1. PREAMBLE
1.1 The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Policy of Shipping Corporation of India (herein after referred as SCI) is issued within the framework mentioned here under:
1.2 This Policy supersedes the previous “CSR Policy” approved by the Board of Directors(herein after referred as BoD) of SCI held on 12.05.2021.
1.3 This policy is consistent with the Act and Rules on CSR framed by MCA and the policy directions on the subject issued by the Government from time-to-time.
1.4 Whenever any amendments are made by MCA on the subject, the same shall be duly incorporated in the policy document. As per the Act, modification/ amendment to the Policy will be approved by the Board of Directors of SCI on the recommendation of the CSR Committee of the Board.
2. AIMS & OBJECTIVES
2.1 SCI as a responsible corporate citizen aims to channelize its performance along social, economic and environment dimensions.The policy objective of CSR initiatives is accordingly to achieve common social well being and empowerment. SCI recognizes CSR as a tool towards conducting business responsibly and shall endeavor to conduct its business operations and activities in a socially responsible and sustainable manner at all times.
2.2 CSR is aligned and integrated with SCI’s business goals, plans and strategies.The philosophy and spirit of CSR shall be embedded in the core values of the company and will be imbibed by the employees across all horizontals and verticals and shall permeate into all activities,processes, operations and transactions of the enterprise.
3. VISION & MISSION
The vision and mission for CSR activities at SCI are stated below:
3.1 VISION
To be a Corporate with its business strategies, policies and actions aligned with wider social concerns through sustainable initiative in socially relevant matters including education, health & environment.
3.2 MISSION
SCI aims at spending a defined portion of its net profit for the betterment of society through:
4. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
4.1 In order to steer the Company’s Policy on CSR, to oversee the implementation of CSR activities/ projects in the company, the CSR committee of the Board (Tier I Committee) will be constituted as per sub section (1) of the Act. The CSR committee of the Board (Tier I Committee) will constitute of :
(i)C&MD (Chairman of the committee)
(ii)One or more Independent Director
(iii)One or more Whole Time Director including Director (Personnel & Administration)-Ex officio member & Convener of the committee
As per clause (3) of subsection (1) of the Act, the broad functions of the CSR Committee of theBoard shall be as under:
i. Formulate and recommend a CSR Policy to the Board, which shall include the AnnualAction Plan indicating the activities to be undertaken by the company as specified in Schedule VII of the Companies Act, manner of execution of projects, modalities of utilization off unds and implementation schedules and monitoring andr eporting mechanism;(Annual Action Plan attached at Annex-1)
ii. Recommend the amount of expenditure to be incurred on the CSR activities referred to inclause(i);
iii. Monitor the Corporate Social Responsibility Policy of the company from time to time.
iv. Institute a transparent monitoring mechanism for implementation of the CSR projects/ programs/ activities.
v. Monitor implementation of CSR activities on quarterly basis.
vi. Approve programs/projects/activities
vii. Approve projects/ programs/ activities which are outside SCI’s focus areas.
viii. Board of SCI shall also approve multi-year project undertaken by SCI in fulfillment of its CSR obligations having timelines not exceeding three years excluding the financial year in which it was commenced, and shall include such project that was initially not approved as a multi-year project but whose duration has been extended beyond one year by the board of SCI based on reasonable justification.
ix. In case of ongoing project, the Board of a Company shall monitor the implementation of the project with reference to the approved timelines and year-wise allocation and shall be competent to make modifications, if any, for smooth implementation of the project within the overall permissible time period.
x. Board of SCI may alter Annual action plan of CSR activities at any time during the financial year, as per the recommendation of its CSR Committee of the board, based on the reasonable justification to that effect.
xi. Details of need and impact assessment, if any, for the projects undertaken by the SCI.
As SCI CSR activities evolve further and in line with Government Guidelines and Amendments issued from time to time, the policy may be revised with the approval of the Board of SCI based on recommendations of the CSR Committee.
4.2 Tier II Committee:
To coordinate the CSR initiatives on day today basis, aTier II Committee will be constituted comprising ofthe following :
i. Head of Personnel & Administration Department–Ex officio Nodal Officer
ii. 2 representatives from P&A who handle CSR
iii. 1 representative from Finance department.
5. AREAS FOR INITIATIVES
5.1 The CSR policy of SCI aims at promotion, upliftment, empowerment, development and equality in the society through education and awareness.
5.2 SCI’s CSR initiatives will target specific areas for optimum use of resources. SCI’s focus will be on sustainable development and inclusive growth to address the basic needs of thedeprived,under privileged, neglected and weakersectionsof thesociety.
5.3 The target areas of SCI’s CSR initiatives will adhere to the Schedule VII of the CompaniesAct, 2013 & Amendment to Schedule VII (hereinafter referred as Schedule) and any suchotheractivity as directedby GOI-MoS and DPE.
5.4 SCI CSR efforts are focused on geographical areas within the region of operation viz HO, regional offices in India and all major Indian ports of call of SCI Vessels.
Being a CPSE, SCI will also strive to undertake projects in the hinterland regions of India.
6. IMPLEMENTATION
6.1 An Action Plan with the detailed break up of projects/programs activities to be undertakenwillbeapproved by the Board.
6.2 Any projects/programs activities in areas other than listed in ScheduleVII will be taken upon the approval of the Board.
6.3 CSRprojects/ programs/ activities will be implemented directly by SCI or through implementing partners/ specialized agencies.
6.4 The minimum eligibility criteria of an implementing partner will be as follows:
i. Such entity must be a registered public trust,or a registered society or a company registered under Section 8 of the act or any specialized agency established by the act of Central Government / State Government having minimum three years of experience post registration in handling activities of similar nature.
ii. Experience of working with any Government Body or Public Sector Enterprise will be preferred.
iii. In addition to registration under respective act, the implementing agency should also be registered under the provisions of Section 12A and Section 80Gof the Income Tax Act. However the selecting authority can request any other qualification from the applicants while selecting the implementing partners.
iv. Implementing agency/agencies is/are required to fill the check-list attached at Annexure 1.
6.5 CSR activities will be implemented by SCI or by the implementing agencies as specified atpoint 6.3 & 6.4 above. MoU’s / Letter of Commitment will be signed with the implementing agency and the monitoring/ evaluation of the project will be ensured by way of the following parameters:
i. Baseline survey containing the present status of the target group/area and the need.
ii. Nature and content of the programme/ project.
iii. Specific deliverables
iv. Target group of the programme with details of beneficiaries
v. Commencement date and closure date of the programme/ project.
vi. Monitoring and reporting at each milestone and measurement at final stage.
vii. Names/ qualifications/ experience of the persons involved in execution.
viii. Particulars of approvals/consent of the government/ local government bodies and/or other agencies / bodies where required.
ix. Estimated budget and phasing of disbursement, monitoring by SCI/ SCI partner(s).
x. Evaluation & Assessment, through Detailed Project Report (DPR).
7. FINANCIAL RESOURCES
7.1 In alignment with The Companies Act, 2013 the corporation shall earmark as Annual CSR Budget, at least 2% of the average of net profits of the company made during the three immediately preceding financial years,.
7.2 The unutilized / unspent amount allocated related to Ongoing CSR Projects / Not related to ongoing CSR Projects will not lapse and shall be treated as per the MCA notification dated22nd January, 2021 w.r.t. Amendment in CSR Rules.
7.3 Any surplus arising out of the CSR & Sustainability projects/ programs / activities will notform part of the business profit of the Company and shall be treated as per the MCA notification dated 22ndJanuary, 2021 w.r.t. Amendment in CSR Rules
7.4 Expenditure incurred incurred on base line survey, needs assessment study, monitoring & audit, social impact assessment studies etc and on capacity building programmes such astraining, workshops, seminars, conferences etc through reputed institutions and on corporate communication strategies for engagement of all stakeholders, whether internal or external,to implement the CSR agenda of SCI, would be accounted for as CSR expenditure but suchexpenditure shall not exceed 5% of total CSR expenditure in one financial year.
7.5 A certificate of utilization of funds disbursed for CSR Activities in a financial year shall be obtained from the Chief Financial Officer/Person-in-Charge (Finance) and put up to the Board to satisfy that the funds so disbursed have been utilized for the purposes and in the manner as approved by it. Draft Certificate is attached at Annex- 3 as obtained from the Guidance Note on CSR issued by “The Institute of Company Secretaries of India” in June’2021.
8. MONITORING
8.1 Monitoring process will be done through a three tier mechanism through
a. CSR TierI Committeeonquarterly basis.
b. CSR Tier II Committeeon regular basis.
c. Third Party Impact Assessment of major projects will be carried out on annual basis.
d. Expenditure towards impact assessment will be booked towards Corporate Social Responsibility for that financial year, as per specified MCA rules.
8.2 Allocation of a separate budget for setting up and running the monitoring system.
9. EVALUATION
9.1 Needs Assessment/Base Line Survey:
Before taking any final decision on the selection of any CSR activity/ project/ program, needs assessment study and/or base line survey or assessment of stake holder consultation will be done, as far as possible, to assess the needs of the intended beneficiaries for a realistic assessment of the resource inputs required for the expected level of social/ economic/ environmental impact through the implementation of the activity/ project. The data/ information collected through this exercise/ study before the commencement of the project will be used in impact assessment after completion of the project or program. The need assessment study may be done through SCI’s own resources/ through specialized agency based on the accessed reliable data from recognized authoritative sources,in this regard.
9.2 Impact Assessment:
The ultimate test of the success of any CSR project or program is the social, economic orenvironmental impact thereof. After the completion of the project or program and necessary minimum gestation period i.e. one year from the date of completion of the project, an impact assessment study will be conducted of all such projects whose “minimum outlay is Rs1 Crore or more or in the case where average CSR obligation to SCI of preceding three financial years is Rs10 crore or more”, to ascertain the degree of its success,or failure with reference to the project report prepared at the commencement of the projector program.SCI will utilize the services of specialized external agencies for impact assessment study.
10. AMENDMENTS TO THE POLICY
a. Any subsequent notification, circular, guidelines or amendments in the following:
shall forthwith be implemented by the Company and consequent changes in this Policy shall be carried out with approval from Chairman & Managing Director of SCI and be communicated on the relevant platform.
b. Provided the Board and CSR Committee are kept informed about the said amendment at the first Board Meeting and CSR Committee Meeting respectively held after such amendment.
c. Any amendment for the reasons other than those mentioned above shall need approval by the Board of Directors on the recommendation of CSR Committee
11. REPORTING AND DISCLOSURE
11.1 SCI shall report and disclose the contents of CSR and activities implemented by SCI for the benefit of all stakeholders through the following:
