Corporate social responsibility(CSR)

News:Government has decided to expand the scope of corporate spend under Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) norms.

Facts:

About CSR:

• Corporate social responsibility (CSR) was initiated through the Companies Act, 2013.
• The act mandated companies and government organisations with (a)turnover of Rs1,000 crore or more(b)net worth exceeding Rs 500crore or (c)having more than Rs 5 crore in net profits to spend 2% of average net profit of the preceding three years on CSR.

Activities that can be undertaken under CSR:

• The CSR amount can be spent on initiatives that would have social, economic and environmental impact or a way to give back to the society.
• These initiatives include (a)promoting gender equality (b)empowering women (c)promoting education (d)eradicating hunger (e)poverty, (f)malnutrition (g)rural development projects among others.
• The companies were also allowed to provide CSR funds to technology incubators located within Centre-approved academic institutions.

What has changed?

• Government has now widened the scope of CSR activities and companies can now contribute towards research across various fields such as science, technology, medicine. 
• Besides,CSR funds can also be spent on incubators funded by the Centre or state or any state-owned companies.