'Frivolous' CSR

The government may have mandated that corporations above a certain size spend two per cent of their profits on corporate social responsibility (CSR) to demonstrate their seriousness about doing good, but to some, the concept appears to have become less meaningful. Asked whether Intel’s efforts to promote digital literacy in Uttar Pradesh was part of a CSR exercise, Debjani Ghosh, the conglomerate’s South Asia managing director, sales and marketing, said the term had come to acquire a rather “frivolous” character, so she preferred to describe the project as an important partnership with the state government.