Careworks Foundation’s CWF School Enhancement Program is a flagship education initiative designed to holistically develop government schools, besides providing financial assistance to the meritorious but underprivileged children. Discussing about these programs, Smitha B. S., Lead Community Outreach, Careworks Foundation tells SPO India of how these initiatives are shaped at improving the economic and ethical standards and benefiting the society at large –
Can we have your thoughts and vision on sustainability of CSR programs in India?
“To actively contribute to the community and create a positive impact in the lives of people, especially in the areas of health and education. In doing so, Careworks Foundation (CWF) aims to build a healthy and educated workforce and provide sustainable livelihood for the weaker sections of society.”
Could you share some of the recent initiatives of Quess Corp, of how it is shaping the path for CSR within the company?
CWF School Enhancement Program is the flagship education initiative of Careworks Foundation aimed for holistic development of government schools. In FY 2016-17, under the CWF School Enhancement Program, 10 Schools have been adopted while as on date we have adopted a total of 20 schools, 3858 children and 80 Teachers. CWF organizes general health, dental & eye camps in order to improve the wellbeing of students. In 2016 -17, we covered 2000 children and treated major dental issues. We also run academic support programs under which we organized residential life skill camp at Thirthahalli School. Also, under the academic support program we provide financial assistance to the meritorious children of unskilled labourers. Just in the past year, 91 students have received scholarships across the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, New Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal, while a total of 249 scholars have received scholarships till date.
Given the various setbacks to CSR implementation in the country, what is the need of the hour according to you for India to evolve a robust CSR framework?
The CSR community needs an organised structure to execute its action plan with ample support from the government. Today, there are active teams within the company to devise specific plans, strategy, execution ideas and other goals. This team makes sure that the policies devised are adaptable to social philosophies and also are closely associated with the companies’ business expertise. However, the government needs to play an important role here by providing statistical information on the CSR activities conducted in the specific focus areas. These statistics could be shared with the companies, thereby ensuring that companies are not repeating activities in their focus area, thereby benefiting the society on a whole lot of cases like eradication of illiteracy, poverty and providing healthcare support.
What is your CSR vision for the year 2017?
Our leadership team, especially our chairman and managing director, Ajit Isaac participates hands-on in our community outreach programs. The vision and the support from the leadership has helped us take big strides in our social impact programs. CWF School Enhancement Program is the flagship education initiative of Careworks Foundation. Under this program, we plan to reach 10 more schools and 2,500 students. Our goal is to reach 50 schools and 10,000 students in 5 years. We are currently working With 20 schools, 3,858 children and over 80 teachers.
What is your mantra of running a successful CSR program?
CSR activities are run with the intention of benefitting the society on a whole. While running CSR activities in areas like eradication of illiteracy, poverty or creating jobs, we also need to focus on grass root level by working with schools. We believe schools set the foundation for educating the youth and increase employability. Under the CWF School Enhancement Program, we have a focused approach by concentrating on the holistic development of government schools.
How has the CSR mandate in the Company’s Act changed the way your company plans its CSR programs?
The company’s Act has not impacted our CSR mandate, as we implement our programs as a commitment to society and not to fulfil the compliance requirement. We have been successfully running programs since 2013.
How do you plan to position your company in the area of CSR & Sustainability?
We want to create better lives by reaching out to children from marginalized communities. School Enhancement Program, our flagship education initiative aims for holistic development of government schools. It is intended at delivering free quality education to underprivileged children and lays special emphasis on education of the girl child.
Samrita Baruah
samrita@varindia.com
