- Over ₹1.7K Cr CSR fund spent in 4 years in Odisha
- 60% Expenditure in 4 districts
- Tribal Dominated districts deprived from its benefits
- CSR Watch to facilitate CSR expenditure in Sustainable Development Agenda
Bhubaneswar, 21 May: In a recent span of 4 years, over ₹1700 crores have been spent in Odisha towards CSR, but the funds have mostly been used in gap filling of the programs, rather being used to develop incubation centres for skill and technology to address the last mile issues in highly vulnerable and unreachable pockets of the state. Today a lot has been spent, of which, more than 80 percent was utilised in 10 districts of the state, however, more than 60 percent of the total CSR resources has been spent in Anugul, Jajpur, Keonjhar and Sundargarh districts only. The tribal dominated districts like Boudh, Nuapada and Deogarh are still deprived of the CSR initiatives, while, in districts like Nawarangpur, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj and Bargarh the expenditure is less than 10 crore per year.
For this, a joint collaborative approach may help in addressing the last mile issues in the state. In this context, a #CSR Watch was floated to facilitate CSR expenditures in the state, during an inter agency roundtable discussion on “CSR in Odisha: Roadmap and Partnerships”, jointly organised by CYSD & FIDR at the CYSD-DRTC, Bhubaneswar on 19th May. The roundtable meeting was attended by representatives from various CSR units and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) across the state.
Raising their concerns, the speakers agreed to the fact that the CSR fund are mostly being used for short term plans and programs. But to achieve the targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the development agenda must be realized at grassroot level with more sustainable and long term vision. In this context, CSOs have enough experience in long-term sustainable development models in the interior pockets of the state and resources in the CSR programs. Now it is the time to encash the expertise of CSOs and contribute to the sustainable development practice in the state.
Mr. Prasant Hota, Convenor- Odisha State Chapter of CII, Mr. Basant Kumar Thakur, CSR Head, NALCO, Mr. Charudutta Panigrahy, Secretary, FIDR and Jagadanand, Mentor of CYSD along with representatives from OMC, PPL, NALCO, TATA Sponge and other CSOs were present in the roundtable.
