HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday instructed officials to prepare a special policy for mobilisation and effective utilisation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.
During a review meeting on CSR funds, the chief minister also approved the creation of a dedicated Telangana CSR portal.
He emphasised that the portal should be designed to be engaging and user-friendly, enabling corporate firms to easily connect with the government and select projects aligned with their specific interests and objectives.
The portal will serve as an important link between the government and corporate entities. It will also feature comprehensive details of various projects, spanning different government departments, that are open for corporate funding through CSR contributions, the chief minister said.
Dedicated CSR cell
The chief minister announced the decision to establish a dedicated CSR cell at the state level with a separate office.
The state-level cell will be responsible for coordinating CSR initiatives currently being implemented by corporate companies within the state, as well as compiling information on projects available across various government departments that are suitable for execution through CSR funding, he added.
In a move to encourage companies to allocate more CSR funds, the chief minister ordered the officials to organise annual events to felicitate the managements and representatives of the companies which contribute CSR funds to the state. These felicitation ceremonies should be part of the state formation day celebrations, he said.
The officials apprised the chief minister that the state’s share of CSR contributions currently stands at a mere three per cent of the national figures.
Expressing displeasure over the poor flow of CSR funds from the state industry, Revanth Reddy stressed the need to receive a greater share of CSR funds as well as the utilisation of those funds.
He also instructed officials to study the strategies being adopted by other states in this regard.
Talasani questions govt’s commitment to BC welfare
Meanwhile, BRS deputy floor leader Talasani Srinivas Yadav alleged that the Congress government had deceived the people of Telangana with false promises and asked it to explain why it has not allocated Rs 20,000 crore for BC welfare as promised during the elections.
Participating in the discussion on demands for grants of various departments in the Assembly, the BRS member said that the government failed to provide 42 per cent reservations to BCs. “The state government is now claiming that 42 per cent quota implementation is under the purview of the Union government, while ignoring its own responsibility in fulfilling assurances made to BCs. Why hasn’t Congress introduced a private member’s bill in Parliament if it was serious about the issue?” he asked.
Srinivas Yadav also mentioned that the previous BRS government has spent around Rs 45,000 crore over nine years for BC welfare. “Gurukul schools, as well as medical and engineering colleges, were established to support BCs. Financial assistance of Rs 20 lakh each was provided to students pursuing higher education abroad,” he said.
The former minister slammed the current government for failing to release fee reimbursement dues and overseas education assistance, and alleged discrepancies between Budget allocations and actual expenditure, calling it “number manipulation”.
Demanding that allocated funds are spent fully, he further accused the government of not conducting a transparent caste census and of failing to make the BC Commission report public. “BC employees are not receiving due recognition in key systems and institutions,” he added.