AbstractThis paper provides a brief background of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the concept and its evolution in India and in the world. The paper seeks to analyse in detail the CSR provisions new companies’ bill and provide critical comments, identify key issues and provide solutions to it. The paper talks about the shift from Corporate Social Responsibility to Corporate Social Obligation. It talks about properly channelizing the huge funds expected to be generated by 2% mandatory CSR norm. It talks about taking an integrated approach by companies to pursue CSR by collaborating with other companies and NGOs and sharing their core-competencies. It has been suggested in the paper that companies can serve well researching and developing innovative solutions for our socio-economic problems by using their core-competencies. The paper also underlines that CSR also must involve environment friendly solutions and integrate social and ecological aspects in their CSR work. The paper also urges that CSR is as much about how companies earn their money as about how they spend it. There is no meaning of spending on CSR if, first of all, a company earns profit by illegal and dubious means. The paper has also analysed a long term possibility of rise of a flourishing CSR industry on lines of outsourcing industries like BPO, IT outsourcing etc. The paper has also analysed problems such as apparent rigidness of Section 135 according to which CSR policies should be framed only in accordance with Schedule VII. The Author has advocated a mix of flexibility and rigidness in this. Problem of enforceability has been discussed and solutions like penalty taxes been suggested. Other problems like continuing support to NGOs, taking voluntary part out of CSR, mitigation of impact of a business, stress on local areas etc. have been analysed.
Keywords: Corporate, Social, Responsibility, Companies, Problems, Opportunities