Karmayog India CSR list

Karmayog released its 2011 CSR list. This year the CSR study and ratings present a snap-shot of the largest 500 companies in India, with specific focus on their CSR initiatives. The study shows how different kinds of companies (government owned, private, multi-national) from different industry sectors are responding to global and local conditions that demand and need more responsible behavior by all stakeholders, especially corporations.

Karmayog is an organization based out of Mumbai, India. It has a firm finger on the pulse of the corporate world and is able to give a rather unbiased view of CSR activities. This is the fourth year of the Karmayog CSR Ratings. Since the study was started in 2007, there has been a greater awareness and practice of CSR in India. 

The 2011 study shows that more companies are reporting their CSR activities and that the government has framed voluntary CSR recommendations for companies. Over the past four years, there has been an increase in companies undertaking some form of CSR. The number of companies with a Level 4 or Level 3 rating, has remained similar. The study also includes sector-specific tables and ratings that show how companies in different industry sectors are undertaking CSR, and also highlight the best practices by companies in a sector.

Good CSR policy is good for business

With increasing consumer pressures for more responsible products, there is a lot of attention being placed on India's Ready Made Garment (RMG) supply chains. In recent years, implementation of supplier codes of conduct and the use of social accountability standards such as SA8000 have become a common approach for export businesses involved in outsourcing, purchasing and trade. However, this is only a fraction of the companies active in the Indian RMG sector. Still most businesses fight shy of the costs associated with sustainable production, while the actual cost of doing nothing is mounting: "US blacklists Indian exports again for using child labour".

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Enabling Sustainability Newsletter

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Who will feed the world?

A new Oxfam research report titled “Who will feed the world?” focuses on the sustainable food production challenge linked to a growing world population.

Four-pronged approach

A four-pronged approach is argued for in this report: a mix of large- and small-scale, and Low External Input and High External Input production methods. The main conclusion is that whatever mix of the four-pronged approach is adopted, major commitment and investment by governments, development agencies, and private-sector actors, to reverse the trend of the last 20 years, will be essential to achieving sustained agricultural growth and to making a major dent in the levels of poverty and hunger.

Key recommendations

1. Develop a country-led long-term vision where technologies and institutional innovations are tailored to the local context and involve broad consultations among the large number of players involved.
2. In developing countries, supporting small-scale farmers would provide the greatest impact in terms of income creation and food security, in particular when associated with LEI agriculture methods. Adopting sustainable farming methods would also be crucial to improving productivity while conserving the natural resource base and responding to climate-change challenges
3. There is a need for renewed commitments by governments and international donors to ensure that food availability and accessibility keep pace with population growth, while enhancing resilience and achieving sustainability. 
4. National and international donor agriculture policies must: support subsistence farmers to cope with risks and vulnerability; empower smallholder farmers, especially women, with capacity, finance, and a regulatory framework that encourages organisation and enhances productivity; regulate agro-industrial operations to enhance social benefits and good environmental stewardship; and promote synergies between small-holder and agro-industrial operations, building on complementarities and linkages wherever possible.

Global endosulfan ban

The Parties to the Stockholm Convention have agreed to ban endosulfan… with an exemption of a 11 year phase out period, to get India agree to it too. The good news is that India accepted that the pesticide Endosulfan is a health hazard, and has agreed to support the development of cost-effective alternatives.

Isolated position

India has resisted the ban for years, claiming there was no solid proof that it impacted human health. At the convention India was completely isolated in its stand, especially when China supported the ban. It received a further setback when the Food and Agriculture Association (FAO) of the UN officially stated endosulfan is a hazardous pesticide.

Civil society campaign

Prakruthi congratulates all involved in the (inter-) national anti-endosulfan civil society campaign. The constant pressure by the POPs Elimination Network, Pesticide Action Network groups and many Indian organizations has pushed India over the edge. 

India's Pesticide Addiction: Endosulfan

The world will be watching India during the Stockholm Convention meet in Geneva, from April 25 to 29 2011, to discuss a global ban on the pesticide Endosulfan. The Stockholm Convention deals with persistent organic pollutants. Endosulfan has attracted attention due to the fact that this insecticide is proven to be highly hazardous as it is persistent, bio-accumulative and capable of endangering human health. Endosulfan is being used in the production of cotton, cardamom, coffee, soy and mango. 

No ban
India was the only member country to take a stand against the ban at the Sixth Meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee to the Convention that recommended the ban last year. 

Pesticide Industry
Indian manufacturers are the world's main producers; among them the government owned company Hindustan Insecticides (also a producer of the extremely hazardous pesticides Monocrotophos and DDT). India exports more than 50 percent of its Endosulfan production to 26 countries that are still allowing its use. Already 81 countries have either banned or decided to phase out Endosulfan completely. 

Endosulfan banned in Kerala
Interestingly, in the Indian state of Kerala, the sale and use of Endosulfan has been banned since 2004, recognizing the danger and severe human health risks of this persistent organic pollutant. The well-documented case studies (see also a recent article in the Economic and Political Weekly) of the many human health problems should encourage the government of India to support a worldwide ban. If not, India will isolate itself by promoting its pesticide industry, thereby continuing the endangering of peoples’ health and the poisoning of the environment.