News:Government has decided to expand the scope of corporate spend under Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) norms.
Facts:
About CSR:
- Corporate social responsibility (CSR) was initiated through the Companies Act, 2013.
- The act mandated companies and government organisations with (a)turnover of Rs1,000 crore or more(b)net worth exceeding Rs 500crore or (c)having more than Rs 5 crore in net profits to spend 2% of average net profit of the preceding three years on CSR.
Activities that can be undertaken under CSR:
- The CSR amount can be spent on initiatives that would have social, economic and environmental impact or a way to give back to the society.
- These initiatives include (a)promoting gender equality (b)empowering women (c)promoting education (d)eradicating hunger (e)poverty, (f)malnutrition (g)rural development projects among others.
- The companies were also allowed to provide CSR funds to technology incubators located within Centre-approved academic institutions.
What has changed?
- Government has now widened the scope of CSR activities and companies can now contribute towards research across various fields such as science, technology, medicine.
- Besides,CSR funds can also be spent on incubators funded by the Centre or state or any state-owned companies.
