Public-Private Partnership and Corporate Social Responsibility - The New Dimensions * Dipti Baghel * Archi Dubey _______________________________________________________________________________ Abstract

This paper attempts to discuss the evolution of this relationship and broadly discuss the inherent bases of cooperation, the objectives and the nature of various forms of interaction. It also tries to see the premises which make industry-institute interaction critical now. As a progressive phenomenon, this paper also builds upon the new dimensions that evolve from interaction, to public-private partnership and corporate social responsibility. _________________________________________________________________________________ Introduction Industry refers to any type of economic activity producing goods or services. It is part of a chainfrom raw materials to finished product, finished product to service sector, and service sector to research and development. Academia is the collective term for the community of students, faculty and scholars engaged in higher education and research. Academia in the context of universities definitely possesses the research ability and motivation, as well as experience, in delivering the essence of education through courses and workshops to large sections of a population. Academia is also in a position of offering a neutral environment to bring culturally and ethnically diverse people together. Moreover, academia has the capability to explore concepts which are too dodgy for business. Also, academia has a responsibility to upgrade the society through interaction with its diverse community. The shape of education in India is too complex to envision with precision. The main task is to strengthen the base of the pyramid which will help the billion people of the country to face the future with hope. The journey of cooperation between industry and institute has taken different forms at different times. Historically, it started with simple interaction and gradually evolved to very close partnership overtime. There has been a wide variety of interactions practiced among industries and institutes which includes problem solving, curriculum development, study visits, scholarships, and apprenticeship training and incubation centre. However, until the time that the concept of public private partnership has evolved, industry, has, by far, not been involved in taking sustainable financial, technical and operational risks in the design, financing and building and operation of educational projects. Therefore, public-private partnership has been regarded as a natural progression of relationship from interaction elevated to structural partnership where the private sector assumes substantial operational risks in the design and implementation of educational projects. Corporate social responsibility is represented by the contributions undertaken by companies to society through its core business activities, its social investment and philanthropy programmes and its engagement in public policy. In recent years CSR has become a fundamental business practice and has gained much attention from executive management teams of larger international companies. They understand that a strong CSR program is an essential element in achieving good business practices and effective leadership.

*Research Scholars, Institute of Management, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur *Research Scholars, Institute of Management, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur Literature Review 1

Academic intervention may be needed only in minor technological innovation or modification focused at technology absorption or implementation. Medium and small scale enterprises are a special aspect of industry that comprises the vast majority of businesses across the globe but they do not have the required resources to explore concepts and remove uncertainties of survival. To make the academia-industry interface a grand success, all the stakeholders should collaborate and interact with their own resources and potentiality to make it a win-win partnership. Usually government cuts across a wide swath of industries and is reasonably consistent with fewer annuals ups and downs than often happens in business. Today, industry is a very important part of most societies and nations. Therefore, a government should have some kind of industrial policy, regulating industrial placement, industrial pollution, industrial labour and financing. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is viewed as a comprehensive set of policies, practices and programs that are integrated into business operations, supply chains, and decision-making processes throughout the organization -- wherever the organization does business -- and includes responsibility for current and past actions as well as future impacts1. CSR involves addressing the legal, ethical, commercial and other expectations society has for business, and making decisions that fairly balance the claims of all key stakeholders. Effective CSR aims at achieving commercial success in ways that honour ethical values and respect people, communities, and the natural environment. Simply put it means what you do, how you do it, and when and what you say. Need for CSR While the interests of shareholders and the actions of managers of any business enterprise have to be governed by the laws of economics, requiring an adequate financial return on investments made, in reality the operations of an enterprise need to be driven by a much larger set of objectives that are today being defined under the term CSR. The broad rationale for a new set of ethics for corporate decision making, which clearly constructs and upholds a organization's social responsibility, arises from the fact that a business enterprise derives several benefits from society, which must, therefore require the enterprise to provide returns to society as well. A business cannot succeed in a society which fails. This, therefore, clearly establishes the stake of a business organization in the good health and well being of a society of which it is a part. More importantly, in this age of widespread communication and growing emphasis on transparency, customers of any product or service are unlikely to feel satisfied in buying from an organization that is seen to violate the expectations of what is deemed to be ethically and socially responsible behaviour. It is becoming increasingly evident that organizations that pay genuine attention to the principles of socially responsible behaviour are also finding favour with the public and are the preferred choice for their goods and services. Skill Development in India Skills and knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social development of any country. The economy becomes more productive, innovative and competitive through the development of more skilled human capital. Increasing pace of globalization and technological changes provide both challenges and growing opportunities for economic expansion and job creation. To take advantage of these opportunities as well as to minimise the social costs and dislocation, which the transition to a more open economy entails, the level and quality of skills that a nation possesses are becoming critical factors. Countries with higher and better levels of skills adjust more effectively to the challenges and opportunities of globalization than others (Planning Commission 2007). There is always a difference between knowing and performing, and the gap are explained by inadequacy of skill. Skill development, therefore, means: all the efforts that allow somebody to learn to do something better than before, or do something new that s/he has not done before, and which results in concrete change in their livelihoods (Ueli 2006). OBJECTIVES 2

To assess employees awareness and understanding of core values, vision, and CSR To highlight the role of corporate social responsibility as an essential feature of corporate policy. To focus on the need for corporate social responsibility to play a major role in Education in India. To stress the inter-relationship between the roles of Government, corporate and education in India

Companies practicing CSR in Chhattisgarh 1. Tata Steel Tata Steel is operational in Lohandiguda and Tokpal Blocks in Bastar region of Chattisgarh, with its headquarters at Jagdalpur since 2006. All the CSR initiatives in the region are focused in 10 villages of these two blocks. Some of the CSR initiatives of last year are: Employment Generation

Rural livelihood activities have been catering to the affected community. During 08-09 Jamuna Pari goats to three Self Help Groups were provided for generating self-employment. This variety in goats is famous for its productivity. Empowerment

Different skill development and training programmes were organised for women to create an avenue of self-employment. These include beautician training, screen printing and stitching classes in which about 60 women are enrolled. Employability Training Programme

Out of the 110 youth trained, 63 have been employed in the field of Customer Relation Services, Information Technology and Enabled Services, Hospitality Services and in the Automobile Industry. 2. JINDAL STEEL &POWER Ltd. JSPL recognises education as one of the building blocks of any nation and considers it as a major priority area. The Company aims to nurture young minds and educate them, so that they contribute to the nations development. A number of initiatives have been undertaken in this respect and some of the important benchmarks achieved are: Jindal Global University In keeping with its Founder Chairman, Sh. O. P. Jindals mission to establish global institutions in India that are comparable to the best in the world, JSPL has set up the O. P. Jindal Global University (JGU) and the Jindal Global Law School (JGLS). The educational institutions equip students and faculty with knowledge, skills, scholarship and vision to meet the challenges and demands of globalization. JGU is a non-profit global University established by the Haryana Private Universities (Second Amendment) Act, 2009 at Sonipat, Haryana (NCR of Delhi) through a generous philanthropic initiative of Mr. Naveen Jindal (Chancellor, JGU). The University Grants Commission (UGC) has 3

already accorded recognition to the O. P. Jindal Global University. JGU and JGLS, which is Indias first global law school, are also recognised by the Bar Council of India (BCI). JGLS is also a member of the American Association of Law Librarians (AALL) and holds a membership of the International Association of Law School. Knowledge Park O.P. Jindal Knowledge Park has been formed to provide a new world of opportunity in technical education Jindal Institute of Technology (JIT), Jindal Institute of Power Technology (JIPT) School

O. P. Jindal School - A 10+2 co-educational school with all modern facilities at Raigarh. The oldest girl's school in the region (Raigarh) has also been renovated to offer better standard of education and facilities. Upgraded school infrastructure distributed books and other educational materials in schools at Angul and other parts of Odisha, Patratu (Jharkhand) & Raigarh (Chhattisgarh). Established Adult Education Centres in Angul, Patratu & Raigarh Community Teacher Support

To make up for the deficiency of teachers in government primary, middle & secondary schools in rural areas, 60 teachers have been selected from the local youth to augment the staff strength in various schools. This has not only enabled 10,000 students to upgrade their standard of education, but also generated employment opportunities for the local youth. Lack of awareness and inadequate facilities had made education take a back seat in the districts of Raigarh & Patratu. The basic infrastructure in several schools needed urgent overhauling. Having taken note of all this, JSPL has undertaken the following measures to upgrade the facilities in the schools of the adopted villages at Raigarh& Patratu

IT Certificate Course

Exclusively for tribal and marginalized girls belonging to poor families in the remote village of Kunjimora. A computer course of duration of 3/6 weeks has been conducted here after setting up a computer lab in the school in the village. Instructors and teachers have been outsourced from registered and accredited LCC institutes. More than 200 girls have undergone this course and more are expected to join. This initiative is the first of its kind in the area, which has been well received. Vocational Training

JSPL supports self-help groups for imparting vocational training in tailoring & embroidery in order to empower women from the weaker sections of the society. The staff, material cost, and other infrastructure are borne by JSPL. JSPL, Patratu is imparting a beautician course for females, having already trained more than 70. It is also conducting mushroom cultivation training for self-help groups. 3. Monnet Ispat Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been making meaningful contributions to the society in different areas, for decades now. CSR activities at Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd extend well beyond its business objectives, and the companys concerns for the society are evident from the various initiatives it has taken in different fields. Monnet CSR policy aims at bringing about a radical transformation in the quality of life of people living in and around the operation areas of the company through positive intervention in social upliftment programs. Its key areas of focus are Health, Education, Women Empowerment, Sustainable Livelihood, and Infrastructure Development. Monnet Foundation has made health care 4

provision a matter of primary attention. The Foundation is focused towards overall healthcare of the employee and their near family. This endeavour has resulted in the beginning of hospitals and health care clinics under the Monnet Foundation have made health care provision a matter of primary attention. Monnet group focus on Sustainable Lively Hood by conducting training programs in its CSR target areas for the youth and women in various fields of craft and skills. This enables them to undertake a profession or trade for earning their livelihood. Monnet also recognizes education as one of the building blocks of any nation and considers it as a priority area of its CSR activities. To ensure that the brighter future of tomorrow is not deprived from their right to education, Monnet Foundation is successfully running Monnet DAV Public School in Raipur and Raigarh. STEEL AUTHORITY OF INDIA Ltd. Recognizing that education is an integral part of human development and accepting the constitutional right of every Indian to education, SAIL has been contributing to increasing the literacy rates in the areas of its operations. Since the very beginning its efforts in imparting education to its employees and communities have strategically tried to address the developing countries issues of limited resources, inequity and inefficiency. SAILs efforts have been aligned along the National Education Policy 1986 that targets meeting gaps in public provisioning for literacy improvement, particularly in the educationally backward states. SAIL has been conscious of the need to provide well-equipped schools in order to retain its students. Towards this end, SAIL has adopted a three-pronged strategy that includes: 1. Provision of basic infrastructure including schools with airy classrooms, drinking water and sanitation facilities, electricity, well-developed playgrounds, computers, etc. 2. Availability of trained teachers and high grade learning equipments to make learning a pleasurable experience and to increase retention of students. 3. In keeping with global trends, Information Technology (IT) based education is also imparted at several schools. As a result, the students are computer-literate and can easily adapt to IT based higher learning as well as have access to IT jobs. In order to reduce inequity and to make quality education affordable to all across its plants and mines, SAIL has employed the following strategies: 1. SAIL communities are offered quality education in at subsidized fees, which could be upto 50% lower as compared to the fees structure of other private institutions operating in the same area. 2. Primary education in Hindi and vernacular medium schools is provided gratis in several SAIL schools since inception and survival rate in these schools is 90%. 3. Since the plants and mines have been established in Greenfield and remote areas, education to children belonging to SC/ST communities and economically weaker sections has been made free. 4. A system of scholarships based on merit as well as meritcum-means is well established across all the plants and mines. Both academic performances as well as family incomes are used as decisionmaking criteria in awarding these scholarships. 5. 114 children belonging to SC/ST community have been adopted by BSP and their entire education, boarding, lodging is provided free of cost. Four (4) girls student have been adopted by BSP for nursing course. 6. 14 children from nearly extinct Birhor Tribe of Jharkhand have been adopted by Bokaro Steel Plant. 7. Special scholarship scheme is being run for providing assistance to undergraduate SC/ST engineering students in premier technical institutes of the country. 8. 51 tribal students are taught free of cost in company sponsored DAV school at Chiria Mines, Jharkhand. 9. Most importantly, a majority of the schools are within 1-2 km of the target population, thus making education easily accessible to the children. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the context of Globalisation 5

Globalization could lead to benchmarks, better jobs, higher standards of living, but could result in the gap between developed and developing countries broadening to the detriment of all. Thus, two key areas need to be managed by corporations, along with governments in the process of globalisation, talents (and the mobility of people with talents in demand) and trade. Developing countries need to learn to develop and also retain talent, and that requires a revamp of much of its culture including education infrastructure, legal systems, immigration policies and management policies, while arts and entertainment facilities will need to adapt to meet changing demands and more international tastes. A free and open trade and investment environment is necessary, but achieving agreement between many countries and cultures is difficult. A harmonious symbiosis of Global-Local approach incorporating a sense of social responsibility is required by corporations to help developing countries through their transition to knowledge societies. In this era of globalisation necessitating effective corporate governance, corporations have increasingly come to realize the need to share a common vision of corporate social responsibility though the contents and issues which it would encompass and the priority accorded to them would differ. Successful businesses realize the benefits of deep community ties, creating path-ways of exchange of information, energy and ideas. Our commitments to social responsibility and to making profits are necessarily linked. Corporations need to realize that good causes can help improve a company's as well as a countrys image. In this present era of globalisation as corporations are becoming more aware of their social responsibilities the traditional responses of companies contributing to good causes are dramatically changing from mere philanthropy. Despite the worthwhile support given by many corporations, an enormous amount could still be done. If companies each invest in one good cause with the same fervour, which they invest in their bottom lines, a huge step could be taken towards easing many social woes, particularly poverty eradication are it through investments in health education, knowledge management, etc. One of the key steps would be to thoroughly understand the local environment in which most companies operate. For corporations in the developing and underdeveloped countries, bridging the divide (digital, economic, social or environmental) in order to eliminate poverty should be the essence of the social agenda. The inherent basis of cooperation Over time, two different worlds have been built between Institute and Industry. Each has activities going on in them. Under this circumstance, there exist relative differences in perspectives of education and industry. Education looks at the general development of students that will give them a wide range of opportunities and choices to prepare them after graduation while industries look for technicians and employees with specific skills who will fit directly into the system. Having this seemingly obvious discrepancy in their respective purposes, there is a need to create a platform where institutes and industry can meet eye to eye, share ideas and regularly interact. Forms of interaction can take place with the aim to understand and jointly plan pre-employment and in-service training. If we look deeper to the specific environments in the institute and in the industry, it can be observed that institutions carry out their goals to facilitate learning, preserve a protected zone for students and nourish individual care to address the needs of the learners. The enterprise, on the other hand, work within the framework of industrial practices and norms with production, efficiency and profitability as the basic premise of day-to-day operations. Consistent with these principles, the workplace, as the supreme learning environment, establishes relevant links between the types of technical and vocational skills that must be learned and types of the various learning environments that can provide this. In many opportunities, that the classroom provides the environment for abstract learning, the scientific or technical laboratories provides the Learning by Doing, the production facilities at school are effective in providing Learning in Work environments, and finally the workplace is suited to learning in the real world of work. Thus, learning outcomes are largely dictated by the amount of effort and input to create such learning opportunities that cultivate skills and competencies and the abilities of the learners to learn new skills and technologies at the rate technological changes are happening around them and taking place in the work place. 6

Objectives of Industry-Institute Interaction Close interaction between the institute and the industry/enterprise is seen as the platform for showcasing best practices, latest technological advancements and their implementation and impact on the Industry. It is basically considered to improve the quality of technical and vocational education adequately to meet the needs of the industry and economy. Having a close interaction in place, industries are able to participate in technical and vocational education programs, with the goal of cross-fertilizing ideas for systems improvement. To integrate industrial training and other inputs from the industry with the teaching-learning processes, interaction is necessary as it develops students awareness on job functions in the industry, attitudes to adapt to industrial environment, proper practical and relevant knowledge, skills and competencies in preparation to becoming self employed. Industry expectations are also echoed through sound interaction, particularly the requirements from new recruits who are expected to be orientated to industrial disciplines, job descriptions within the workplace with industrial practices. Mutual benefit is derived from the shared expertise and experiences between the industry and the institute. In addition, operating within the framework of a specific cooperative program is an essential outcome of having both industries and institute agree on specific skills training for some specific jobs. Interaction is so critical in the knowledge era The complexities at the work place brought about by the rapid technological changes, paradigm shifts in education and training and the growing demand for skills training, call for harmonized efforts to reverse the acute skills shortage in many developing countries. Industry-institute interaction allows exploring endless possibilities in working in synergy and deriving a new focus to address socioeconomic and technology-driven challenges. One of the challenges in the present times is the rapid pace of technology which makes skills obsolete at greater pace before everyone else could learn from them. The excessive pace of technological changes has emphasized the need to integrate technological knowledge and skills in education and training to expand lifelong capabilities of a knowledge-based worker. It has been observed that the economic pace of technological change makes 50 percent (50%) of computer knowledge irrelevant within one year, technological knowledge in three years, specialized vocational knowledge in five years and higher education knowledge in 10 years. Another serious challenge is the increasing complexities at work, which lead to the growing need to adapt to new innovations in the market and adopt the technologies that provide utmost efficiency in machine operations. As a result, complex procedures are borne. An example of this is the transformation of automobile repair and operations manual from simple to complex piece of multiplepage document that require skills cluster and know-how to perform them. Considering that people and institutions are not always interested in getting involved, partnerships through industry-institute interaction can only is achieved by finding out strategies to draw relevant stakeholders into systematic and reciprocal interaction to address such work place trends and technology emancipation.

Conclusion The discussion that ensued sought to demonstrate the progressive journey of cooperation between industry and institute. The two different worlds that have been built between industry and institute are considered as the inherent bases of their cooperation. The workplace, as the supreme learning 7

environment, and the emerging technological trends that influence the nature of work are perennial reasons for pursuing mutual engagements between the public and the private sector. These interactions have been based on industry-driven and institute-oriented cooperation that exist at present, particularly those with focus on problem solving, curriculum development and teaching and learning improvements, scholarship and placement provisions, industrial exposures, human resource exchange, apprenticeship, incubation centre establishment and evaluation system provisions. It is important to note that the people from the industry need to consider the institute beyond being a supplier of manpower. Rather, institutes must be viewed as organizations, which can be helpful in solving industrial problems. Companies get involved in education for a number of strategic reasons, including building a positive reputation and goodwill among consumers, employees, investors, and other stakeholders; developing brand recognition, whether to increase consumer loyalty, boost sales, or establish the company as an industry leader; building a more educated workforce; raising consumer awareness about a particular issue; and fulfilling a company mission or mandate Students, schools, and the general public can benefit from the experience and expertise that corporations bring to the table, particularly if the groups work together to ensure the right needs are being met on both ends. Companies looking to contribute to public school education, for instance, must consider the many demands that schools and educators face daily time constraints, tight budgets, technology access, standardized testing, and explicit curriculum standards as well as the unique places where outside help is needed. As long as they address the right needs, businesses have the ability to make a tremendous impact. By providing highly engaging resources, by building in strong connections with instructional needs, and by effectively marketing the resources, more and more companies are simultaneously meeting educational goals and their own business goals This type of comprehensive, focused, relevant involvement is key to the new direction of corporate social responsibility. A new era of corporate involvement and investment in education is here, with promise and opportunity framing the way forward. In this era of globalization, to stay alive in the race for competitive excellence of global market, industries will have to restructure its R&D initiatives. This approach must be directed by a complete paradigmatic shift from a simple capital oriented business format to a technology driven entrepreneurial one. For conducting industry-oriented applied R&D, academia-Industry-R&D lab consortia could be a very fruitful mechanism. Moreover, public private partnership and industry involvement are really very important in connection with applied R&D, where there has to be a focus on market access of the research outcomes and technologies developed. Establishment of technology incubation centres in the adjoining areas of academia could be yet another platform for interaction with industry. Finally it can be said that, in this era of knowledge-driven global economy, for promoting sustainable academia-industry interface multilevel collaboration is required The most meaningful aspect is that such tie ups acknowledge and capitalize on the relative strengths of the academia and industry. Besides industry associations, the universities should also form linkages with government agencies which are entrusted with industrial development activities In spite of some shortcomings and inhibiting factors with respect to the academia-industry collaboration, government should put into place an integrated policy of academia-industry collaborative interaction encompassing a number of strategies enabling such an initiative to thrive in the countrys quest for technological leadership.

Suggestions 1. CSR programmes should contribute a bulk of their resources to education. 2. Investments in research spread of information and communication technology from school level onwards are the need of the hour.

3. Collaborations between Government, educational institutions and corporate will accelerate educational reform and thus bring about the desired social development

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