Evolution and Importance of CSR in the Indian Context

A necessary pre-condition for the successful co-existence of a profit-making organization and the society is a mutual beneficial relationship between them. The business has its dependency on the society for running its operations, hence there exists a moral responsibility on them to give back to the society as well. With the introduction of globalization in the early 1990’s and a gradual but noticeable shrinkage of public sector undertakings, the vast expansion of the private sector, triggered the need for a sustainable and balanced development of the society. Introduction of CSR proved to be powerful tool that, on the one hand, it brought in a level of awareness and responsibility amongst the private players and on the other hand, it also paved way for the reformation and development of the society. Historically, the concept of social responsibility by the profit-making organizations existed but was more oriented towards prevention of harm to the society. As the years progressed, more and more realization set in of a sustainable world, the business sector began to positively contribute by means of charitable/philanthropic work. In the modern era, the sustainable growth was imperative due to various reasons such as population explosion, scarcity of resources, disparities in income, global warming etc. This brought in a sense of responsibility and opened avenues for corporate governance reforms. One such initiative by the government of India was the mandatory implementation of CSR by the companies. This research paper shall dwell into the aspects of the concept of CSR, its importance in the society and its evolution. The paper attempts to provide an insight into the evolution of CSR in the global context and then focuses on its evolution in the India, including the analysis of its evolution in a legal context.