Under our Maitree initiative, we have been planting fruit-bearing trees in the tribal regions near Maharashtra. Not only do these trees add to the earth’s green cover but they also provide economic benefits to the farmers who tend to them and sell the produce. This initiative helps reduce the need for migration and contributes to sustainable community development. We have planted more than 650,000 trees under Maitree and are on-track to achieve our aim of planting a million trees by 2021.

As a result of its significant positive impact and achievement, Maitree was declared the CSR Project of the Year. Dr. Nilratan Shende, GM-CSR, Allcargo Logistics Limited, received the award from Suhas Joshi, Head, CSR, South Asia, Bayer Ltd.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been the centre of attraction since India has been the first country to introduce statutory provisions with respect to CSR under the Companies Act, 2013. In the past few years, India Inc. has made significant progress with regards to adoption and implementation of the law.

CSR Summit & Awards 2019 was organised to understand challenges and opportunities as well as share knowledge and learn from each other’s experiences. Dr. Pragnya Ram, Group Exec. President, CSR, Aditya Birla Group and Shweta Shalini, Executive Director, Village Social Transformation Foundation and Advisor to Chief Minister, Maharashtra, graced the event at the Guests of Honour and over 200 CSR leaders from across the country including representatives of social enterprises and NGOs were in attendance.

We are happy to participate in these events that bring about valuable interactions and help CSR professionals increase the impact and scope of their welfare activities. Because irrespective of who wins the awards, in the end, it’s our society and community that win!