Corporate social responsibility - What does it mean?

By Mallen Baker: First published 8 Jun 2004 One of the most frequently asked questions at this site - and probably for all those individuals and organisations dealing with CSR issues is the obvious - just what does 'Corporate Social Responsibility' mean anyway? Is it a stalking horse for an anti-corporate agenda? Something which, like original sin, you can never escape? Or what? Different organisations have framed different definitions - although there is considerable common ground between them. My own definition is that CSR is about how companies manage the business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society. Take the following illustration:

Companies need to answer to two aspects of their operations. 1. The quality of their management - both in terms of people and processes (the inner circle). 2. The nature of, and quantity of their impact on society in the various areas. Outside stakeholders are taking an increasing interest in the activity of the company. Most look to the outer circle - what the company has actually done, good or bad, in terms of its products and services, in terms of its impact on the environment and on local communities, or in how it treats and develops its workforce. Out of the various stakeholders, it is financial analysts who are predominantly focused - as well as past financial performance - on quality of management as an indicator of likely future performance. Other definitions

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development in its publication Making Good Business Sense by Lord Holme and Richard Watts, used the following definition. Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large The same report gave some evidence of the different perceptions of what this should mean from a number of different societies across the world. Definitions as different as CSR is about capacity building for sustainable livelihoods. It respects cultural differences and finds the business opportunities in building the skills of employees, the community and the government from Ghana, through to CSR is about business giving back to society from the Phillipines. Traditionally in the United States, CSR has been defined much more in terms of a philanphropic model. Companies make profits, unhindered except by fulfilling their duty to pay taxes. Then they donate a certain share of the profits to charitable causes. It is seen as tainting the act for the company to receive any benefit from the giving. The European model is much more focused on operating the core business in a socially responsible way, complemented by investment in communities for solid business case reasons. Personally, I believe this model is more sustainable because: 1. 2. Social responsibility becomes an integral part of the wealth creation process - which if managed properly should enhance the competitiveness of business and maximise the value of wealth creation to society. When times get hard, there is the incentive to practice CSR more and better - if it is a philanphropic exercise which is peripheral to the main business, it will always be the first thing to go when push comes to shove.

But as with any process based on the collective activities of communities of human beings (as companies are) there is no 'one size fits all'. In different countries, there will be different priorities, and values that will shape how business act. And even the observations above are changing over time. The US has growing numbers of people looking towards core business issues. For instance, the CSR definition used by Business for Social Responsibility is: Operating a business in a manner that meets or exceeds the ethical, legal, commercial and public expectations that society has of business. On the other hand, the European Commission hedges its bets with two definitions wrapped into one: A concept whereby companies decide voluntarily to contribute to a better society and a cleaner environment. A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. When you review each of these, they broadly agree that the definition now focuses on the impact of how you manage your core business. Some go further than others in prescribing how far companies go beyond managing their own impact into the terrain of acting specifically outside of that focus to make a contribution to the achievement of broader societal goals. It is a key difference, when many business leaders feel that their companies are ill equipped to pursue broaders societal goals, and activists argue that companies have no democratic legitimacy to take such roles. That particular debate will continue. Corporate social responsibility Corporate social responsibility (CSR, also called corporate conscience, corporate citizenship, social performance, or [1] sustainable responsible business/ Responsible Business) is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. CSR policy functions as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards, and international norms. CSR is a process with the aim to embrace responsibility for the company's actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere who may also be considered as stakeholders. The term "corporate social responsibility" came into common use in the late 1960s and early 1970s after many multinational corporations formed the term stakeholder, meaning those on whom an organization's activities have an impact. It was used to describe corporate owners beyond shareholders as a result of an influential book by R. Edward [2] Freeman, Strategic management: a stakeholder approach in 1984. Proponents argue that corporations make more long term profits by operating with a perspective, while critics argue that CSR distracts from the economic role of businesses. Others argue CSR is merely window-dressing, or an attempt to pre-empt the role of governments as a watchdog over powerful multinational corporations.

CSR is titled to aid an organization's mission as well as a guide to what the company stands for and will uphold to its consumers. Development business ethics is one of the forms of applied ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business environment. ISO 26000 is the recognized international standard for CSR. Public sector organizations (the United Nations for example) adhere to the triple bottom line (TBL). It is widely accepted that CSR adheres to similar principles but with no formal act of legislation. The UN has developed the Principles for Responsible Investment as guidelines for investing entities. Some commentators have identified a difference between the Canadian (Montreal school of CSR), the Continental [3] European and the Anglo-Saxon approaches to CSR. And even within Europe the discussion about CSR is very [4] heterogeneous. A more common approach of CSR is philanthropy. This includes monetary donations and aid given to local organizations [who?] and impoverished communities in developing countries. Some organizations do not like this approach as it does not help build on the skills of the local people, whereas community-based development generally leads to more sustainable [clarification needed Difference between local org& community-dev? Cite] development. Another approach to CSR is to incorporate the CSR strategy directly into the business strategy of an organization. For instance, procurement of Fair Trade tea and coffee has been adopted by various businesses including KPMG. Its CSR [5] manager commented, "Fairtrade fits very strongly into our commitment to our communities." Another approach is garnering increasing corporate responsibility interest. This is called Creating Shared Value, or CSV. The shared value model is based on the idea that corporate success and social welfare are interdependent. A business needs a healthy, educated workforce, sustainable resources and adept government to compete effectively. For society to thrive, profitable and competitive businesses must be developed and supported to create income, wealth, tax revenues, and opportunities for philanthropy. CSV received global attention in the Harvard Business Review article Strategy & Society: The Link between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility [1] by Michael E. Porter, a leading authority on competitive strategy and head of the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School; and Mark R. Kramer, Senior Fellow at the Kennedy School at Harvard University and co-founder of FSG Social Impact Advisors. The article provides insights and relevant examples of companies that have developed deep linkages between their business strategies and corporate social responsibility. Many approaches to CSR pit businesses against society, emphasizing the costs and limitations of compliance with externally imposed social and environmental standards. CSV acknowledges tradeoffs between short-term profitability and social or environmental goals, but focuses more on the opportunities for competitive advantage from building a social value proposition into corporate strategy. CSV has a limitation in that it gives the impression that only two stakeholders are important - shareholders and consumers - and belies the multi-stakeholder approach of most CSR advocates. Many companies use the strategy of benchmarking to compete within their respective industries in CSR policy, implementation, and effectiveness. Benchmarking involves reviewing competitor CSR initiatives, as well as measuring and evaluating the impact that those policies have on society and the environment, and how customers perceive competitor CSR strategy. After a comprehensive study of competitor strategy and an internal policy review performed, a comparison can be drawn and a strategy developed for competition with CSR initiatives.

Social accounting, auditing, and reporting Main article: Social accounting For a business to take responsibility for its actions, that business must be fully accountable. Social accounting, a concept describing the communication of social and environmental effects of a company's economic actions to particular interest [6] groups within society and to society at large, is thus an important element of CSR. Social accounting emphasizes the notion of corporate accountability. D. Crowther defines social accounting in this sense as "an approach to reporting a firms activities which stresses the need for the identification of socially relevant behavior, the determination of those to whom the company is accountable for its social performance and the development of [7] appropriate measures and reporting techniques." An example of social accounting, to a limited extent, is found in an [8] annual Director's Report, under the requirements of UK company law. While there is no universal definition of corporate social responsibility, it generally refers to transparent business practices that are based on ethical values,compliance with legal requirements, and respect for people, communities, and the environment. Thus, beyond making profits, companies are responsible for the totality of their impact on people and the planet.1 People constitute the companys stakeholders: its employees, customers, business partners, investors, suppliers and vendors, the government, and the community. Increasingly, stakeholders expect that companies should be more environmentally and socially responsible in conducting their business. In the business community, CSR is alternatively referred to as corporate citizenship, which essentially means that a company should be a good neighbor within its host community. Today, more and more companies are realizing that in order to stay productive, competitive, and relevant in a rapidly changing business world, they have to become socially responsible. In the last decade, globalization has blurred national borders, and technology has accelerated time and masked distance. Given this sea change in the corporate environment, companies want to increase their ability to manage their profits and risks, and to protect the reputation of their brands. Because of globalization, there is also fierce competition for skilled employees, investors, and consumer loyalty. How a company relates with its workers, its host communities, and the marketplace can greatly contribute to the sustainability of its business success. There are scores of CSR organizations and business associations promoting corporate social responsibility, with a collective membership of thousands of companies -big, small, and medium-sized in diverse industries. In the United States, San Francisco-based Business for Social Responsibility alone has 1,400 corporate members that globally employ more than six million workers, and account for a total annual revenue of US$1.5 trillion. In Europe, the London-based International Business Leaders Forum counts 60 major global companies as members, and has established affiliate resource centers in emerging market economies where there is a demand for corporate involvement in social causes. In developing countries such as India, Indonesia, Brazil, Egypt, and the Philippines, business associations dedicated to CSR exist. It can be said that there are as many variations of CSR activities as there are CSR advocate companies and organizations. The business community can make tremendous contributions in promoting good health and well being, especially if innovative CSR initiatives are undertaken in partnership with government and civil society. In all but the most remote areas or closed societies, business has massive reach and influence. For decades, business has been engaged in charity, philanthropy, and civic activities including social investments in health.2 However, oftentimes these investments were less than strategic, and were not directed to real social change. Today, business understands that viewed through lenses of doing well by doing good, CSR can be a revolutionary way of contributing to systemic social changes in which investments can produce lasting social benefits in the health arena.

Corporate Social Responsibility in India India may become the worlds first country to make corporate social responsibility mandatory Jul. 10 Paths have been cleared for reintroduction of the Companies Bill, 2011, in the monsoon session. If the bill is passed after endorsing all the propositions made by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, corporate social responsibility (CSR) would become mandatory for the first time in the world in any country. The statement advocates that those companies with net worth above Rs. 500 crore, or an annual turnover of over Rs. 1,000 crore, shall earmark 2 percent of average net profits of three years towards CSR. In the draft Companies Bill, 2009, the CSR clause was voluntary, though it was mandatory for companies to disclose their CSR spending to shareholders. It also suggested that company boards should have at least one female member. Examples of Corporate Social Responsibility in India Tata Group Tata Group in India has a range of CSR projects, most of which are community improvement programs. For example, it is a

leading provider of maternal and child health services, family planning, and has provided 98 percent immunization in Jamshedpur. The company also endorses sports as a way of life. It has established a football academy, archery academy, and promotes sports among employees. It offers healthcare services all over the country with programs like rural health development. Tata Group also has an organized relief program in case of natural disasters, including long-term treatment and rebuilding efforts. It did laudable work during the Gujarat earthquakes and Orissa floods. It also supports education, with over 500 schools, and also is a benefactor of the arts and culture. It has done abundant work in improving the environment and local populations around its industries. Aptech Aptech a leading education player with a global presence that has played a broad and continued role in encouraging and nurturing education throughout the country since its inception. As a global player with complete solutions-providing capabilities, Aptech has a long history of participating in community activities. It has, in association with leading NGOs, provided computers at schools, education to the deprived, and training and awareness-camps. Infosys Infosys is aggressively involved in a variety of community growth programs. In 1996, the company created the Infosys Foundation as a not-for-profit trust to which it contributes up to 1 percent of profits after tax every year. Moreover, the Education and Research Department at Infosys also works with employee volunteers on community development projects. The management team at Infosys continues to set examples in the area of corporate citizenship and has involved itself vigorously in key national bodies. They have taken initiatives to work in the areas of research and education, community service, rural outreach programs, employment, healthcare for the poor, education, arts and culture, and welfare activities undertaken by the Infosys Foundation. Mahindra & Mahindra At Mahindra & Mahindra, The K. C. Mahindra Education Trust was established in 1953 with the purpose of promoting education. Its vision is to renovate the lives of people in India through education and financial assistance across age groups and across income strata. The K. C. Mahindra Education Trust undertakes a number of education plans, which make a difference to the lives of worthy students. The Trust has provided more than Rs. 7.5 crore in the form of grants, scholarships and loans. It promotes education mostly by the way of scholarships. The Nanhi Kali (children) project has over 3,300 children under it and the company aims to increase the number to 10,000 in the next two years by reaching out to the underprivileged children, especially in rural areas. Methodology of Corporate Social Responsibility CSR is the procedure of assessing an organizations impact on society and evaluating their responsibilities. It begins with an assessment of the following aspects of each business:

Customers Suppliers Environment Communities Employees

Triumphant CSR plans take organizations ahead of compliance with legislation and lead them to respect moral values and respect people, communities and the natural environment. Corporate social responsibility is sustainable involving activities that an organization can uphold without negatively affecting the business goals CSR is not only about ecological accountability or having a recycling policy. It is about considering the whole representation of the company, from internal processes to your clients, taking in every step that a business takes during day-to-day operations. Rising economies such as India have also observed a number of companies enthusiastically engaged in CSR activities. Organizations in India have been quite sensible in taking up CSR initiatives and integrating them in their business processes. It has become progressively projected in the Indian corporate setting because organizations have recognized that besides growing their businesses, it is also important to shape responsible and supportable relationships with the community at large. Companies now have specific departments and teams that develop specific policies, strategies and goals for their CSR programs and set separate budgets to support them. Most of the time, these programs are based on well-defined social beliefs or are carefully aligned with the companies business domain.

Corporate Social Responsibility:Initiatives and Examples Anand Corporate Services Limited Anand has a longstanding commitment to addressing the needs of the society, in view of its belief that for any economic development to be meaningful, the benefits from the business must trickle down to the society at large.Anand is of the firm view that the corporate goals must be aligned with the larger societal goals. 25 years ago, the SNS Foundation, an expression of Anands corporate social responsibility, was born. The objective of SNS foundation was comprehensive community development. The Foundation has created programs in the fields of health, education, natural resource management and life skills training, only to make sure that fellow humans could breathe easy. The long term goal of Anand CSR is to implement concepts like Zero Tolerance Zone for Child Labour, Zero Waste Zone using strategies like Reduce, Recycle and Reuse not only at Anand/SNSF locations but extend to Anand residential areas. Aptech Limited Aptech Limited, a leading education player with a global presence, has played an extensive and sustained role in encouraging and fostering education throughout the country since inception.As a global player with complete solutionsproviding capability, Aptech has a long history of participating in community activities. It has, in association with leading NGOs, provided computers at schools, education to the underprivileged and conducted training and awareness-camps. Aptech students donated part of the proceeds from the sale of their art work to NGOs. To propagate education among all sections of the society throughout the country, especially the underprivileged, Aptech fosters tie-ups with leading NGOs throughout the country, including the Barrackpur-based NGO, Udayan, a residential school for children of leprosy patients in Barrackpur, established in 1970.The company strongly believes that education is an integral part of the countrys social fabric and works towardssupporting basic education and basic computer literacy amongst the underprivileged children in India. Avon Cycle Limited The poor and ignorant of Indias rural population turnto nearest towns and cities for healthcare. They face indifferenceand exploitation. Hope gives way to despair.This gave inspiration to AVON for locating MATAKAUSHALYA DEVI, PAHWA CHARITABLE HOSPITAL.Mr. Sohan Lal Pahwa, AVON's Chairman and Principal Trustee of the hospital,spent a good part of his workinglife devoted to philanthropy. The hospital, in its 5th yearof inception, has risen to serve a model healthcare facility boasting of some bold experiments in its very early yearsof existence. Its support since inception has been of the order of Rs. 3 crore to date and it continues uninterrupted.Reaching out to the needy farther afield, the hospitalholds regular camps in surrounding villages to propagate scientific approach to healthcare. Recently the hospital took the social responsibility concept a step further and formulated a scheme titled 'Celebrated Female Child' to enable and inspire positive and enduring environment for society's allconsuming passion for 'sons only' to end. CISCO System Inc. Philanthropy at Cisco is about building strong and productive global communities - communities in which every individual has the means to live, the opportunity to learn, and the chance to give back. The company pursues a strong triple bottom line which is described as profits, people and presence. The company promotes a culture of charitable giving and connects employees to nonprofit organizations serving the communities where they live. Cisco invests its best-in-class networking equipment to those nonprofit organizations that best put it to work for their communities, eventuating in positive global impact. It takes its responsibility seriously as a global citizen. Education is a top corporate priority for Cisco, as it is the key to prosperity and opportunity. ICICI Bank Ltd The Social Initiatives Group (SIG) of ICICI Bank Ltd works with a mission to build the capacities of the poorest of the poor to participate in the larger economy. The group identifies and supports initiatives designed to break the intergenerational cycle of poor health and nutrition, ensure essential early childhood education and schooling as well as access to basic financial services.Thus, by promoting early child health, catalyzing universal elementary education and maximizing access to micro financial services, ICICI Bank believes that it can build the capacities of Indias poor to participate in larger socioeconomic processes and thereby spur the overall development of the country. The SIG works by understanding the status of existing systems of service delivery and identifying critical knowledge and practice gaps in their functioning. It locates cost effective and scalable initiatives and approaches that have the potential to address these gaps and supports research to understand their impact. This is undertakenin collaboration with research agencies, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), companies, government departments, local stakeholders and international organisations.

Infosys Technologies Limited Infosys is actively involved in various community development programs.Infosys promoted, in 1996, the Infosys Foundation as a not-for-profit trust to which it contributes up to 1%PAT every year. Additionally, the Education and ResearchDepartment (E&R) at Infosys also works with employee volunteers on community development projects. Infosys leadership has set examples in the area of corporate citizenship and has involved itself actively in key national bodies. They have taken initiatives to work in the areas of Research and Education, Community Service,Rural Reach Programme, Employment, Welfare activities undertaken by the Infosys Foundation, Healthcare for the poor, Education and Arts & Culture. ITC Limited ITC partnered the Indian farmer for close to a century. ITC is now engaged in elevating this partnership to a new paradigm by leveraging information technology through its trailblazing 'e-Choupal' initiative. ITC is significantly widening its farmer partnerships to embrace a host of value-adding activities: creating livelihoods by helping poor tribals make their wastelands productive; investing in rainwater harvesting to bring much-needed irrigation to parched drylands; empowering rural women by helping them evolve into entrepreneurs; and providing infrastructural support to make schools exciting for village children.Through these rural partnerships, ITC touches the lives of nearly 3 million villagers across India. Mahindra & Mahindra The K. C. Mahindra Education Trust was established in 1953 by late Mr. K. C. Mahindra with an objective topromote education. Its vision is to transform the lives of people in India through education, financial assistanceand recognition to them, across age groups and across income strata. The K. C. Mahindra Education Trust undertakesa number of education initiatives, which make a difference to the lives of deserving students.The Trust has provided more than Rs. 7.5 Crore in the form of grants, scholarships and loans. It promotes education mainly by the way of scholarships. The Nanhi Kali project has over 3,300 children under it. We aim to increase the number of Nanhi Kalis (children) to 10,000 in the next 2 years, by reaching out to the underprivileged children especially in rural areas. Satyam Computer Services Limited Alambana (support) is the corporate social responsibility arm of Satyam Computer Services Limited, formed to support and strengthen the vulnerable and underprivileged sections in urban India. Registered as Satyam Alambana Trust in 2000, Alambana aims at transforming the quality of life among urban population. Alambana's services are directed primarily at the disadvantaged sections in all the cities that Satyam has offices in. Volunteers from among Satyam associates and their family members lead the services and perform the required tasks. Tata Consultancy Services The Adult Literacy Program (ALP) was conceived and set up by Dr. F C Kohli along with Prof. P N Murthy and Prof. Kesav Nori of Tata Consultancy Services in May 2000 to address the problem of illiteracy. ALP believes illiteracy is a major social concern affecting a third of the Indian population comprising old and young adults. To accelerate the rate of learning, it uses a TCS-designed ComputerBased Functional Literacy Method (CBFL), an innovative teaching strategy that uses multimedia software to teach adults to read within about 40 learning hours. Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited The water source for the villages in and around the Dalmia Cement factory is dependent on rains. During summer months, the villagers, particularly women folk, travel long distances to fetch water for drinking and other purposes. Considering the difficulties and hardship faced by the people, the company, after discussing with the village elders and concerned Government authorities,took the initiative of making water available by: Providing deep bore wells. So far, 45 bore wells have been provided in various villages, namely Kallakudi, Palanganathan, Malvoi, Elakkurichi, Muthuvathur, Pullabmadi, Edayathankudi etc. Approximately, 300 to 400 people get adequate drinking water from each bore well. Water tanks to store the water. Rain and seepage water is harvested in the quarries of the company is pumped into a tank and supplied to inhabitants. 44,000 trees were planted and nurtured over a period of eight years. The presence of large trees and vast greenery has considerably improved the ecology in the area.

DCM Shriram Consolidated Limited Shriram Fertilisers and Chemicals, is a unit of DSCL, located at Kota, 475 kms. Over the last 3 decades, various initiatives have been undertaken by the unit, in the Hadoti region (Kota, Bundi, Jhalawar districts) in ICU, ambulances, family planning, medical assistance;schools, scholarships, emphasis on girl child education;water to people and infrastructure. Goodearth Education Foundation (GEF) Work of GEF was initiated in 1996 with a project in the Rai Bareilly district in Uttar Pradesh. The four-year project covered 63 government schools and benefited 15,000 children. GEF is currently implementing projects in Thane district, Maharashtra (in 56 schools & balwadis), Alwar District, Rajasthan (this Project is being implemented in partnership with the NGO Bodh Shiksha Samiti, covering 71 schools & balwadis) and Solan district, Himachal Pradesh (10 Balwadis). GEF Objectives include providing equal opportunities in pre-primary& primary education to all children, and quality of education by ensuring that it is relevant, effective and activity based.

Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) HCC plays an active role in CSR initiatives in the fields of Health, Education, Disaster Management, and Environment.Disaster Resource Network DRN is a worldwide initiative,promoted by the World Economic Forum (WEF).Trained volunteers and equipment resources from Engineering Construction & Logistics companies will complement the existing efforts of Government, NGO's and International Organizations in disaster management. It was during the WEF annual meet that the massive earthquake struck Gujarat in January 2001. The need for a trained and effective participation from industry was first felt there. The members of Engineering and Logistics segment of WEF came together to establish this network. The idea was further strengthened during the 9/11 incident where again the industry participated in the relief operations. DRN Worldwide was formally launched in New York in January 2002. And shortly thereafter, DRN - India Initiative was launched. India Aluminium Company Limited The Women's Empowerment project was initiated by Indal-Muri in Jharkhand where the Company operates an alumina refining plant. It was implemented in collaboration with an NGO, CARE-Jharkhand. The central problem this project has attempted to address is the very low socio-economic condition of the rural and tribal population of Silli block caused by low agricultural productivity,lack of or low cash income, unresponsive health/ Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)schemes.The Project has helped set up around 100 Self Help Groups so far, which are running successfully with members trained in various vocational incomegenerating skills, agricultural methods for better yields and health care initiatives. About 2000 women have been brought into the fold of this activity helping to improve not justtheir own lives but the quality of life of their children and families as well. JCB India Ltd. JCB India adopted a Government school, in the vicinity of the company premises as its social responsibility. They strongly believe that children are the foundation of our nation and they could be helped, we could build a better community and society tomorrow. The reason for adopting this particular school was the poor management of the school in terms of infrastructure, resources and qualityof education. The companys commitment to the school goes much beyond just providing monetary support towards infrastructure and maintenance of school building. Larsen & Toubro (L & T) Limited Considering that construction industry is the second largest employer in India after agriculture, employing about 32 million-strong workforce, L&T set out to regulate and promote Construction Vocational Training (CVT) in India by establishing a Construction Skills Training Institute (CSTI) on a 5.5 acre land, close to its Construction Division Headquarters at Manapakkam,Chennai. CSTI imparts, totally free of cost, basic training in formwork, carpentry, masonry, bar-bending, plumbing and sanitary, scaffolder and electrical wireman trades to a wide spectrum of the rural poor. As a result of the good response it received in Chennai, CSTI set up a branch at Panvel, Mumbai, initially offering training in formwork, carpentry and masonry trades. The Manapakkam and Panvel facilities together provide training to about 300 candidates annually who are inducted after a process of selection, the minimum qualification being tenth standard. Since inception, these two units have produced about 2,000 skilled workmen in various trades, with about sixty percent of them being deployed to L&Ts jobsites spread across the country. The success of this training-initiative demonstrates that adoption of systematic training techniques are bound to yield efficient and skilled personnel in the shortest possible time, and in the power to convert the potential of the Rural Youth in Construction and upgrading Rura Economy in a small way.