Correlation Between Corporate Social Responsibility And Human Rights In Companies: Analysis Of The Indian Aspect
Sharanya Kulshrestha & Yash Garg, Manipal University Jaipur
ABSTRACT
“The business of the business should not be about money, it should be about responsibility, it should be about public good not private greed.”- Anita Roddick
The goal of this paper is to explore the relation between corporate respect for human rights and corporate social responsibility. The author contends that businesses have a responsibility to protect human rights as part of their corporate social responsibility. It should be emphasised that the phrase "responsibility" rather than "duty" is intended to indicate that respecting rights is not yet an obligation that international human rights legislation imposes directly on enterprises, though portions of it may be mirrored in domestic laws.
Over the last two to three years, there has been debate about mandatory CSR initiatives in India, and the Draft Companies Bill 2011 provides for the formation of a CSR Committee for companies with a net worth of Rs. 500 crore or more, a turnover of Rs. 1000 crore or more, or a net profit of Rs. 5 core or more. In 2009, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs issued the Corporate Social Responsibility Voluntary Guidelines, which later evolved into the "National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental, and Economic Responsibilities of Business (2011)," containing nine principles, out of which one principle states "Business should respect and promote human rights." The current paper would address these advancements and the concept's potential implementation in the Indian context, particularly in light of human rights violations.
