With an aim to integrate corporate social responsibility on the lines dictated by the Union ministry of corporate affairs, the AP Pollution Control Board has urged entrepreneurs in the state to indulge in community welfare. The recently appointed APPCB member-secretary, Mr M. Ravi Chandra, has decided to introduce this novel concept in the state.
Entrepreneurs coming under the purview of APPCB, while applying for the Consent For Operation for their industrial units, have been urged to spend one per cent of the project cost of the factory on community welfare schemes. The Centre has various parameters for fixing the percentage to be spent under corporate social responsibility norms including the degree of pollution etc. The state would impose similar parameters for the benefit of the community under the obligation of enterprise social responsibility.
Mr Chandra said he was reviewing the Consent for Operation of 46 applicants for various factories in AP. He underlined that 0.2 per cent of the project cost of the factory should hereafter be spent under the enterprise social responsibility for each financial year after commencement of the operations. “The amount should be spent primarily on health, education, sanitation, drinking water, women empowerment and welfare of the weaker sections,” he said.