Funds for Child Rights

On Monday, the tiol Commission for Protection of Child Rights asked industrial houses and companies to increase their corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending in the Northeast considering that the region received less than one per cent funds last year. This was a commendable initiative considering that the norms for CSR spending are rather skewed to the disadvantage of the Northeast. Although CSR spending has been a responsibility of the corporate sector since 2014, the spending for the Northeast has been very poor. Industrial houses and companies spend much more in Maharashtra, Tamil du, Kartaka and Gujarat where industrial activities are far more pronounced. By contrast, the north-eastern States, which lack industries for diverse reasons, are not getting funding from corporate groups for welfare activities. It should be clear to any organization or industrial house that CSR spending ought not to be a simple matter of rewarding different States for their performance in industrial activities. On the contrary, it is States that have a poorer record of industrial activity that should get more assistance for the simple reason that they are unlikely to get such assistance if they approach industrial houses individually.