Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives Taken for Rural Development in India

Corporates are traditionally known as engines for driving the economic performance of an entity, its success being measured in terms of high returns on equity at individual plane and its contribution to the nation's economic growth on a collective plane. The paper attempts to explore Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices particularly in the context of rural development. The research questions examine do the corporate consider rural people as a stakeholder? If so, what CSR initiatives taken for development of rural areas and how the corporates implement their CSR initiatives as a part of their business strategy? Finally it evaluates impacts of CSR actions on the socio-economic development of rural people. The methodology of the present study relied on the web-based research, review of print literature and visit to the selected sites to witness CSR practice. The paper concludes that social responsibility is regarded as an important business issue of Indian companies irrespective of size, sector, and business goal. Therefore, CSR actions have positive impacts not only on development of rural community but also in their business. Study reveals some lesson on CSR practices in India which can provide guidance to corporate entities for better implementation of CSR activities.