Need for a well-defined CSR policy

A two-day conference on "Responsible Business Conduct in Poverty Alleviation through Financial Inclusion, Green Banking and CSR" held at the Bangladesh Bank Training Academy in the city appears to have focused on more issues than such a conference can do justice to. Financial inclusion is so broad an issue that covers in myriad forms the entire gamut of economic activities. On the other hand, tagging poverty alleviation with any initiative has rendered it rather more like a cliché than a comprehensive effort. And corporate social responsibility (CSR), on the other hand, demands an exclusive analysis in terms of the impact it leaves on a society like that of Bangladesh. Then green banking is still in its formative stage and this too needs to be put in its proper perspective. Covering all the issues in a conference proves daunting but the organisers demonstrated that they are serious about advancing such issues that will be tomorrow's buzzwords.
For convenience, let CSR be taken up for deliberations. This country has been a witness to some of the most welfare-oriented programmes. The foremost name to have come forward in establishing educational institutions, charitable hospitals, training academies for nurses and many such organisations is none other than Ranada Prasad Saha. Credit goes to a few other wealthy people who financed establishment of the majority of schools and colleges in the late 19th century. It was a time when the coinage of the CSR was out of question. But those people out of love for their countrymen, donated generously for the cause of education and healthcare. After independence few people had enough money to undertake such welfare initiatives. Now, some among the super rich are tentatively coming forward to follow in the footsteps of their illustrious predecessors. Yet at a time when the country is following democracy, albeit not a perfect brand of it, there is a need for giving such initiatives an institutional shape. No wonder, therefore, a number of commercial private banks in particular have been in the forefront of such a move. The amount of money they allocate for poor but meritorious students as financial help during their studies is quite large.
No investment is more important than in education because acquiring knowledge apart, one cannot think of an acceptable career and better life without education. On that count, the CSR activities of today easily find an inexorable link to the welfare and charitable works of yester years. Financial inclusiveness is a misnomer in today's world. If it prevailed, the poor would not have turned poorer and the rich richer. The financial system under the prevailing market economy is flawed. But at least, the discrimination can, to some extent, be addressed by adopting strategies like the investment in education under a well-formulated CSR policy. The government is reportedly going for such a move. Let it be done with all seriousness with a particular emphasis on investment in human resource development. To that end more resources have to be made available to educating the nation, particularly the students from poor and backward societies.