CSR that works !

A labourer from Bihar contributing his daily ‘dihadi’, a young girl from Delhi foregoing her weekly movie outing, and thousands of others…have all made sacrifices and contributions towards national causes, via ‘Care Today’.

In 1999, urged by readers and internal employees, to go beyond just reporting calamities, the India Today Group moved forward to set up an interesting initiative. Readers could now contribute actively to aid victims of natural and other calamities.

Since then, the ‘Care Today’ initiative has enabled India Today readers to share the pain and sorrow felt by victims of Kargil war, Orissa Cyclone(’99), Gujarat-Rajasthan drought(2000), Kutch earthquake(’01), Tsunami(’04) and Kashmir quake(’05).

I spent some time with Ajit Chaudhury, Executive Director, CareToday, to understand this remarkable initiative. I was particularly keen to figure out:

• how and why relief projects run by government are usually late, non-transparent, and insensitive, whereas CareToday seemed to be the exact opposite?
• Why is it that the PM’s Relief Fund resembles a ‘black box’ with little transparency? Why do relief victims keep waiting for years, and chasing insensitive officials for help?

After Kargil, CareToday helped 38 badly-incapacitated soldiers move into alternative careers by funding them with initial assets( houses, jeeps, tractors, shops) worth Rs 3 lakhs each, that got them started. The aftermath of Orissa cyclone saw 100 houses being built for widows, as well as several ‘community shelters’.

Innovations were required to address special situations like the Kutch quake so that victims could get support for next few years; hence, FDs were opened in their names, which provided monthly interest of Rs 500/-. 500 houses were built, including 50 for the diasbled.

I asked Ajit what his most challenging assignment has been, and his unhesitating answer was the Tsunami ! While Tamil Nadu got plenty of attention and funds from everyone, the Nicobar islands were a challenge, partly due to remote locations, but also due to security-linked access restrictions( he shared an anecdote regarding having to wait outside the District Collector’s office for 7 days). Notwithstanding that, CareToday got involved by sending a team of doctors from St John’s Hospital, Bangalore; by running a boat service between the relief center and various islands; and lots more.

Looking at all this, it is clear that there are three reasons why CareToday scores - though, implemented on a much smaller scale - over government-run relief efforts:

1. It offers timely help to victims, and helps them recover. Be it a house and a job for a Naga soldier, or boats to dis-possessed fishermen, or providing shelter to kids orphaned by the Kashmir earthquake, the key lies in doing it when it is really needed.
2. Next, is sensitivity. When one of the Kargil victims was lying injured, and depressed, at home, at a remote location in Uttaranchal, a CareToday representative trudged that distance to meet him and his family; reaching out in this manner helped to transform the soldier’s outlook towards life.
3. Finally, there is transparency. India Today regularly reports details of receipt and use of contributions. It is not a black box that just swallows up your money. When was the last time any of us have seen something similar from the PM’s Relief Fund, or other funds like the ‘education cess’?

My big question to Ajit and CareToday has been: why wait for natural calamities to happen? Why can’t India Today and its readers do this good work for the underprivileged, even in normal times?

CareToday’s timely actions, sensitivity, and transparency have a big role to play in everyday India.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 13th, 2007 at 11:02 pm and is filed under CSR That Works. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.