Though DHFL is new to CSR, DHFL Pramerica believes that the act of giving is purely an individual phenomenon, irrespective of any govt. mandate or rules and should start from an individual level only. Suman Majumdar, AVP & National Product Manager – DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance Company speaks on what sustainability means for the company and how does as an insurance company does it look at the developmental goals and sustainability –
What has been the sustainability agenda for DHFL in 2017?
Health is the major focus for us. The ongoing project at DHFL is ‘Behtaar’ India for us. We are doing this in conjunction with NDTV and CAF is our implementation partner for this project. This happens to be our flagship initiative too. So there are 3 verticals to it – health, hygiene and environment. Out of these 3, health is the bigger aspect because we understand that at the end, whether it is hygiene or environment, it all rounds up to one thing which is health.
Which NGOs and self-help groups do you work with?
We are very new to CSR, and so we have been working directly with a lot of organizations, which ideally need not be an NGO. But now since we are in touch with CAF, we would like to work and take up more projects with CAF.
What are the factors you look for in your partners?
Hope and trust are the 2 things that we usually look for in our partners. We also try to ensure that the content of delivery is good enough; their previous campaigns that they have undertaken should speak volume of their trust-worthiness and honesty. So we try to test them that way and then work with them.
How far do you encourage your employees to be a part of these initiatives?
We encourage 100% participation among our employees, because apart from the corporate social responsibility, there is also an individual responsibility that matters. And as a company, we highly encourage everybody to step forward and do whatever they can for the community.
How does sustainability get reflected in your offerings to your customers?
Since we are an investment company, the development and sustainability goals should get manifested through the processes. For instance, for a manufacturer, if he manufactures anything, the sustainability development should get reflected in it. But for us, it is how we process our solutions in terms of sustainability is how we look at sustainable development.
Any message you would like to give to the community?
My only message to the community would be to step forward. It is both for the young and old alike. Most of the time we step back thinking of what people will think about us, or will I be able to do it all myself? But personally I feel, these inhibitions can be broken once you have taken the first step. When you restore faith in yourself that something good can be done, you should just go for it.
