Director (HR) speaks on CSR
New Delhi   30-Jan-2012

Mr. Sudhir Bhalla, Director (HR), fresh from the successful launch of IndianOil’s prestigious flagship CSR project, ‘IndianOil Sachal Swasthya Seva’ (Mobile Medical Units linked to Kisan Seva Kendras), shares his views on a range of CSR relates issues viz. IndianOil’s CSR history, philosophy, IndianOil Sachal Swasthya Seva, new DPE guidelines on CSR, concepts of CSR & Sustainability, etc.

Question: How has IndianOil fared in the CSR yardstick and how important is CSR to IndianOil’s broader societal and business goals?

Sudhir Bhalla, Director (HR): CSR has been one of IndianOil’s key social brand indicators since its inception. The fact that, for more than half a century now, IndianOil has been ensuring uninterrupted supply of essential energy products to each nook & corner of the country without economic consideration, is indication enough of IndianOil’s firm societal commitment. I believe, this by itself, in a sense, is great CSR! Moreover, over the years, we have supported innumerable number of societal interventions through our CSR funding in areas viz. clean drinking water, education, healthcare & sanitation, etc. I think CSR will play a very important role in meeting IndianOil’s branding objectives. There is a huge upside to corporate branding through CSR. IndianOil is perceived to be a publicly owned professionally run organisation working essentially for the nation’s development and society at large and therefore, there is an enormous CSR branding potential to be unlocked for ‘IndianOil’ as a corporate brand. And IndianOil’s long-term branding proposition and hence a large amount of long-term business stake should stand on a strong CSR pedestal.

Question: Recently IndianOil launched ‘IndianOil Sachal Swasthya Seva’. What is the reason for such a specific health-oriented initiative?

Director (HR): ‘IndianOil Sachal Swasthya Seva’ or Primary healthcare through Mobile Medical Units was launched at Nagaram village near Hyderabad by the Hon’ble Union Minister for P&NG on January 9, 2012. Healthcare is one of the ‘CSR thrust areas’ of IndianOil. The other two are ‘Education’ and ‘Drinking water’. In addition to numerous rural health initiatives across the country, we are also running 2 hospitals, one at Mathura and another at Digboi. We have also been running a nursing school, ‘Assam School of Nursing’ at Digboi, where so far, 298 students have graduated to become certified nurses. Therefore, ‘Healthcare’, as a CSR initiative, is not new to us. In due course, we plan to expand the footprints of ‘IndianOil Sachal Swasthya Seva’ initiative across other States and cover many rural households in hundreds of villages, where primary healthcare is inadequate or non-existent.

Question: How do you select villages for ‘IndianOil Sachal Swasthya Seva’ project?

Director (HR): ‘IndianOil Sachal Swasthya Seva’ is totally a Kisan Seva Kendra (KSK)-centric initiative. The services would be available in select villages in the vicinity of our KSKs. In the pilot phase, we plan to roll out 40 Mobile Medical Units (MMU) in Andhra Pradesh and 12 MMUs in Uttar Pradesh covering 52 KSKs and more than 750 villages with total population of more than 10.5 lakh. A thorough baseline survey was conducted in the vicinity of the target KSKs for identification of villages, where primary healthcare is either unavailable or inadequate. A catchment area about 20 KMs around a KSK is considered for identifying villages. The concept of baseline survey was mooted by Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) this year. I appreciate this initiative of DPE as this will augur well for systematising the entire CSR project identification and implementation process.

Question: How often in a month can the villagers expect the Mobile Medical Units to turn up in their villages? How many villagers do you think will be benefitted from this scheme?

Director (HR): At an average, each Mobile Medical Unit (MMU) will visit one or two villages per day and will return to the same set of villages once every week. The MMU will cover about 100 patients per day. Every day, each MMU will start its journey from the KSK and will return to the same KSK after visiting the designated villages. The MMU will be stationed at the KSK each night. In Andhra Pradesh, 40 MMUs will touch lives of villagers from about 630 villages in the vicinity of our chosen 40 KSKs and in UP, 12 MMUs will touch base with about 130 villages around 12 KSKs. Every year, 52 MMUs in AP & UP will touch lives of about 1.5 million rural Indians.

Question: What are the key takeaways for the villagers from ‘IndianOil Sachal Swasthya Seva’? Will the villagers have to pay for Doctor’s fees and cost of medicines?

Director (HR): The services of Doctors as well as medicines will be provided free of cost to the villagers. Each Mobile Medical Unit (MMU) will have a 4-member team comprising a qualified doctor, a pharmacist, a community mobiliser and a driver. As I said earlier, the MMUs will visit the same village once every week and will be positioned at a pre-decided place in the village, where a hoarding will be put up with information about day and time of the MMU, contact number of the community mobiliser, etc. If for some unforeseen reason, MMU cannot reach the village, the community mobiliser will inform key persons (e.g. Sarpanch) in the village in advance, so that s/he can inform the villagers. Moreover, the MMUs will also act as Information centres on healthcare, hygiene, sanitation, HIV/AIDS, etc.

Question: KSK dealer is a major stakeholder in this project. Do you think ‘IndianOil Sachal Swasthya Seva’ will have any impact on KSK’s businesses?

Director (HR): Since this CSR initiative is entirely KSK-centric, in due course, a lot of positive goodwill will be generated about KSK as a provider of health service, in addition to being a fuel provider. Since we shall cater to one of the vital needs of the villagers, i.e. ‘healthcare’, this project will help us get closer to our rural customers and will strengthen our bond with the villagers. Of course, we have to put our resources to good use to succeed in this flagship CSR initiative to earn this goodwill on a continuous basis. I have no doubt that, in the long run, this initiative will augur very well for IndianOil’s & KSK’s branding and will definitely have a positive impact on our businesses.

Question: How much budget has been allocated for this program? In these difficult times, do you think this program can be sustained in the long run?

Director (HR): For running this program for 3 years, IndianOil Board has already approved Rs.26.91 crore. This includes capital cost of vehicles & equipment and 3-years’ operating cost, which includes cost of medicines, salary of Doctor and staff, fuel cost and vehicle maintenance expenditure. Since this will be one of the prestigious programs of IndianOil, we would like to ensure continuance of such projects, which will generate great goodwill. The expenditure for running 52 MMUs for 3 years has already been budgeted in the last year’s CSR budget. After 3 years, we shall once again approach the Board for extension. Meanwhile, within the permissible budget & CSR policy, we shall also consider expansion of such programs to other parts of the country. Very soon, a comprehensive policy on CSR will be put up for board approval, which will include all aspects of CSR including continuing CSR programs, program-based activities, CSR DoA, etc.

Question: Recently DPE has issued guidelines regarding implementing CSR programs. What is the key differences vis-à-vis current policy?

Director (HR): As per new DPE guidelines, CPSEs must shift from the ad-hoc/charity based CSR initiatives to ‘project-based’ initiatives. This means, every CSR project will have four components viz. 1) Baseline Survey, i.e. need assessment, 2) Implementation, 3) Monitoring and 4) Impact Assessment. ‘Baseline Survey’, ‘Implementation’ & ‘Impact Assessment’ have to be done through external agencies only, whereas ‘Monitoring’ can be done by in-house officials/committees. The agency involved in ‘Impact Assessment’ has to be different from the one involved in ‘Implementation’. We are discussing with TATA Institute of Social Sciences-Mumbai (TISS), the ‘National CSR Hub’ designated by DPE, to sign a MoU for conducting Baseline survey in villages in the vicinity of 40 locations across all Divisions. TISS will also conduct impact assessment of projects undertaken at these villages and our continuing CSR schemes.

Moreover, unlike earlier policy, when 30% of balance CSR budget, i.e. after allocating for IndianOil Foundation & LPG schemes, used to be allocated to donations/contributions, as per new DPE guidelines, only 5% of the annual CSR budget can be allocated for such non-project based initiatives. Therefore, any CSR initiative, which is not carried out in the project mode will not get any marks on CSR in MoU evaluation. Let us also not forget that CSR carries 5% weightage in our MoU with DPE! This issue has to be dealt with utmost seriousness it deserves. That’s why we plan to give utmost priority to CSR and bolster CSR workforce across Divisions to provide renewed thrust to all our CSR initiatives in a methodical and ‘project-based’ manner.

Question: Talking about CSR in the global context, generally, in the western world, CSR & Sustainability are considered to be two parts of the same coin. Do you think Indian corporate will adopt such a concept in due course? How do you see this scene unfolding in the near future?

Director (HR): I believe, just like our western counterparts, CSR and sustainability will go hand in hand in India too. In the western world, CSR is gradually giving its way to ‘Sustainability’, as CSR is considered to be a subset of ‘Sustainability’. In fact under the broader framework of ‘Sustainability’, ‘Enterprise Responsibility’ or ‘Corporate Responsibility’ is driving a gamut of sustainability related initiatives including ‘CSR’, ‘Sustainable product development’, ‘Sustainable business practices’, etc. Indian corporate world has already embraced such concepts into their businesses. E.g. we have already made huge investments for our low-sulfur product roll-out to meet latest Euro fuel norms; we have also brought in renewable energy into our folds. I must add here that most of the sustainability related initiatives for the rural Indians viz. recharging ground water, clean fuel initiatives like solar and biogas projects, etc. are economically unviable at today’s costs. Moreover, there is also a lack of entrepreneurial push. Therefore, I think, in due course, CSR funds need to be utilised for some of the flagship rural sustainability projects. Hence, purely in the Indian & third world context, CSR & ‘Rural sustainability’ will have to go hand in hand.

Question: Do you think CSR, or in your words ‘Enterprise Responsibility’ or ‘Corporate Responsibility’, has a role to play in changing mindsets of employees/’people in general’ towards a more equal, humane and resource-neutral society?

Director (HR): As I said, though responsible enterprise initiatives are vital for a better world for tomorrow’s generation, we must simultaneously recognize the fact that there is a huge gap between the ‘quality of life’ of the typical ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ in India. In a developing country like India, a lot has to be done for ‘Societal intervention for development’. That’s where CSR comes in. It has been and will continue to play a bridging & supplemental role, especially in bridging some essential services delivery gap, thus contributing to Government’s objective of ‘inclusive growth’.

Moreover, I think ‘CSR and Sustainability’ are, after all, a ‘people movement’ and it is all about ‘change of mindset’ of all of us as to what more we can do for the society and to reduce usage of natural resources including energy, water and air. Doing simplest of things like switching off lights & water taps when not in use will have great positive impacts on the society and the world as a whole! Every drop of water counts! Every unit of energy saved counts! Resource saved is resource generated! We must work proactively and methodically in our organization to bring about this positive change. This will augur well for IndianOil in the long run. And for this to happen we have to not only change peoples’ mindsets, we must also invest in development of change leaders. We must strive to be, as Mahatma Gandhi said, be the change leaders that we propose the world to be.