Tuesday, February 7, 2006
The perception of corporate social responsibility, once and for long, as an extra effort made by a company, is now undergoing a sea change. The realisation came up prominently at the recent World Economic Forum at Davos.
All those present at the forum realised their responsibility towards core basic universal problems like water, air, climate change and health issues like HIV/AIDS. These problems don?t see borders. The progress all over the world ? whether we talk about poverty, health or water and sanitation ? remains embarrassing, though. Fighting these problems is a collective responsibility where even corporates have a role. A growing desire among the business community is to undertake projects that aim to deliver in a sustainable and economically logical way.
Bajaj Electricals has five major strategic business units comprising home appliances, fans, lighting, luminaries and engineering projects. Besides catering to the mass market, the lighting equipment manufactured by us are designed to address the basic needs of the people at the bottom of the pyramid.
In our products, we promote the principles of renewable energy and energy efficiency. These aim to help people living in rural areas. These people use wood as cooking fuel, which is one of the foremost reasons of deforestation and indoor pollution. It?s also responsible for disturbing the ecological balance outside and the health of women and children inside homes. In the villages near our facilities, we try to promote renewable sources of energy like gobar gas plants and better cooking equipment like kerosene lamps.
