HDFC Bank Parivartan honoured at National CSR Awards 2018
Author(s): City Air NewsMumbai, October 29, 2019: HDFC Bank Ltd was honoured by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs at the 1st National Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Awards. The bank received an Honourable Mention for its contribution...
Mumbai, October 29, 2019: HDFC Bank Ltd was honoured by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs at the 1st National Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Awards. The bank received an Honourable Mention for its contribution to the National Priority Schemes in Agriculture and Rural Development categories. These initiatives are part of HDFC Bank Parivartan, the umbrella for all social initiatives at the bank.
Instituted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to recognize India Inc.’s contribution in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to achieve inclusive growth and sustainable development, the National CSR Award is the highest recognition in the domain by the Government of India. Out of 528 companies that participated, the jury finalized 19 winners and 19 honourable mentions across the three award categories.
Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Anurag Thakur conferred the Honourable Mention to HDFC Bank officials Mr. Umesh Chandra Sarangi, Independent Director; Ms. Ashima Bhat, Group Head – CSR; and Ms. Nusrat Pathan, Head - CSR in the presence of Shri Injeti Srinivas, Secretary, Minister of Corporate Affairs, GoI; and Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman. The President of India Shri Ramnath Kovind graced the occasion.
HDFC Bank ‘Parivartan’ has touched over 54 million lives across India. One of its flagship programmes, known as Holistic Rural Development Programme (HRDP), was recognised at the event. HRDP seeks to better village life by focussing on improvements in 5 key areas of Education; Skills Training and Livelihood Enhancement; Natural Resources Management; Water and Sanitation;) Financial Literacy and Inclusion.
“We are humbled by this recognition of the efforts made under Parivartan,” said Ms. Ashima Bhat, Group Head – CSR, HDFC Bank. “At HDFC Bank, we believe that for India to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth, our villages must grow in tandem with cities. In rural India, where agriculture is still a major source of livelihood, we are looking at bringing about holistic change through HRDP. We are creating an ecosystem to improve the overall economic and social conditions in line with the government’s Adarsh Gaon Abhiyan initiative,” she added.
Methodology: In the 1st year, 528 companies participated for the awards. After shortlisting as per the prescribed criteria of the jury, 131 companies were invited for detailed submissions followed by field verification of the claims made by the companies. Based on the submissions by the companies and reports of the independent assessment by CSR experts, the jury recommended 19 winners and 19 honourable mentions across the three award categories.
The jury comprised Shri Jugal Kishore Mohapatra, Former Secretary, Rural Development, GoI (Chairman); Shri Anil Swarup, Former Secretary, School Education, Ministry of HRD, GoI; Dr. Madhukar Gupta, Addl. Secretary, Dept. of Public Enterprises, GoI; Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai, Former Chairperson, HSBC India; Shri Ajay Shriram, Chairman and Sr. Managing Director, DCM Shriram; and Shri Rajat Sethi, Sr. Advocate, Supreme Court of India. In addition, a 16 member expert committee was drawn from reputed institutions such as Tata Insititue of Social Sciences, IIM-Bhopal, and Delhi School of Social Work, and IRMA to assist the Jury with shortlisting and field verification of the received entries for the Awards.