Harnessing Corporate Social Responsibility for empowering low income families through affordable housing

14th Edition of Habitat for Humanity India’s CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Dialogue in Pune focuses on The Role of CSR in Strengthening Low Income Families in Maharashtra through Housing and Sanitation.

Pune, 27th February 2020: Highlighting the role of corporates in community development and dwelling on the need for harnessing their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to provide sustainable housing and sanitation solutions for families from economically weaker sections (EWS) of the society, the 14th edition of Habitat for Humanity’s India CSR Dialogue focused on the ‘Role of CSR in Strengthening Low Income families in Maharashtra’. The one-day summit was held at the Symbiosis Vishwabhavan Conference Hall, Shivaji Nagar, Pune on February 27, 2020.

Mr Rajan Samuel, Managing Director, Habitat for Humanity India; Mr Devendra Deshpande, CS and Fellow Member, Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) and Mr. Nitin Potdar, Corporate Lawyer, M and A Partner, J. Sagar Associates were the key speakers at the event.

With an active participation of more than 40 corporate leaders from companies such as Rolls- Royce, SG Analytics, Sandvik, Piaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd, Martin Engineering, Yardi Software India Pvt Ltd to name a few, Habitat for Humanity India emphasized on how affordable housing is foundational for low-income families to build a better future. The event provided key insights into the need for increased CSR interventions in the areas of affordable housing, sanitation and menstrual hygiene for adolescent girls.

“Going beyond the mere domain of policy compliance, CSR should become a voluntary participative process for the corporate citizenry of India. Corporate CSR agendas should revolve around engaging all concerned stakeholders to exert a positive impact on the society and laying the groundwork for community empowerment and betterment. The corporate India must focus on affordable housing through CSR to contribute to Government of India’s Housing for All by 2022 goal, just like it wholeheartedly contributed to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan,” stated Mr. Rajan Samuel, Managing Director, Habitat for Humanity India.