IMPACT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON SOCIETY

IMPACT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON SOCIETY

IMPACT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON SOCIETY

AUTHOR – SAMUEL TABAN HAKIM DANIEL* & DR. RAJIV BHALLA**, LL.M. (MASTER OF LAWS)* & PROFESSOR**, UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF LEGAL STUDIES, CHANDIGARH UNIVERSITY, MOHALI, PUNJAB, INDIA

BEST CITATION – SAMUEL TABAN HAKIM DANIEL & DR. RAJIV BHALLA, IMPACT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON SOCIETY, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 4 (4) OF 2024, PG. 363-378, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

ABSTRACT

CSR has progressed from being a moral corporate voluntarism to a legal norm under the Indian ‘Companies Act, 2013’, especially ‘Section 135’ which provides that eligible companies have to spend at least 2% of their profits on social and environmental welfare. This paper aims to analyze CSR regarding the effects on society, covering the economic, social, and environmental areas, and the difficulties in practice, which are: greenwashing, unequal standards, and the objectives of social and economic return. While the study focuses on effective CSR approaches with positive social sustainability outcomes, such as those by Tata Group encompassing community welfare, it also examines cases with low outcomes, including Vedanta in the Niyamgiri Hills, which exposes problems with stakeholder engagement and ethical considerations. Various judgments passed in India have framed the CSR provisions and have enforced various social and environmental justice. Thus, it is recommended that legislatures provide more stringent rules and methods for CSR implementation, managers should expand CSR into a company’s strategic management, businesspeople should engage different stakeholders effectively, and corporate reports should contain better and more comprehensive standards for CSR. These measures are designed to encourage real participation in the actualization of sustainable development by meeting social, economic, and ecological needs in India.

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, Companies Act 2013, Section 135, sustainable development, greenwashing, India, environmental sustainability.