4-5 per cent of Rs 1.25 lakh cr spent on CSR funds in past 7 years went to PM Cares: Government

Of the total Rs 125 lakh crore spent on CSR in the last seven years only 4 to 5 per cent funds have gone to the PM Cares Fund and that too during the last two years amid Covid19 Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Rao Inderjit Singh told the Rajya Sabha on TuesdayReplying to supplementaries during Question Hour the minister also informed the members that there was an attempt initially to include Chief Ministers Relief fund for spending CSR funds but it was disallowed by the government of IndiaOut of the Rs 125 lakh crore that have been spent on CSR over the last seven years not more than 4 to 5 per cent has gone to the PM Cares fund Most of that money has gone during Covid in two years Singh saidHe said prior to that companies by themselves have been able to spend on all those activities that have been enumerated under the CSR pattern under Section 135 of Companies ActThere were attempts to make CSR funds go to the Chief Ministers Fund but it was not accepted by the government of India Because then in whichever state the chief minister is then the funds from these companies will only go to the direction given by the chief minister We dont want to have that Singh saidThe basic idea of spending CSR is to do the best you can for the public good And it cannot necessarily be that only one person can think about and not the chief minister alone he said responding to a query by Prasanna Acharya BJD on whether the chief ministers fund would be included in CSR spendingSingh said it is a broadbased activity that the Board undertakes and we give general guidelines and the Board implements itIt is an activity panIndia no matter where the company comes from he saidThe minister also said that Section 135 of the Companies Act provides the framework for the CSR spending and the first proviso to this is that where the company is established it should first endeavour to spend CSR fundsBut this is not mandatory it is directory he saidThe broad principle adopted by the government of India is for companies to not just spend at the place where it exists but also in other areas across the country he saidTo a suggestion to make CSR funds spending mandatory for improving the backward districts of the country the minister said It is stated that it is not mandatoryWhat happens is that generally companies tend to spend money where they are located The main beneficiaries thereafter are states like Maharashtra Gujarat Tamil Nadu Andhra Pradesh Delhi and areas in the northeast like Nagaland where there is very little CSR spending he saidIn this regard he said in the last seven years since CSR funds have been invoked Nagaland has only been able to get Rs 8 crore out of 12 lakh crore spent under CSR by various companiesSingh also said that there is some sort of guideline for public sector undertakings that they should look into aspirational and backward districtsThat kind of thing is already under anvil and has been passed and 60 percent funds of PSUs are spent in socalled aspirational districts he saidTo a query by Birendra Prasad Baishya AGP on whether CSR funds can be directed to be spent in the north east to help ensure its speedy development the minister said the idea of the government of India is that it should be a broadbased activity and the responsibility of spending CSR funds lies with the Board of the companiesWe are trying to ensure that the company through suggestions that it should be made to spend not only in the area of its operation but as broadly as possible throughout the country That is what is being doneWe unfortunately cannot direct any company to say that they should spend in the Northeast It is not directory he saidIn her written reply to the question Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Under the Act CSR is a boarddriven process and the board of the company is empowered to plan decide execute and monitor CSR activities based on the recommendations of its CSR committee The government does not issue any directions to the companies to spend in particular geographical area or activityShe said on the basis of filings made by the companies in the MCA 21 registry companies have spent an amount of Rs50747 crores in 84 aspirational districts as identified by NITI Aayog in FY 202021 data up to 31122021 as against Rs33191 crores in 82 aspirational districts in FY 201920This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever