Widen the scope of CSR law

Twenty years ago, Sudha Murthy, a computer engineer by qualification took up social work as it was her passion. She set new milestones for herself and the Infosys Foundation to reach out to the needy. She believes philanthropy is not a 9 to 5 job, but one driven by passion and commitment towards the country. As one of the top CSR spenders in India, the Foundation is making inroads into the northeast region, while exploring newer vistas like providing midday meals, supporting ailing art forms and artistes, building museum city and school libraries in rural India to boost scientific temper and research. In an exclusive interview with THE WEEK, Murthy confides that the best thing to have happened in recent times is the CRS law, as it has given her huge funds and the freedom to reach farther and beyond. Excerpts:

CSR became a law in 2014. Do you think it has been a game-changer?
CSR law should have been there long time ago. We could have spent a lot more money. In the last two decades we had spent a total of Rs 450 crore. But last year alone, we spent Rs 243 crore, which is due to the CSR law. This year we hope to spend more than Rs 265 crore. I am happy we have big money and can do projects which we were unable to do earlier. But we are able to do it now. The school projects in the northeast, setting up a faculty chair in a Kerala medical college, building 14,000 toilets in schools, night shelter for patients, labs and water wells for schoolchildren, setting up kitchen worth Rs 18 crore for mid-day meals in Hyderabad, and lot more were possible due to the huge funding coming our way.

The law is new and measuring social impact is yet to take off. How do you assess your projects?

We have always followed a systematic approach. We hire an agency for impact assessment. When we had only little money, we used to do our own assessment. But now we are able to hire experts, who will help us identify gaps and improve.

Are you in favour of corporates pooling in for government flagship projects like Swachch Bharat, Skill India?

I feel we cannot partner with the government for all projects. But if the government seeks corporate participation in specific areas, we would. But we would like to have total control over the project in our hand to ensure freedom to work towards the quality benchmarks we have set for ourselves.

Do you feel the CSR funds are concentrated in industrialised states?

We were one of the earliest people to work in the northeast which has no industries. The expansion of our activities was initially in the southern states, where Infosys had its presence. We did not restrict ourselves to Bengaluru or states like Kerala or Maharashtra, which are developed. Once the CSR law came in, we got enough money and freedom to venture into neglected areas. We started work in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jammu, MP and Uttar Pradesh. We faced many hurdles but are now working with some exceptional people and groups.

How crucial is the role of NGOs in CSR?

Credibility is of utmost importance for us. We are particular about the NGOs whom we work with. We have seen many NGOS like Chinmaya Mission who are really good, and have relied on references to get outstanding NGOs working on water projects and rural projects. A major chunk of our time was spent scrutinising our NGO partners as there is always a deluge of NGO applications. But our experience has helped us identify genuine NGOs. In fact, we maintain a database of NGOs we work with and have assigned them ratings after background verification. The rating - A, B, C, A-, A+ considers certain criteria like who the trustees are, their intent, ATG status, overheads, beneficiaries, area of operation, and how they treat their people. how do they treat them. This helps us save time and also eliminate applications that do not qualify.

Companies invest in their own backyard and rope in employees for CSR activities. Your comments?

I believe in creating opportunities for employees inclined to do social work. At every development centre of Infosys, we have created networks like Mamatha in Hyderabad, Akanksha in Bhubaneshwar, Apeksha in Trivandrum and Sparsh in Pune. We understand, the company employees have job commitments, too, so we don't expect them to work on CSR projects 24X7. They only do weekend projects or contribute in their area of expertise or interest. Our work is no longer restricted to certain areas as we are now working in remote locations with some good NGOs.

Considering the huge funds the CSR law would now generate, who do you think qualifies for the job?

It is really not about the money, but the question of getting the right people. If someone has compassion and the right attitude, they will do well in this sector. If you have a degree, but have the attitude to work on a 9 to 5 job, it does not help.
People who are compassionate, practical and who believe in development of the country should take up this field.

Your efforts to popularise science and maths among middle school teachers in rural Karnataka was much appreciated. What are your thoughts on higher education?

Excellence in science and technology is crucial for a country's development. We created a corpus (Rs 30 crore) for Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, to give out student scholarships and hike the salary of professors. We set up chairs in institutions like IISc (Rs 22 crore) to help them rope in Nobel laureates to teach for a year, collaborated with CIPET in Bhubaneshwar for skill development training of students, engaged with Teach for India among others.

Any changes that you propose to the CSR law?

I only wish the law makes provision for wider sectors. For example, we did a solar project last year, which is a clean energy project that also helps save energy (by cutting down dependence on state grid). But it did not fit the bill as a CSR initiative. The police protect our cities and we hope to provide them better facilities. But this, too, does not count as CSR. So, there is a need to widen the scope of activities to help bridge gaps.

How do you balance your role as a philanthropist and author?

The Foundation is my food and being an author my pickle. For the last 20 years, I established contacts, networked with people, and now I inspect only some of the projects where a lot of money is getting invested in and other projects are monitored by my colleagues. I attend to them once or twice. We have become systematic and follow strict norms. We have third party inspection, checks and balances to run the project smoothly. I am happy we are doing well.