environmental responsibility.

Human responsibility refers to the responsibility of the organization towards the

various parties associated with it, which are known as ‘stakeholders’ in business
parlance. These parties include employees, shareholders, the government,
customers, investors, suppliers, competitors and the society at large.

Environmental responsibility refers to the organization’s responsibility towards

environment protection.

The concept of social responsibility holds that an organization should work in a

manner in which the interests of the stakeholders are protected or, at the very least,
they are not adversely affected. It holds that the organization should work in an
ethical manner and work in the best interests of the various parties associated with
it.

The realm of social responsibility extends beyond the legal responsibilities of an

organization. It is voluntarily fulfilled by the organization.
The fortunes of a Company and the fortunes of a City are closely linked. They share
a mutually beneficial relationship. In fact, a Company that improves its environment
will find that its own prospects also improve in the process. It is this philosophy that
gives shape to a Company’s CSR policy. It is a policy that is born from an insight;
from an interest to better the fortunes of both the city and the company.

A successful company must play an active role in the development of the society
from which it springs. Besides pursuing its business goals, it should also be
responsible corporate citizen. It is because of these beliefs that a company should
always be on the forefront of extending a helping hand for the needy, downtrodden
and for the society at large.

An apparel industry should produces no unnecessary environmental harm and must

have a positive impact on the people and communities associated with its activities.

The CSR activities should concentrate on the following :

1.Children
2. Community Welfare
3. Education
4. Environment
5. Healthcare
6. Poverty Eradication
7. Rural Development
8. Vocational Training

The CSR project for the industry is designed to undertake the following
actions/steps:

a.Establishment of a Trust to carry out programmes to :

help the urban poor such as providing the basic infrastructure in slum,

carrying out vocational training programmes for the youth and getting them
employment helping the poor in getting high quality secondary and tertiary health
care etc.

a programme for improving quality of education in Municipal Schools aiming to

teach English, Computers and Mathematics to the children.
The Trust will directly intervene in the development process at the village level.

Widows should be trained and motivated for their own small business or service
oriented skills to earn more for their livelihood and should be given preference for
employment. Providing economic assistance to widows who have little or no help
from families

Other major contribution should be to motivate the people in rural areas to go for bio
gas as an alternative source of energy.

The Trust shall also work to improve the health status of women, adolescent and
children in the underserved nearby areas.

b.Education

the Company’s CSR vehicle shall involve in upgrading the standard of municipal
schools in the concerned area for building a pool of employable youth with current
skill sets.

Having a play each month in which workers and people of nearby village would be
motivated to participate.The play would be based on morally educating people by
having themes like child marriage,girls education,etc.Prizes would be distributed
accordingly.

Practical English and Computer Applications Training:The trust should conduct

training programs in computer applications and practical English speaking for
unemployed youth. The skills of the youth were upgraded to a level where they
could find employment in BPO, ITES, and Banking & Finance firms.

c.Urban infrastructure

In an effort to make the area a more attractive city to work in, the csr activities should
also focus on developing the major roads and popular so that both the urban dweller
and visitors can enjoy a clean, organized and enjoyable shopping experience.
 • d.Upgrading of slums: Company shall work with the Municipal Corporation
and slum dwellers to develop a model to upgrade the slums of the nearby
areas which houses 20% of the company’s employee population. People
should be upgraded with access to clean drinking water and sanitation
facilities. Low cost toilets to be constructed to benefit families.

e.Organic Cotton Growing Project:

The company should support and develop models that bring sustainability to the
production of its most valued and extensively used raw material. Cotton farming has
traditionally relied extensively on the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides that
are harmful to the environment. So, the company shall give emphasis on growing
organic cotton, without the use of any chemical inputs. The relationship works on
the contract-farming model, wherein the farmers will be provided on the know-how
on organic farming, and a guarantee to buy back the cotton produced directly from
the farmer. A dedicated team of company’s organic farming experts would provide
constant technical support for farmers in the form of weekly consultation visits,
practical demonstration of composting and organic pest management methods, and
village-level training programmes on all aspects of organic farming. This will lead to a
reduction in input cost by obviating the need for chemicals, an enhanced knowledge
base and the elimination of the exploitative practices of middlemen. And the
company, in return, gets an assured source of high quality organic cotton. Not only
is the project mutually beneficial to both company and the farmers, but is also a
scalable model that ensures the congruence of economic and environmental
interests.

f. Rural Development
The company shall go for a rural development fund, undertake special programs for
the economically deprived. It shall also assist the nearby villages, through nutritional
programs, food camps and the harnessing of solar energy.

• The needs of the rural poor are very similar to the needs of the urban poor.
Except contextual differences, the needs of the urban and rural poor are very
similar. Skill upgrading programmes are desperately needed for the rural
poor. Poor quality of education, and unemployment, are the banes of rural
India. Consequently, the rural areas need vocational programmes so that the
poorly educated and unemployed youth can find better job prospects in
nearby cities. Similarly, the poor children living in rural areas need a better
infrastructure in their schools.
Finally, the rural poor need help including financial help, for improving the yields in
their farms so that they can improve their earnings. So programmes should be
implemented to to fill these needs.

Upgrading the infrastructure in a rural primary school

The existing class room of a school in a village is old unsuitable for teaching the
school’s children studying in classes I, II, III, and IV.

In the monsoon, rain water leaks into the school’s building. Also, the school is short
of space for teaching the growing number of children in the area. To meet this crying
need for a better infrastructure, a room with RCC structure shall be constructed in
the nearby rural area,along with the minimum teaching material and equipment that
a school needs.

g.Environmental Policy:

As a large company,it is aware of its impact on the environment and the ongoing
changes and challenges with which businesses are faced in a fast changing world. A
company-wide, long-term initiative to adapt its business practices in relation to
environmental restoration and sustainability. Some of the company's goals shall
include: relying 100% on renewable energy, creating zero waste and selling products
that sustain resources and the environment.
Activities should include an initiative to reduce packaging and should look for
suppliers who are able to develop new packaging and conserve natural resources at
the same time. Through this initiative the company aims at reducing packaging by
5%. In addition to reducing millions of pounds of trash the initiative also decreases
carbon dioxide emissions.

The company shall commit itself to continually improve the environmental

management
· Optimizing usage of cotton, energy, chemicals & water.
· Adopting preventive strategies to reduce the generation of effluents, waste & air
emissions.
· Maximizing the recycling of inevitable wastes.
· Encouraging suppliers & buyers to become environmentally responsible.
· Maintaining a safe working environment.
· Increasing the green cover.
· Training employees on environmental issues.
Effluent Treatment Facilities:

All the production / processing units should be provided with adequate wastewater /
water treatment facilities, to meet the requirements of regulating authorities as well
as the reputed customers

The company shall also possess chemical, biological treatment facilities to treat the
large amount of effluents to meet the pollution control board norms along with the
water treatment plant. The uniqueness of the water treatment plant would be - all it's
process water requirements will be attained through recycled sewage water of the
City.

Air pollution Control

The industry shall switch from liquid fuel to Natural gas for all their heating & steam
requirements in order to avoid the air pollution.

Solid waste Management

All the units believe in waste minimization measures. All the ETP plants should be
provided with adequate sludge Dewatering facilities. De-watered sludge is dried in
solar evaporation pans for further volume reduction. Waste oil generated in all the
units should be recycled. Polythene liners, Discarded containers are disposed off to
the respective buyers.

Afforestation & Rain water Harvesting

The unit shall have very good afforestation & green belts. Plants like Jetropha (seeds
used for Biodiesel generation) should be grown extensively. ETP treated water is
used for this plantation so as to minimize raw water consumption. Beautiful lawns
with Fountains should be made part of the landscape.

h.Training Garment Workers

The Trust shall undertaken programmes to train youth as Sewing Machine

Operatives and organised their placement with the industry and other Garment
manufacturing firms.

i.A “Sustainable Apparel Index” should be set up as a tool for company to

evaluate the impacts of the entire life cycle of apparel products, including materials,
manufacturing, packaging, transportation, use, and end of life. It be not be
"consumer facing" but rather will provide a tool for company to evaluate their
performance For now, members will use the Index to drive change within the
industry, by measuring and managing the impacts linked to their products using four
categories:

• Water use and quality;

• Energy use and greenhouse gases;

• Waste; chemicals and toxicity; and

• Social and labor.

The index goals include reducing the industry’s impacts on water and consumption,
improving waste diversion, and reducing the use of chemicals. Members will share
best practices information and commit to a specified level of best practices within
each of their supply chains by establishing consistent expectations for brands,
retailers and manufacturers.

This index enables individual companies to focus more resources on product and
process innovation.

Credible, practical, and universal standards and tools for defining and measuring
environmental and social performance support the individual interests of all
stakeholders.

Water Use & Quality:

• Improve water-use efficiency and/or re-use in cultivation or production of raw

materials (e.g. cotton) and the manufacturing of apparel products

• Minimize the volume and chemical constituents of water discharges

associated with manufacturing of apparel products and eliminate impacts to
local communities

• Reduce the need for water use in garment care by challenging conventional
washing practices and developing alternative approaches

Energy/Greenhouse Gas:

• Minimize direct and embedded energy use and carbon in apparel products

• Drive innovative design and technology to create apparel products that

mitigate other carbon impacts in society (such as reducing the need for
heating and air conditioning systems)

Waste:

• Develop effective uses for textile waste, creating a second life for materials

• Commit to minimizing waste in our operations, supply chain, and end-of-life of

apparel products

Chemicals/Toxicity:
Reduce the use of chemicals and potentially hazardous materials which pose health
or environmental risks if not properly handled in cultivation or production of raw
materials, and the manufacturing of apparel products

Social/Labor:

Collaborate with industry peers and supply chain partners to achieve full life cycle
transparency (back to origin of material) about the social and ethical performance
impacts of all companies and products

All workplaces are fair, safe, and non-discriminatory, including zero exposure to toxic
chemicals

j.Vocational Programmes for rural poor

The company is desperately looking for young persons with minimum educational
qualifications to work in their garment factory. In this situation, the company shall
see a unique opportunity to help the poor youth in the the near by villages which
have no other source of employment other than labour work and agriculture, to
provide training for working in the company’s garment factory. More than earning a
regular income, these young persons will find a direction for improving their career.

k.Health and safety of the workers are a major priority: the floors are clean and airy
with proper emergency exits, fire extinguishers and warnings about wearing safety
gear such as gum boots in the washing unit and metal gloves for the cutters. A
fulltime doctor should be on duty at the medical unit, which is again, clean and has
two beds for workers who may fall ill while on the job.

Enabling projects which aims to create awareness on physical activity levels of

public from all age groups by visiting parks and other community platforms also to
increase the physical activity levels of elementary school students and help them
embrace physical activity as a part of their lifestyle by using creative play.

l.A woman 'welfare officer' should be employed who visits each floor regularly to
hear out any complaints or problems any worker may have and tries to come up with
a satisfactory solution. “Sometimes women workers are shy about telling their male
supervisors that they are pregnant or other personal problems. Here the woman
worker can tell the welfare officer who then informs the supervisors so that extra
consideration is given to the worker such as extra food, more bathroom breaks,
saving her from any heavy work and so on.

m.Sexual harassment of female garment workers by male co-workers has been a

long-standing menace. Regulations within the factory should be made very strict
where harassment is concerned.

Launching a program to distribute sets of playing cards with AIDS, tuberculosis and
malaria prevention information to migrant workers in provinces where the incidence
of disease is high.

Batches of children of sex workers would be trained and after the training all of them
were placed in local apparel industries.

n.Charitable initiatives:

A medical clinic providing free medical treatment for the needy and the workers of
the company because they are the ones who actually make things work n lead it to
the targets. So it is important that they and their families are provided with good
medical facilities so that problems of absenteeism due to own illness and that of
family members is reduced to a large extent

and providing free tuitions and other educational aids to their children

o.Ethical Trading Initiatives

 • All products to be developed under strict consideration for environment

• All production facilities comply with strict ethical and environmental norms
• Minimum employment age in the Group shall be strictly followed as 18 years

• To serve the society by building an eco friendly environment

• Develop a long term relationship with the customers by offering them best
quality and value

Because ... A satisfied customer will contribute towards the growth of the
group

q. People
The company should serve its customers in a better way and establish a positive
work environment for its employees. The company should established a set of
diversity goals and supports its employees and associates through diversity and
inclusion trainings, scholarship programs and other events and programs.
Hazard Identification, Risk Analysis and Control programmes should take in place, to
identify, assess and control health, safety and environmental (HS&E) risks and
impacts.

Sound Industrial Hygiene practices boost-up work facility for higher productivity with
the aim of zero occupational illness. It has also design a work environment that is
compatible with individual characteristics.

r.The company shall distribute clothes among poors:

Being a garment industry which provides thousands of people with clothes, all
around the world, it shall contribute some part to the needy and the poor also,once in
every six months, even if it is made out of the waste, left over fabrics and the unused
clothes.

s.Safety

Keeping safety as a top priority, the company should strive to design and sell
clothing that does not pose any safety threat to the customers. Corporate Product
Safety team and global Product Integrity teams shall ensure that the branded
products are made to strict safety standards and also test the products for a variety
of potential safety issues, including:flammability; physical/mechanical hazards
(ensuring garment construction or trims can withstand certain levels of force and do
not become hazards); durability; and toxicity.Customer safety should be taken very
seriously, and these testing procedures shall remain a critical part of the business.

t. With gender diversity as the main focus, a tools package which may include
internal awareness-raising tools such as training materials, group-wide policies, and
a comprehensive learning program would be developed. The package would be
accessed and widely used by all employees.

u. Blood donation camps would be organised.The Homeopathic health check-up

clinics for people.Chlorine tablets were provided for purification of wells/hand pumps
for safe drinking water.AIDS awareness programmes would be organised.
v. A creche to be maintained for the children of the workers,so that the worker can
work without interruption.

w.A special programme called “Cattle Breed Improvement Programme” using an

innovative concept of “Integrated Livestock Development [ILD] Centre”. The main
objective of this programme is to Upgrade/Crossbreed the local indigenous low milk-
yielding cows and buffaloes by breeding them through Artificial Insemination with the
use of high pedigree frozen semen of indigenous/ exotic breeds. The resulting
upgraded/crossbred progeny with an improved genetic make up will have better milk
yielding capacity.

x. Giving pre-natal, post-natal and infant care to women and children of nearby
village.

BENEFITS

Social responsibility means acting to benefit society at large. Therefore a good CSR
program should set out to benefit its stakeholders. Insight about what benefits to
society can be sought by encompassing the views of stakeholders, both internal and
external to the company, in CSR programming and management.
CSR programs are potentially a win-win for both organizations and customers, and
potentially have wider reaching public and environmental benefits. Disingenuous
claims in this area are often uncovered by pressure groups such as Greenpeace and
can lead to public relations disasters. To avoid this trouble, a good CSR program will
take on board the views, beliefs and needs of the stakeholders their operations affect
and bring genuine value to those stakeholders through more sustainable business
practices.Decision making tools are available for any manager that wants to create
the best possible CSR program for people, planet and long-term profit.
A well implemented CSR program can bring great reputational improvements for
corporations, along with benefits for society and the planet as a whole. CSR program
development is not an easy path to tread for businesses but with careful
management and planning, benefits for all stakeholders can be realised.

• Cost effective option

• Builds brand awarenss and recognition

• Effective local engagement with community and local initiatives

• Employee retention

• Stakeholder engagement

• Enlightened self-interest - creating a synergy of ethics, a cohesive society and

a sustainable global economy where markets, labour and communities are
able to function well together.
• Social investment - contributing to physical infrastructure and social capital is
increasingly seen as a necessary part of doing business.
• Transparency and trust - business has low ratings of trust in public
perception.There is increasing expectation that companies will be more open,
more accountable and be prepared to report publicly on their performance in
social and environmental arenas.
• Increased public expectations of business - globally companies are expected
to do more than merely provide jobs and contribute to the economy through
taxes and employment.”

• Quantifiable social and environmental impact

• Protecting tangible and intangibles. A company's brands, intellectual property

and goodwill may represent a significant amount of its present and future
economic value.

• A good reputation makes it easier to recruit employees.

• Employees may stay longer, reducing the costs and disruption of recruitment
and retraining.
• Employees are better motivated and more productive.
• CSR helps to ensure comply with regulatory requirements.
• Activities such as involvement with the local community are ideal opportunities
to generate positive press coverage.
• Good relationships with local authorities make doing business easier. See the
page in this guide on how to work with the local community.
• Understanding the wider impact of your business can help you develop new
products and services.
• CSR can make you more competitive and reduces the risk of sudden
damage to your reputation (and sales). Investors recognise this and are more
willing to finance you.

• Attracting and retaining key employees. Talented personnel weigh a

company's CSR policies among other factors when deciding where to work,
and how long to stay there. "Greening" businesses may add to their bottom
line. Reduced energy use, employee travel/commutation, supplier packaging,
paper procurement policies and recycling, may reduce operating expenses in
a readily measurable way, with a clear positive impact on the bottom line.

• Building market share. Companies are deriving revenue from "ethically

sourced" and "fair trade" products.