Corporate social responsibility of Indian in Surance Industry - A benchmark

The Union Minister of state has stated that, the profit making private sector companies asked to spend a minimum 2 per cent of their profits on corporate social responsibility activities. India's more than half of the population in rural part as we know the condition and status of the Indian economy, it is the part and parcel of the public sector and private sector to contribute their services to empower the downtrodden and below poverty line in the rural areas.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) refers to the obligations and duties of business to the society. Now a days there has been growing acceptance of the view that business should be socially responsible to all the stakeholders says shareholders, employees, consumers, government, suppliers and society. CSR, if implemented in true sense, helps in enhancing the quality of stakeholders and the society at large. This paper is the outcome of descriptive study conducted with the purpose to assess the various CSR initiatives undertaken by LIC and other private insurance companies like Bajaj Allianz, Aviva, SBI, HDFC etc, to uplift the unprivileged section of the society and also made an attempt to study the effect of CSR on life insurance business of LIC and on its various stakeholders. The study reveals that cost incurred by companies on Corporate Social Responsibility activities is a worthwhile investment as it enhances not only goodwill but also contribute to more profit by doing honest efforts and ethical business practices. The present paper is solely depends on secondary sources and scope of study is confined to LIC and its competitors is the main limitation. From a practical perspective, the study is needed to assess whether the investment in CSR is worthwhile or not. The paper concludes that CSR are now quite an effective part of organizational objectives and becomes an effective tool by which a company can differentiate itself from their competitors and holds strong position in the market.