CUADRO DE DETALLE POBLACIONAL
4.4.2. Objetivos Específicos
Srijan Kishore1
Abstract
This paper attempts to present few interesting facts and the contributions of the ‘Tatas’, with special reference to Mr. Ratan Tata, in the field of ‘Social Work’ through the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). ‘TATAs’ are considered to be the pioneer in bringing social change, rural development and serving its employees from decades. The Companies Act, 2013, which makes it mandate for the corporate to dedicate a minimum of two percent of their net profits towards social sectors, ‘TATAs’ have been spending beyond the prescribed percent from years, which is one of the main reason why the ‘TATAs’ have covered a long journey of business across the globe in a very sustainable manner.
Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR Policy, Institution of National Importance
Introduction:
Ratan Tata is one of the leading Indian industrialists and ex-
chairperson of one of the leading corporate house- ‘TATA Group of
Companies’ (www.thefamouspeople.com). He is also the chairman
of the ‘TATA Sons Limited’, which is the holding company of the ‘TATA Group’ (Tiwari, 2016). This paper attempts to present few interesting facts and his contribution in the field of ‘Social Work’
through the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility1 (CSR).
‘TATAs’ are considered to be the pioneer in bringing social change,
rural development and serving its employees from decades. The recent Companies Act, 20132, which makes it mandate for the corporate
to dedicate a minimum of two percent of their net profits towards social sectors, ‘TATAs’ have been spending beyond the prescribed percent from years, which is one of the main reason why the ‘TATAs’ 1 Research Scholar at ‘Department of Social Work’, Visava-Bharati
Journal of Social Work and Social Development, Volume 09, Number 1 & 2, 2018
have covered a long journey of business across the globe in a very sustainable manner (Prasad & Kumar, 2016).
Objective and Methodology of the Study:
The main objective of the study is to highlight the major contributions
of Ratan Tata in the field of rural and community development in India through CSR. Over the decades back, ‘Tatas’ have been into
CSR, even when there was no mandate CSR law. The paper tries to highlight the core ideology of Ratan Tata and its relation to corporate social work. At last, the paper also critically attempts to focus on the contradictory and critique of the mandate CSR Act, 2013. This study is done by mainly referring to the secondary literature sourced from various books and journals and relevant information from the website
of the ‘TATA Group’.
Life and Work of Ratan Tata
Ratan Tata was born on 28th of December, 1937 in ‘Surat’ district of ‘Gujrat’ state. He is the grandson of the founder of the ‘TATA Group’- ‘Jamshedji Tata’. His parents- Mr. ‘Soonoo’ and Mrs. ‘Naval Hormusji Tata’ got separated in the mid 1940s, when Ratan Tata was only seven years old. His grandmother- ‘Lady Navajbai’ nurtured and raised him. Ratan Tata completed his schooling from ‘Campion School’, ‘Mumbai’ and later did his graduation from ‘Cornell University’, ‘USA’ in the year 1962 with ‘Architecture and Structural Engineering’ as his specialization. After this, he enrolled in the world famous ‘Harvard Business School’, ‘USA’, where he studied ‘Advanced Management Programme’ (Tiwari, 2016). Ratan Tata is a bachelor and is known for his ‘down to earth’, ‘low profile’ and ‘philanthropic’ lifestyle. He lives in a very simple house in ‘Mumbai’, ‘Maharashtra’ and drives in a TATA Sedan(www.famouspeople.com). He is also a trained pilot (Tiwari, 2016, p. 51).
Career: In 1962, on the advice of ‘JRD Tata’, he resigned his corporate job from the IBM and went to ‘TATA STEEL’, ‘Jamshedpur’
and worked with the “blue-collar” employees. In the year, 1971, Ratan
Company Limited’ (Nelco), which was undergoing loss during those
days. When Ratan Tata took over the charge, the market share of ‘Nelco’
raised from 2% in the year 1971 to 20% in 1975 (Tiwari, 2016). In
the year 1977, he was moved to the ‘Empress Mills’, which was also
sailing through its tough time. Ratan Tata’s proposal to improve the
condition of the mill was rejected by the senior officials of the group (www.thefamouspeople.com). This mill was finally closed in 1986.
Ratan Tata later revealed during an interview with a daily newspaper that the mill could have been saved from shutting its operations with an additional investment of just Rupees Fifty Lakhs. In between this, in 1981, he was made the director of the TATA Industries and also of the Group’s other holding companies, where his role was to transform the group’s approach, strategy, perspective and promote new ventures by involving high technologies (Tiwari, 2016). In 1991,
he was made the Chairman of the ‘TATA Group of Companies’, but
soon this decision faced objection from the other executives of the company (www.thefamouspeople.com) since under his directorship,
the other two companies namely, the ‘Nelco’ and the ‘Empress Mills’
was shut down. Ratan Tata relied on the young managers, and since then he has worked very hard for giving a new shape and image to
the ‘TATA’ brand (Tiwari, 2016).
Major Work: After the acquisition of ‘Corpus Group’- (An ‘Anglo-Dutch’ steel and aluminium producer company) on 31st of January, 2007, the merger resulted in fifth largest steel producer in the entire world. After a year, in March, 2008, ‘TATA Motors’ took over two ‘British’ Iconic Motor brands- ‘Jaguar’ and ‘Land Rover’. ‘TATA Sons’ is the holding company of the ‘TATA Group’. Ratan Tata has his own share in ‘TATA Sons’. Interestingly, his personal share is just one percent, but his personal holding is valued at US$ 1 Billion (ibid).
Positions of Responsibilities that Ratan Tata holds: Ratan
Tata serves on the ‘Central Board’ of the ‘Reserve Bank of India’ (RBI). He is in the ‘Prime Minister’s Council of Trade and Industry’. Ratan Tata is also the Head of the ‘Investment Commission’, which is recently bought by the ‘Government of India’ (GOI). Ratan Tata is Srijan Kishore
Journal of Social Work and Social Development, Volume 09, Number 1 & 2, 2018
also a member of various art and medical organisations, which also
includes the renowned ‘Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’ (Tiwari,
2016, p. 99). He is also a member of the international advisory board
of the ‘Mitsubishi Cooperation’, the ‘American International Group’, ‘JP Morgan Chase’ and ‘Booze Hamilton’. Earlier, he had served on the advisory board of the ‘RAND’s Centre for Asia Pacific Policy’ and he also actively participates in ‘India’s AIDS Initiative Programme’
(www.thefamouspeople.com).
Ideology and Major Contributions in the Field of Social Work through Business:
“I don’t want India to be an economic superpower, but I want to see India as a happy country.”- Ratan Naval Tata. During various interviews given to various media personnel, Ratan Tata has pointed
that ‘Social Capital’ is of vital importance. Societies which have
higher cohesion and higher degree of social capital leads to sustainable
organisations, which benefits all (Kola).
His ‘Group of Companies’, devotes and funds to several anti-
poverty projects, even to the projects which has no direct connection with the business, but only for the betterment of the poor. Ratan Tata
also promotes various awareness building programmes in the field level on issues like ‘literacy’, ‘micro-finance’ and ‘water conservation’
(Tiwari, 2016, p. 56, 99).
Select ‘Ratan Tata’ quotes that portrays his ideology of business:
●
● One hundred years from now, I expect the ‘Tatas’ to be much bigger than it is now. More importantly, I hope the Group comes to be regarded as being the best in India... best in the manner in which we operate, best in the products we deliver and best in our value system an ethics. Having said that, I hope that a hundred years from now we will spread our wings far beyond India
●
● I am proud of my country. But we need to unite to make a unified India, free of communalism and casteism. We need to build India into a land of equal opportunity for all. We can be a truly
Srijan Kishore
great nation if we set our sights high and deliver to the people the fruits of continued growth, prosperity and equal opportunity (Source: ibid, p. 98).
●
● “I have become more sensitive to the pain and suffering that exists, I am more involved with where we should do” (Ratan Tata during Tata Global Forum on January, 2016 cited in Tiwari, 2016).
Social Welfare, Concern and Commitment for the Community: Ratan Tata has the same zeal when it comes to promotion of CSR and promotion of business (www. medalofphilanthropy.
com). On the website of the ‘TATA Group’, the ‘Purpose’ of the company is defined as “Our practice of returning to the society what
we earn evokes trust among consumers, employees, shareholders and the community. We are committed to protecting this heritage of leadership with trust through the manner in which we conduct our business” (www.tata.com). Even when it comes to acquisition
of any company, ‘Ratan Tata’ says that we spend fair time with
the management of the company to understand their values and
ethics. Once he and his team members are satisfied, then perhaps further steps can be taken. Business and profits cannot take over the
position of ethics in his case (Tiwari, 2016, p. 95). His dream was to manufacture a car costing Rupees One Lakh that can provide safe and affordable four wheel transportation, especially to the families who till now have not been able to own a car. Ratan Tata realised this need when he saw a family with four members, riding a scooter on a
rainy day. “Nano may be non-profitable, but he has deep sentiment
attached with it” (www.indiatimes.com). He analysed and discussed with his team regarding his dream, where the middle class families
can also own and move in a car. This was a very difficult task for the entire ‘TATA Motors Company’. But, Ratan Tata managed and realised his dream by launching ‘NANO’- ‘The Peoples’ Car’ in ‘New Delhi’ Auto Expo on 10th January, 2008 (Tiwari, 2016).
Journal of Social Work and Social Development, Volume 09, Number 1 & 2, 2018
This shows his commitment and dedication for even the poor and
middle class families of India. After the launch of ‘Nano’, Ratan
Tata recalled his promise of gifting the middle class an affordable four-wheeler and stated- “A promise is a promise.”
Ratan Tata funds and supports religious education of young ‘Parsi’ priests. He is known to be a supporter of the traditional way of ‘Parsi life’. The ‘Parsi’ people up to today prohibit polluting earth, air and water. Sixty Six percent of the equity capital of ‘TATA Sons’ is held by the philanthropic trusts. Biggest two are namely- ‘Sir Dorabji Tata Trust’ and ‘Sir Ratan Tata Trust’. Although these were created by the
family members and ancestors of Ratan Tata, he has full control over
them. Ratan Tata has set up ‘TATA FOUNDATION’, which work for
multiple social causes including eradicating water scarcity, universal health development, to name a couple. Today, Ratan Tata is known for
his passion and dedication, with which he promotes CSR of ‘TATA Group’. According to the annual report of the ‘Tata Group’, ‘Tata
Trusts’ CSR spend Rs. 808 crore in the social development sector. It was the TATAs, who introduced and brought several reforms in the
industries, such as ‘child care’, ‘workers’ benefits’ and so on earlier
than the corporate in the west (ibid, p. 50, 56, 103).
After the unfortunate 26/11 terror attack in ‘Mumbai’, the ‘Taj’ launched a fund to support all the victims, not only at the ‘Taj Mahal Palace and Tower’ but across the ‘Mumbai’ city. “Taj Public Service
Welfare Trust” (TPS Welfare) was set up with an objective to provide immediate relief to the families who lost their members during the attack. The trust covers all including, the families of employees and security personnel. “This trust will continue to discharge its mandate
in the coming years, specifically covering relief to victims of sudden acts of violence, natural disasters and other tragic events that inflict
damage to life and property” (ibid, pp. 139-140). The salaries of the
‘Taj’ employees were paid, even when the hotel was closed for re construction. ‘Tatas’ also took care of the education of 46 children of the victims. It was something which could not be done, if the ‘Tatas’
customers. In that case, the economic sense will take over the ‘social responsibility’. And therefore, the ‘Tatas’ emphasise on their tagline-
“We also make steel” and “Values stronger than steel” (Kola).
● ‘Tata Group’ believes that the business of business is ‘creation
of sustainable values’. This means giving back to society what came from society.
● The business of the ‘Tatas’ have been contributing towards the
development of our nation. Steel plants, automobiles, power
and chemical industries and institutes like ‘Tata Institute of Social Sciences’ (TISS), ‘Tata Institute of Fundamental
Research’ (TIFR) and others have been contributing towards the greater good of our society ever since their inception.
● ‘Tatas’ have been one of the best places to work for. Provident
Fund, maternity leave, 8 hours working day were made laws much later. Rather, the group was promoting these practices from its inception.
● ‘Tata Companies’ and ‘Tata Trusts’ work in the areas of
health, education, women and child development, training of youths, promoting sustainable livelihood and environmental conservation.
● In the recent years, the ‘Tatas’ have started using their core
competencies to help in sustainable development of the
community. ‘TATA Consultancy Services’ (TCS) has developed a functional literacy programme; ‘Tata Interactive’ has created
e-learning modules to help children with disability to learn;
‘Tata Tele-services’ helps fishermen with communications
technology.
● ‘Tata Council for Community Initiatives’ (TCCI) publishes
guidelines such as the CS Protocol and the Tata Index for Sustainable Human Development which serve as a guide for the Tata Companies as well as other companies in India and abroad (Cited in: Tiwari, 2016, pp. 161-162).
The rural poor speak of Ratan Tata as a man of some other world,
who change lives at a stroke of a pen or the “inflection of a bushy
grey eyebrow” (White, 2014).
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Contributions in the field of education: Although the ‘TATAs’ have established several renowned ‘Institutions of National Importance’3 (INI) and universities in India, after the chairmanship of ‘Ratan Tata’,
this has expanded more. Ratan Tata has also set up new campus of
‘TISS’ - in ‘Guwahati’, ‘Assam’ (www.tiss.edu). Apart from this, the ‘TATAS’ also run and manage various other institutes like ‘TATA Administrative Services’ (TAS). ‘Tata Trusts’ have been promoting and managing the ‘TIFR’, ‘The National Centre for the Performing Arts’, ‘Indian Institute of Science’, ‘JRD Tata Eco technology Centre’ and the ‘Demographic Centre’ at the ‘Institute of Population Studies’, ‘Mumbai’, ‘Maharashtra’. ‘JRD Tata Endowment’ has
helped many Indians to pursue higher education (www.tata.com).
Contributions in the field of health: ‘TATAs’ also run and mange the ‘Tata Memorial Centre for Cancer Research and Treatment’ institute in ‘Mumbai’, ‘Maharashtra’, ‘The Tata Blood Bank’ and the ‘Tata
Department of Plastic Surgery’ at the JJ Group of Hospitals (www.
tata.com). ‘Tatas’ also work to eradicate ‘malnutrition’ among
children. Ratan Tata believes that the population growth rate is quite high in India, and we need to take care of the newly born population. In this line, the group provides 60,000 meals a day through their various programmes. They also work for providing “staple foods”, focussing on “maternal health” and “alleviate poverty” (www.
medalofphilanthropy.org). ‘Tata Trust’ has recently also announced a new project, which aims at eradicating ‘malaria’ from ‘India’ by
using a new gene-editing technology. In this line, during a recent
interview with the ‘Economic Times’ (ET), it was revealed that the group will set up ‘The Tata Institute of Genetics and Society’ in ‘Bengaluru’, ‘Karnataka’ in collaboration with ‘The University of California’, ‘San Diego’ in the U.S and ‘The Institute for Stem
Srijan Kishore Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine’ (InStem) in ‘Bengaluru’. According to the annual report of the ‘Sir Ratan Tata and Allied Trust’ in the financial year 2016-17, they have made an investment
of Rs. 1,55,.90 million only in the public health care domain.
Contributions in the field of ‘Rural Development’ (RD): ‘TATA STEEL’ has been instrumental for working for bringing ‘sustainable rural development’ in more than 800 vicinity villages. This includes projects on education betterment, health and agricultural development (Prasad & Kumar, 2016). TATAs have also supported many villages with irrigation facility. Many villages have been gifted with solar panels, televisions, seeds that has led to income growth and that can be used as bio-fuel and many more. Going beyond business and fulfilling the commitment for ‘Corporate Family Responsibility’ (CFR) and working for the good of employees of the ‘TATA STEEL’, the ‘TATAs’ provide, subsidised housing and electricity, free treatment at ‘TATA’ build and funded hospitals, schools for children, that are run and managed by ‘TATAs’, free and drinkable water that is purified by the ‘TATAs’. To preserve the biodiversity, ‘TATAs’ also funded a project which aimed to preserve a rare breed of fish in the Ganges. In an interview given to ‘Business Week’ in the year 2007, Ratan Tata said, I would like to serve the underprivileged and poor masses more than what we do at present. I want that my company should provide the basic requirements for human life like safe drinking water. Further he said, “It would give me great pleasure if I could create awareness of the destruction of the environment around us (Tiwari, 2016, p. 58, 63, 96).
Journal of Social Work and Social Development, Volume 09, Number 1 & 2, 2018
Table 1.1- Institution Grants Disbursements (Theme Wise in the year 2016-17)
Thematic Area Spending (in millions)
Health care 1550.90
Water 103.50
Energy 16.20
Rural Upliftment 1875.30
Education 965.10
Urban poverty alleviation 274.90 Arts, crafts and culture 82.80
Innovation 175.50
Institution 624.20
TOTAL 5668.40
Source: Annual Report (year-2016-17) of ‘Sir Ratan Tata and allied Trusts’ (Accessed from: http://www.tatatrusts.org/upload/pdf/tata-
trusts-srtt-consolidated-16-17.pdf)
Figure 1.2: Institutional Grants Disbursals in the financial year 2016-17
Source: Annual Report (year-2016-17) of ‘Sir Ratan Tata and allied Trusts’ (Accessed from: http://www.tatatrusts.org/upload/pdf/tata-trusts-srtt-
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Critical Analysis:
Decades before the inception of the term Corporate Social Responsibility among the corporate houses, it would not be wrong to say that the Tata’s engagements in the sector of social work has been commendable. After the introduction of the new act in the year 2013, I feel that it’s a step of the GOI, which is full of cohesion. “Responsibility” followed by the word- “Act” gives a feel as if we are