The CM highlighted the need for rapid access to education and healthcare for the tribal community to bring them into the development mainstream.
Mumbai: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds will be used for holistic development of tribal areas. Mr. Fadnavis made this remark during a one day conference, ‘CSR for change: Accelerating Schedule Tribes Development through CSR partnership’ at Sahyadri Guest House in which 82 companies including PSUs, Banks and Corporate entities like TCS, Tata Sons etc. participated.
The conference was jointly organised by UNDP and the state tribal development department (TDD). According to the TDD, around 20 companies expressed their willingness to work immediately in the fields of livelihoods, education and skill training in tribal areas..
The CSR has been made mandatory under section 135 of the Companies Act 2013. As per the section 135, the corporate industries have to spend two percent of their net profit for the CSR activities including initiatives to promote education, healthcare, environmental sustainability, and rural development.
Mr. Fadnavis said that the state government has been vigorously making efforts to bring the tribal community into the mainstream of the society by running various schemes. “The state government has been fully committed for the all round development of the tribal community and balanced development will be done through CSR funds,” he said.
The CM highlighted the need for rapid access to education and healthcare for the tribal community to bring them into the development mainstream. Pointing out that 78 per cent of the CSR funds are being spent in MMR (Mumbai Metropolitan Region), he urged that CSR funds should not be limited to metropolitan areas but should be used for balanced development, especially in education and healthcare sectors across the state.
Maharashtra has the second largest scheduled tribe population. Approximately 9.5 per cent of the state’s total population is from the tribal community, and 10 per cent of the country’s total tribal population resides in Maharashtra.
Vijay Waghmare, Secretary of the TDD told this newspaper that more than 20 companies have shown immediate willingness to collaborate with our department in the sectors of livelihoods, education and imparting skills. “We have received an overwhelming response from the Corporate industries. The companies have shown the willingness to work in tribal areas of Palghar, Nandurbar, Dhule, Raigad, Chandrapur and Nagpur districts,” Mr. Waghmare added.
