This document outlines a research project to conduct a socio-economic impact assessment of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities undertaken by public sector units in Uttar Pradesh, India. The project will examine the impact and effectiveness of CSR programs related to education, healthcare, poverty alleviation, and sustainable development. Key objectives are to evaluate how CSR funds are used and their benefits to society, identify areas for improvement, and provide recommendations. Primary and secondary data will be collected through surveys, interviews, and reports. The 30-month project requires a budget of Rs. 20.3 lakh and will analyze CSR activities, their outcomes, and produce a report on findings and policy inputs.

1. Social Impact assessment survey

2. Table of contents
1. Statement of Problem
2. Aim of the Project
3. Research objectives
4. Review of Literature
5. Research Methodology
6. List of CSR and SD projects to be undertaken during 2015-16
7. Key Deliverables
8. Timeline of project
9. Budget
10. References

3. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
According to World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 2001, CSR is ‘‘the
commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with
employees, their families, and the local communities’’. The Indian government is also mulling
over a new Companies Bill in the Indian Parliament clause 135(5) of the same bill prescribes that
every company with a net worth of at least Rs.5000 million ($1 is approximately Rs 55), or
turnover of at least Rs. 10,000 mn, or a net profit of at least Rs. 50 mn will have to spend 2 % of
its three years’ average profit on CSR activities (The Financial Express, 2012). Given that almost a
third of the country’s population lives in poverty and penury, CSR provides Indian corporations a
readily available and highly impactful opportunity to prove and establish the legitimacy of their
actions by moving beyond charities and vanilla rural developmental activities. More objectively,
it will tend to counter-balance to some extent, the impact of the huge negative externalities that
commercial activities tend to create in the developing societies they operate in, also new business
models emerging out of these innovative hybrid partnerships may give rise to unforeseen
fortuitous results that will give a boost to economic growth in this emerging market.
Section VII of the Companies bill lists the following activities that qualify as CSR initiatives:
 Poverty eradication
 Promotion of education, gender equality, and women empowerment
 Reducing child mortality and improving maternal health
 Combating AIDS/HIV, malaria, and other diseases
 Ensuring environmental sustainability
 Employment-enhancing vocational skills and social business projects.
 Relief and funds for socio-economic development such as for welfare of SC/ST, OBCs,
minorities, and women.
Since companies are now mandated to stick to the above list of activities, the effectiveness of
firm’s CSR should measure if the activities carried out by the firms are not merely done for
compliance, but created net positive socio-economic impact for sustainable development of the
targeted beneficiaries.

4. In recent years, the public sector units (PSUs) have conducted various CSR activities in the rural
areas of Uttar Pradesh and are funding it properly. Now there is a need to assess the success of
CSR activities to evaluate whether the funds invested in CSR activities benefit the society or not
and also to see if these activities help sustainable development. Furthermore, social impact
assessment must put forth to improve the status and reputation of the company by providing the
present scenario of issues addressed by CSR activities.

5. AIM OF THE PROJECT
B&R’s approach oriented to identify and tabulate corporate social responsibility and sustainable
development (SD) projects in response to the need of society and to implement them with full
involvement and commitment in a time bound manner.
There shall be continuous effort to train and educate the employees of the company in these
areas. This Project seeks to conduct Socio-economic impact assessment in the select areas of NCR
to find out more about what are the effects of CSR activities which are done by the PSUs in this
region. Its aim is to provide detailed information from various targeted beneficiaries such as
schools, Teachers, women and villagers etc. It also aims to inform the situation of society and the
benefits system through the CSR activities and also get information about people. The purpose of
this project is to analyze and understand the working of the CSR system in the specific PSUs
which are participating in the CSR initiatives and also find out how well this mandate of CSR
activities is acknowledged by the public sector undertakings.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
In this research, we will examine the following research questions:
 What obstacles do Indian companies face when implementing CSR?
 What motivates companies in India to pursue CSR?
 Does the CSR activities carried out as per the recommendations of the firms’ CSR
committee and CSR policies?
 Do the local communities that are the targeted beneficiaries (TB) require these CSR
activities?
 What forms of partnerships were developed or used for these CSR activities?
 What is the socio-economic impact of the CSR activities on targeted beneficiaries?
 What is the economic impact of the CSR activities on targeted beneficiaries?
 Is the CSR impact sustainable?

6. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The major Objective of this project are to:
 Conduct capacity building, empowerment of communities, inclusive socio-economic
growth, and environment protection, promotion of green and energy efficient
technologies and development of backward regions.
 Skill development of unemployed and distressed youths or the community
 To imbibe a positive and responsive attitude amongst all employees in respect of CSR and
sustainability.
 Conduct a descriptive study on social impact of addressing the issues by CSR activities.
 Assess the areas required for change in policy or method of CSR activities by which more
and more people are benefitted.
 Prepare policy recommendations for efficient, smooth and timely CSR interventions for
the sustainable development.
Need for Impact Assessment
According to the revised guidelines, “The ultimate test of the success of any CSR and
Sustainability activity / project is the social, economic or environmental impact thereof. Every
such activity is planned and implemented with some anticipated impact on society or
environment. It is against such perception and expectation of impact that the completed activity /
project should be measured to ascertain the degree of its success, or failure.” [Clause 1.8.1]
“While achievement of targets and expected outcomes can be a source of satisfaction, public
sector companies should get an assessment done of the social / economic / environmental
impact of their CSR and Sustainability activities after the same are completed.” [Clause 1.8.3]

7. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
In the present world of globalization corporations are becoming more aware of their social
responsibilities and drastically changing their mere philanthropic philosophy. In spite of the
valuable provision given by many corporations, an enormous amount of the work could still be
done. If the organizations which invest in Social activities for a good cause take a huge step
towards eradicating many social miseries, particularly poverty and illiteracy through
investments in education. For this, companies should put forth their efforts to know the real
conditions of the local environment in which they are operating by investing in activities like
Social impact assessment.
In Indian Industry Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is latest and most discussed issue these
days. But Indian companies views CSR from different perspective .Some Companies look CSR as
“window dressing” and believes that CSR will not help the growth and profitability of business.
Others view that CSR will certainly improve the image of the company, increase the profitability
and help in long-term sustainable performance of the business. These different views towards
CSR raise a line of enquiry on the prerequisite and importance of CSR in India. (Verma, 2011)
One of the main reasons for the adoption of CSR is the poor condition of the Indian society.
Although India is one of the fastest growing developing economies yet several socio-economic
problems are rampant not only on surface level but also at grass root level like poverty, illiteracy
lack of health Issues. Indian societies are suffering with the pathetic conditions and government
has limited resources to tackle these issues. This scenario has provided several opportunities for
Indian corporates to contribute the development of society. Today, Indian scenario has been
changed, Now CSR has gone beyond the charity and donation. It becomes an important part of the
corporate policies and strategies. Companies have separate CSR teams which deal with CSR
programs and Activities and formulate specific policies, strategies, and goals for their CSR
programs. (Ghanshyamdas, 2011)
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in general terms, defined as, “The intentional compliance
of social and ecological responsibility of companies” .CSR is basically a notion whereby
companies choose voluntarily to contribute to a betterment of society and a healthy competitive
environment.

8. Corporate social responsibility is a contribution given by Companies to the society from the profit
of the company as a social investment. A fixed proportion of yearly profit of the company is
invested in the society through social activities for the sake of betterment of society.
Recently increasing number of companies had started promoting their Corporate Social
Responsibility as an integral part of the strategies because the customers, the public and the
investors expect them to act in a manner that are sustainable as well as responsible towards the
society. In most of the cases CSR activities are the result of a social, environmental and economic
pressures.
Every companies intends to improve the profitability of its stakeholders and understand the
obligation towards this. One of this is CSR i.e. responsibility towards the business. Here
corporates invest in some activities which can influence the society in a positive way. It can be in
the form of volunteer assistance program, training and education, initiatives towards community
relationship, etc.
Corporates indulge in the CSR activities in order to provide tangible benefits to the community
through proper assessment of social requirements and community needs, operation of trust or
foundation, provision of key positive impacts and employee volunteer program and corporate
involvement in community education, employment. The basic purpose of CSR is to contribute
something to the society for whatever has been given by society to the business. Now all the
companies focus on education and employability (Gautam and Singh, 2010)
Large number of Indian companies actively participate in the areas of education and training,
followed by health care, welfare of underprivileged and rural development (Mehta, 2003;
Gautam, 2009). The main issues supported by Indian companies are health and education
(IndianNGOs.com, 2002; Balasubramanian, et al., 2005; Karmayog, 2008; Times Foundation,
2008). Even a few corporate define CSR by addressing the area of education and training.
Activities related to education or training such as construction of school building, merit
scholarship to employees or others, adult literacy classes, vocational training to women and
youth, scholarships for studies, enhancing teachers' performance and funding support for higher
learning are beneficial.

9. The United Nations has declared 2003-12 as the International Literacy Decade. According to
UNESCO’s estimates, India has the largest number of adult illiterates in the world, about 290
million, accounting for a third of the worlds. (UNESCO)
As education is a tool that helps combat the cut-throat competition in today’s times. At every
juncture in a man’s life, its ‘Education’ that makes the difference as it is the 4th highest necessity
after food, clothing and shelter. India has been constantly striving to improve the quality of
education and aim at increasing the literacy rate of the country. (Cairn magazine, 2012)

10. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This research will be an ‘exploratory’ research design so as to allow maximum flexibility to
understand the areas and issues. In this research various methods of data collection will be used.
SIA contains the use of a wide range of data collection methods, quantitative and qualitative, for
deriving the conclusions, common in social science research. A combination of methods will be
used for social impact assessment. Furthermore, in addition to functional analytical tools, SIA
uses participatory methods as well as exploratory methods that contribute to a better analysis
understanding of the project.
The selection of tools and methods are based on several criteria such as the project, people,
society, area, Amount of Investment, literacy rate of people. There must be a clarity on social
impact assessment methodology.
Methods of Data Collection
The SIA includes both secondary as well as primary data.
Secondary Source
It contains already collected data for some other purpose, but related to the project such sources
of data include:
 Government census data
 Administrative records regarding the relevant society (such as NSS)
 Documents from non-governmental or non –profitable organization organizations
Primary Source
It contains data collected for present research purpose. As the present data from secondary
sources cannot be an auxiliary for project- specific surveys. For this, SIA derives much more
relevant information directly from
 Key Informant Interviews
 Focused Group Discussions
 Structured and Unstructured Interviews
 Socioeconomic Survey

11. List of CSR and SD projects to be undertaken during 2015-16
 B&R Vishwakarma scheme or skill development and other CSR activities.
 Water management- rainwater harvesting.
 Energy management- energy efficiency.
 Other suitable CSR and SD projects may be taken up by the company’s per schedule VII of
Companies Act, 2013.
Board level committee headed by an independent director has been formed to guide
identification of the projects and to monitor the implementation of these projects. The below
board level committee of the company will undertake implementation and actively monitor the
CSR and sustainability initiatives of the company. Period reports on the progress or
implementation shall be put up to the board level CSR and sustainability committee. An external
agency will be entrusted for final evaluation and reporting whenever such reporting is deemed
necessary.
The surplus arising out of the CSR projects or programs or activities shall not form a part of the
business profit of the company.

12. KEY DELIVERABLES
The foremost advantages of conducting Socio-economic Impact Assessment (SIA) are as follows:
 To help Identify key groups whose issues are addressed through CSR of the chosen area
who are affected by the CSR activities done by the PSUs.
 To help in improving the benefits of CSR and also to identify measures for maximizing and
enhancing the project benefits to the society.
 Addressing social impacts at an initial phase helps to avoid costly errors in future and the
funds of the CSR for the good cause will be invested in right place more efficiently.
 Report incorporating recommendations based on the findings for use by the government
as input for making necessary policies and programs for the better outreach of the CSR
initiatives.
 Report identifying new streams/disciplines on research in Sustainable Development
through CSR.

13. TIMELINE FOR PROJECT
The timeline for conducting a CSR project.
Socio-economic impact assessment is contingent. It can vary greatly according to the availability
of the staff, workloads, and size of the community being examined and oftentimes can take longer
or shorter. The following is provided as a rough guide:
Duration of the Project
Foundation of the Project 06 months
Identification of PSUs & Selected Areas 03 months
Data collection 12 months
Data analysis 06 months
Report writing 03 months
Total 30 months

14. BUDGET OF PROJECT
Honorarium to Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-PIs Rs. 5000 p.m
(Rs.5000 x 4 (PIs)x 30Months) Rs. 6,00,000
Personnel
Research Associate 1 @Rs.18000 per month x 30 months Rs. 5,40,000
Travel Rs. 4,00,000
One Computer, Printer& UPS, Two Tables & Chairs Rs. 1,50,000
Stationery and printing Rs. 90,000
Books, journals Rs. 1,00,000
Contingency Rs. 1,50,000
Total Rs. 20,30,000
(Rupees Twenty Lakhs Thirty Thousand Only)

15. REFERENCES
1. Balasubramaniam N. K., Kimber D. and Siemensma F.( 2005), “ Emerging Opportunities or
Traditions reinforced ? An Analysis of the attitude towards CSR and Trends of Thinking about
CSR in India.” The Journal of Corporate Citizenship 17, 17-92
2. Baranwal M. (2004), “Disst. Demand for literacy in rural India: A case study in Bihar state.”
The University Of Chicago
3. Cairn India Limited (2012) A Cairn India CSR Magazine January
4. Gautam R. and Singh S. (2010), “Corporate Social Responsibility Practices in India: A Study of
Top 500 Companies,” Global Business and management research: An International Journal
5. Ghanshyamdas S. (2011). “Corporate Social Responsibility and Education in India”, Journal of
Babasaheb Gawde Institute Of Management Studies.
6. Ghosh A. and Chakraborti C. (2010), “Corporate Social Responsibility: A developmental Tool
for India,” Publication info. IUP Journal of Corporate Governance 9.4, 40-56
7. http://www.bridgeroof.co.in/pages/display/36-csrsustainable-development
8. Indian NGOs.com (2002). “Research on CSR report.” Web. 12 Oct. 2004.
9. Karmayog (2007). “Karmyog CSR Rating of the 500 companies-2007.” Web. 09 May 2010
10. Mehta B. (2003) “Corporate social responsibility Initiatives of NSE Nifty companies – content
implementation Strategies and Impact”. NSE Research initiative. (NSE research paper:
Mumbai National Stock Exchange)
11. Shanmugam, K. Shaik. M. N. (2011) “A Study of CSR Initiatives in Indian Automobile Industry.
“Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in business 3 85-100
12. Verma S. (2011).” Why Indian Companies Indulge in CSR? Journal of Management & Public
Policy”2, 2