A Survey of Cement Corporation of India, Rajban, Sirmaur

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Corporate Social Responsibility: A Survey of Cement

Corporation of India, Rajban, Sirmaur

Virender Kaushal

Faculty, Himachal Pradesh University College of Business Studies,

Ava-Lodge, Choura Maidan, Shimla (India)

ABSTRACT

The cement industry is taken as most polluting industry as compared to other industries in the world. The

establishment of such industry has been creating various types of severe problems and issues to the community

and society. The present study deals with the initiatives undertaken by Cement Corporation of India in the name

of corporate social responsibility for the welfare and up-liftment of the affected community in and around the

area, where it has been established. The study has been undertaken to study the level of awareness of local

affected community about CSR and their satisfaction level about these initiatives undertaken by the company for

facilitating the people of the affected community and weaker sections of the society as well.

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Awareness Level, Satisfaction Level, Affected

Community, Cement Corporation of India, Rajban.

I. INTRODUCTION

Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) refers to all duties and obligations of business directed towards the

welfare of society. These duties can be part of routine functions of carrying on business activity or they, may be

an additional function carrying out welfare and rehabilitation activities. The people engage in business to earn

profit and profit making is not the sole function of the business. It performs a number of social functions, as it is

a part of the society. It takes care of those who are instrumental in securing its existence and survival of owners,

investors, employees, consumers, and governments in particular and the society and community in general.

Carroll in his words considers corporate social responsibility must be formed in such a way that the entire range

of business responsibilities are embraced and suggest that it consists of four basic types of social

responsibilities: Economic, Legal, Ethical and Philanthropic. These four responsibilities are presented by Carroll

(1991) in a pyramid and known as Carroll’s pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility.

Figure 1.1: Carroll’s Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility

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Source: Carroll A. B. (1991), “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility: Toward the Moral

Management of Organizational Stakeholders,” Business Horizons, July-August, Vol.-34, Issue-4.

Carroll in his Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility illustrates the four components of corporate social

responsibility. The economic component is about the responsibility to earn profit and this responsibility serves

as the basis for the other components of the pyramid. With regard to this legal aspect, society expects

organizations to comply with the laws and regulations. At its most fundamental level this is the obligation to do

what right and to avoid harming stakeholders. Next is the responsibility to be ethical and ethical responsibilities

are about how society expects organisations to embrace values and norms even if the values and norms might

constitute a higher standard of performance than required by law.

Finally business expected to be good corporate citizen i.e. philanthropic responsibility, where business is

expected to contribute financial and human resources to the community and to improve the quality of their life.

The majority of the definitions of Corporate Social Responsibility manifestate the three important aspects of

corporate social responsibility: economic, environmental, and social aspects into the definition, what is actually

called Triple Bottom Line, “The Polish poet Stanislaw Lec asked „is it progress if a cannibal uses a fork?”

History shows that the thought of social and environmental considerations of business is as old as trade and

business itself. According to the researchers as the Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability,

Sustainability, and Society, there are signs of interest in protecting the environment and human wellbeing that

can be traced back to ancient Mesopotamia around 1700 B.C., when King Hammurabi introduced the code of

punishment for negligent practices during building or farming. In ancient Rome, senators complained about the

lack of business to finance their military campaigns.

In 1622, displeased stakeholders in the Dutch East India Company campaigned criticizing management

siphoning their funds for personal gains. Then, Adam Smith in his 1776 opus, “The Wealth of Nations”, argued

that business, through the pursuit of profits and efficiency, ultimately benefits interests of both, its operations’

and society.

There are companies in many countries that have adopted a corporate social responsibility approach to business

management for centuries. The current corporate social responsibility movement is mainly trying to make it

common practices for most companies to create the kind of impact that can make a difference to sustainability

of our world and the quality of life of the present and future generations.

II. CEMENT CORPORATION OF INDIA

The Cement Corporation of India Limited was incorporated as a company wholly owned by Government of

India on 18th

-january-1965 with the principal objective of achieving self sufficiency in cement production. The

authorized and paid-up capital of the company as on 31.03.2014 was Rs. 900/- crore and Rs. 811.41/- crore

respectively.

The corporation is a multi unit organization at present having ten units spread all over eight states of the country

with a total annual installed capacity of 38.98 million tons per annum of cement. All the plants and factories,

zonal offices and corporate office situated at the heart of India, Delhi which are well connected through internet

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facility. With the advent of information technology company has been adopting latest trends in the production of

cement in its Tandur and Nayagaon Plants.

The corporation manufactures different types of cement brands such as Portland Pozzoland Cement (PPC),

Portland Slag Cement (PSC) and Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) of variety of grades like 33, 43, 53 and 53S.

The 53S is special grade cement which is used for manufacturer of sleepers for Indian railways. These all brands

are manufactured under the strict quality control with the brand name of CCI Cement.

The corporation has a strong work-force of more than 900 employees who are always encouraged for balanced

regional growth. Most of its factories/plants/mines are located in underdeveloped or backward areas of the

country. The company has also been contributing to the development of the areas around plants by adopting

nearby villages or areas by providing basic facilities such as schools, health centers, drinking water facilities,

employment for the people of local affected communities of these areas. For maintaining the ecological balance

the corporation is launching massive tree plantation drives from time to time in the surrounding areas of its

units.

III. CEMENT CORPORATION OF INDIA LIMITED, RAJBAN (SIRMAUR) IN HIMACHAL

PRADESH

Rajban is the small town near Paonta Sahib in the Sirmaur district in the Indian State of Himachal Pradesh.

Rajban is home to one of the oldest cement factory of Cement Corporation of India in Himachal Pradesh and

located on the river bank, where river Tohns and river Giri converge. Rajban is a very small town with a dense

forest adjacent to it and the high steep hills can be seen easily from the landscapes of the Rajban town.

The Rajban Cement plant is the oldest cement plant of the Himachal Pradesh and had started its commercial

production in 1980 with the installed capacity of 1.98 million tons per annum of cement. The plant is located at

a distance of 10 kilometers from Paonta Sahib by road and also at a distance of 60 kilometers from Dehradun

(Uttranchal) and is 70 kilometers from Yamunahagar (Haryana) respectively.

The Rajban Cement plant is a quite large unit, area wise and employing about 500 worker in this establishment.

The industrial establishment has developed a good residential colony for its employees nearby the plant. The

company has good facilities for their employees such as hospital, parks, playground, health centre, shopping

complex, recreation club, guest house, bank, post-office, telephone exchange and co-operative store. The

township of corporation has around 449 numbers of residential accommodations for its employees.

IV. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Aya (2015) in the research, “Corporate Social Responsibility: Rewriting the Relationship between Business and

Society”, witnessed a dramatic change in this relationship in the past few years. Globalization, ethical

consumerism, environmental concerns, strict governmental regulations and growing strength of the civil society

are all factors forced businesses to re-consider their role in society. Yemokhya and Biraj (2015) in their study,

“Corporate Social Responsibility: A Review of Literature”, explained that the Government suggested the

business units that corporate should enact a framework related to corporate social responsibility and include

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them in their vision, mission and strategic planning. If its initiatives being implemented by all the corporations

for rural development will have a positive impact on overall upliftment of the society and their business.

Cheng et al (2014) in their study, “Corporate Social Responsibility and Access to Finance,” concluded that by

using several alternative measures of capital constraints, a paired analysis based on a ratings shock to corporate

social responsibility performance, an instrumental variable and also a simultaneous equations approach. The

study concluded that the relation is driven by both the social and the environmental dimension of corporate

social responsibility. Chopra and Marriya (2013) in their study, “Corporate Social Responsibility and

Education in India,” revealed for many businesses, education is an important part of their plans, since the needs

exist in all geographic areas, across all subject areas and for all kinds of people. There is strong desire to change

the current state of education, the impact of business on larger society’s prerequisites.

From the above discussion of review of literature, it is observed that different organisations serve by taking

different corporate social responsibility activities in different sectors. The cultural, social, ethical,

environmental, economic and philanthropic, all these variables has been studied. Since various industries

contribute to the environmental pollution and the cement industry is one of the major contributors. So, cement

industry has to play a major role in undertaking corporate social responsibility activities as an important part of

their obligations towards the society.

V. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Corporate social responsibility has up-surged in the recent years as a potential tool for poverty eradication and

improving the socio-economic conditions of the poor and affected people of the community. The present study

aims to study the corporate social responsibility in relation to cement industry. The study will have following

objectives:-

1. To study the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility with special reference to Cement Corporation of

India, Rajban (Sirmaur).

2. To study the practices followed by the Cement Corporation of India, Rajban (Sirmaur) regarding the

Corporate Social Responsibility.

3. To study the awareness level about the corporate Social Responsibility practices of those people where the

Industry is located.

VI. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The present study was based on primary as well as secondary data. The primary data has been collected from the

local people/management of the company and the members of Public Relation’s and the employees of the

Cement Industry with the help of self designed questionnaire. The secondary data was collected with the help of

various published documents of the company/ state government/district industry centre/other departments. The

data thus collected was analysed in the light of objectives of the study.

The representative sample (N=200) of the respondents has been collected from those areas where the Cement

Industries/Plants are working. The local representatives of the panchayats have also been involved for the

purpose of this study. The present study is first of its kind which will through light on the very important subject

like Corporate Social Responsibility. This will determine the future course for conducting such researches which

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would be helpful for the policy planners and the company management and the general public. In this way we

study the various steps that are generally adopted or followed by a researcher in studying his research problem

along with the logic behind them.

VII. FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATION

The finding of the study has been given as follows: -

Table 1: Awareness Level of Respondents regarding Community Welfare Programmes undertaken by

Cement Corporation of India, Rajban (N=200)

S. No. Community Welfare Programmes Responses of Respondents

Yes No

1. Educational Facility 85.5 (171) 14.5 (029)

2. Employment Facility 86.5 (173) 13.5 (027)

3. Protection of Local Natural Resources 72.5 (145) 27.5 (055)

4. Health and Safety Measures 73.0 (146) 27.0 (054)

5. Proper Utilization of Energy Resources 64.0 (128) 36.0 (072)

6. Honouring Human Rights and Ethics 66.0 (132) 34.0 (068)

7. Substances and Materials Management 70.0 (140) 30.0 (060)

8. Environmental Management 75.0 (150) 25.0 (050)

9. Research and Development Programmes 65.5 (131) 34.5 (069)

10. Healthy Labour Standards 68.5 (137) 31.5 (063)

11. Disaster Management Measures 70.5 (141) 29.5 (059)

12. Waste Management 68.5 (137) 31.5 (063)

Note: Figures in parenthesis shows number of respondents

Source: Data collected through Interview Schedule

[1] Educational Facility: 85.5 percent of the respondents were aware of the community welfare programme

performed by company towards the enhancement of education, whereas 14.5 percent of the respondents

were not aware of this initiative.

[2] Employment Facility: In the survey conducted on 200 respondents 86.5 percent of the respondents were

aware about the company’s efforts towards employment generation for the local affected community

whereas 13.5 percent of the respondents had no knowledge of the efforts.

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[3] Protection of Local Natural Resources: 72.5 percent of the total respondents were aware of the local

natural resources conservation undertaken by company with the help of other organizations whereas 27.5

percent of the respondents were not aware of this initiative.

[4] Health and Safety Measures: The research reflects that 73 percent of the respondents were aware of the

health and safety measures taken by company and on the other hand 27 percent of the respondents were not

aware of these measures.

[5] Proper Utilization of Energy Resources: Out of the research conducted on 200 respondents 64 percent of

the respondents aware of the company’s initiative to reduce the wastage of energy resources whereas 36

percent of the respondents had no knowledge of the same.

[6] Honouring Human Rights and Ethics: 66 percent of the respondents were aware of the company’s

initiatives regarding human rights issues while rest of the respondents found unaware of the same.

[7] Substances and Materials Management: The survey conducted on 200 respondents reveals that 70

percent of the respondents were aware of the substances and materials management efforts of company

whereas the 30 percent of the respondents were not aware of this initiative.

[8] Environmental Management: The research conducted on 200 respondents 75 percent of the total

respondents were aware of the environment management measures performed by company while 25 percent

were not aware of the same.

[9] Research and Development Programmes: The study undertaken depicts that 65.5 percent of the

respondents were aware of the company’s initiative taken on developing environmental friendly devices

whereas 34.5 percent of the respondents had no knowledge of the initiative.

[10] Healthy Labour Standards: The research shows that 68.5 percent of the respondents were aware of the

labour standards being followed by company and on the other hand 31.5 percent had no knowledge about

the labour standards followed by company.

[11] Disaster Management Measures: The survey explains that 70.5 percent of the total respondents were

aware of the company’s initiative towards disaster management while 29.5 percent of the respondents were

not aware of the initiative.

[12] Waste Management: 68.5 percent of the respondents were aware of the waste management measures of

company whereas 31.5 percent of the respondents were not aware of the waste management efforts.

The above table reveals that the awareness level of the respondents of Cement Corporation of India, Rajban,

the oldest cement manufacturing company regarding corporate social responsibility activities are very high.

Company is providing a large amount of fund to facilitate the people of affected community and they had

knowledge about the initiatives undertaken by it. The company is taking various steps to make society

aware about their noble cause so that people of community get benefits from these initiatives. By doing this

company creates advantage, boosts smooth functioning of business, saves its time, reduces stress and

maintains a bond of trust and confidence with the people of affected community.

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Table 2: Satisfaction Level of Respondents Regarding Corporate Social Responsibility

Activities undertaken by Cement Corporation of India, Rajban

(N=200)

S.No. CSR Activities SD D N A SA TWS Mean Rank S.D. Skew Kurt

1.

Company is paying

immediate attention

of deadly diseases

like HIV/AIDS,

Cancer and microbial

infections etc.

020

(20)

025

(50)

006

(18)

064

(256)

085

(425) 769 3.84 8 1.357 1.357

-

0.363

2.

There is full

transparency in

working of company

009

(9)

055

(110)

005

(15)

071

(284)

060

(300) 718 3.59 13 1.292

-

0.483

-

1.196

3.

Company providing

funds for the

constructions and

maintenance of

buildings, parks and

gardens etc

050

(50)

039

(78)

003

(9)

050

(200)

058

(290) 627 3.14 16 1.612

-

0.163

-

1.641

4.

Company providing

Scholarships, books

and mid-day meals

facilities to the

children from weaker

sections of the society

032

(32)

012

(24)

003

(9)

076

(304)

077

(385) 754 3.77 10 1.427

-

1.054

-

0.327

5.

Company is having

proper measures at

the time of disasters

032

(32)

032

(64)

004

(12)

053

(212)

079

(395) 715 3.58 14 1.525

-

0.629

-

1.197

6.

Company is focusing

on promoting use of

recycled/renewable

products/devices

016

(16)

038

(76)

002

(6)

073

(292)

071

(355) 745 3.72 11 1.334

-

0.794

-

0.741

7. Company

undertaking various

020

(20)

032

(64)

001

(3)

083

(332)

064

(320) 739 3.70 12 1.334

-

0.861

-

0.587

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measures to bring

down the flow of

effluents to reduce

the wastage from the

Plants

8.

Company

emphasizing on anti-

corruption

programmes

010

(10)

061

(122)

006

(18)

053

(212)

070

(350) 712 3.56 15 1.366

-

0.372

-

1.418

9.

Company started

various

programmes/schemes

for re-enrollment of

dropouts in rural

areas

004

(4)

048

(96)

003

(9)

065

(260)

080

400 769 3.84 7 1.240

-

0.723

-

0.941

10.

Company

undertaking various

charitable activities

for the welfare and

development of local

affected community

013

(13)

004

(8)

002

(6)

097

(388)

084

(420) 835 4.18 2 1.034

-

1.899 3.532

11.

Company

maintaining healthy

labour by following

the international

labour laws and

health standards to

protect employees,

workers as well as

people of the

community

005

(5)

032

(64)

004

(12)

075

(300)

084

(420) 801 4.00 4 1.145

-

1.064

-

0.001

12.

Company started

various schemes and

programmes for the

women-upliftment

005

(5)

037

(74)

003

(9)

068

(272)

087

(435)

795

3.98 5 1.192 -

0.976

-

0.346

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through innovative

income generating

programmes

13.

Company providing

various opportunities

to generate

employment to the

local people

004

(4)

022

(44)

005

(15)

106

(424)

063

(315)

802 4.01 3 0.982 -

1.241 1.145

14.

Company makes tie-

ups with other

organizations to save

species which are

going to extinct

012

(12)

038

(76)

009

(27)

063

(252)

078

(390) 757 3.78 9 1.303

-

0.779

-

0.742

15.

Company organizes

various training and

development sessions

for employees as well

as people of

community on safety

measures

010

(10)

009

(18)

001

(3)

087

(348)

093

(465) 844 4.22 1 1.028

-

1.826 3.123

16.

Company undertakes

various programmes

and initiatives for the

protection of

environment via

plantation of trees

021

(21)

021

(42)

001

(3)

066

(264)

091

(455) 785 3.92 6 1.352

-

1.159

-

0.029

Source: Data collected through Interview Schedule

Notes: * Figures in parenthesis shows weighted score

* Standard Error in Skewness is 0.172 and Standard error in Kurtosis is 0.342

* CSR- Corporate Social Responsibility, SD- Strongly Disagree, D- Disagree, N- Neutral, A- Agree, SA-

Strongly Agree, TWS- Total Weighted Score, S. D. – Standard Deviation, Skew-Skewness, Kurt-Kurtosis.

The table 2 asserted that out of 16 corporate social responsibility initiatives undertaken by company, the mean

value score for each corporate social responsibility has been calculated and ranking for each activity is assigned

according to their mean value score. In this way we get the highly preferred corporate social responsibility

activity and least preferred corporate social responsibility activity as per the responses provided by the

respondents. The highly preferred activity initiated by the company is to bring attention on sessions for the

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training and development on various issues for employees as well as people of local community. For this

company fixed 25 compulsory man-days on training and development sessions for their employees and also

started various sessions to make people aware about personal development time-to-time. This activity was

ranked at the top and highly preferred by the respondents. Second highly preferred activity which has been

undertaken by company was charitable activities for the welfare and development of local affected community.

It includes providing funds for the construction and maintenance of houses, blood donation camps, providing

medicines, food, shelters, clothes, books etc. to the weaker section of the community. The third highly preferred

corporate social responsibility activity was generating employment for the local affected community which

includes job participation by providing quotas for the locals. Other preferred activities such as to maintain

healthy labour standards by following the international labour laws and health standards to the employees as

well as for the people of community. Various schemes, programmes and activities for the women upliftment

through innovative income generation programmes and protecting environment through plantation of trees has

been ranked fourth, fifth and sixth in the preference list of the respondents. Company is providing funds for the

education of weaker section and affected population of the community, paying immediate attention on deadly

disease like HIV/AIDS, Cancer and microbial infections etc., make tie-ups with local community people and

other organizations to save the species which are endangered, providing scholarships, books and mid-day meal

facility for the weaker section of the affected community as well as needy people, promoting use of

renewable/recyclable products and devices, initiated various precautionary measures to bring down the flow of

effluents from the plants to reduce the wastage of raw materials and resources, company is transparent in its

working, providing proper attention to cure the damages and to help the victims of disasters, emphasizing on

anti-corruption programmes and providing funds for the construction and maintenance of buildings, gardens,

and parks etc., activities were least preferred by the respondents and these activities are ranked accordingly. The

company should focus more on those activities which were least preferred by the respondents so that people of

affected community avail the benefits of these corporate social responsibility activities also.

VIII. CONCLUSION

It is found in the study that most important corporate social responsibility activities done by the company is

related to immediate attention on the deadly disease like HIV/AIDS, Cancer and microbial infections etc.,

women upliftment, training and development sessions for employees as well as people of the affected

community, charitable activities, generating employment for local people of affected community, maintaining

healthy labour standards, and promoting use of recycled and renewable products in the vicinity of cement

companies. A prosperous business helps in developing a healthy society and safe environment.

The corporate social responsibility can be highly effective and beneficial for developing a relationship of loyalty

and trust with its customers and community in which business exists. The companies should focus on those

corporate social responsibility activities with the help of its members, people from local community, and other

related organizations in order to provide maximum benefits of these activities to their target population of the

affected community and keep them aware about the activities done by the companies for the welfare and

development of the society. It is very difficult for any company to establish direct relationship with each and

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every member of society, so management of the company forms separate divisions to perform the corporate

social responsibility activities in the vicinity of their existence.

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A Survey of Cement Corporation of India, Rajban, Sirmaur

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