Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti today called for creating an institutional mechanism to ensure productive use of the funds chipped in by cement manufacturers under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr Navin Kumar Choudhary was present in the meeting.Interacting with a delegation of the cement manufacturers from Khrew and Khonmoh, the Chief Minister said the funds provided by these unit holders under CSR have to be essentially used for developing facilities for the local areas including roads, health and educational facilities and environment conservation measures.Responding to the revelations made by the cement unit holders that they are giving away almost Rs 4 crore every year under CSR to the local population some of which is even being used by the locals to pay the electricity bills of their residential houses, the Chief Minister said that instead of throwing away the money around in an unorganized manner, these funds need to be parked at a centralized place to be used productively for creating durable assets for the area.“The concerned District Development Commissioners would be asked to open a centralized account for CSR money and the same would be then spent on the development of Khonmoh and Khrew areas in consultation with the local Auqaf Committees,” the Chief Minister said adding pollution control measures, extensive plantation, construction of alternate roads to cement plants and providing better facilities for local health and educational institutions should constitute major components of the CSR expenditure.
The Chief Minister also expressed concern over unregulated movement of trucks in the area and asked the Cement Manufacturers to ensure that the movement of trucks doesn’t cause any inconvenience to the local population. She asked Commissioner Secretary Industries and Commerce to formulate projects for providing alternate road connectivity to the cement manufacturing plants bypassing the residential areas.To ensure adequate pollution control measures in Khonmoh and Khrew, the Chief Minister said the Cement Manufacturers should ensure that they should take up massive plantation in the area besides strictly conforming to the pollution control measures proclaimed by the Government from time to time.Speaking on the occasion, Commissioner Secretary, Industries and Commerce, Mr Shailendra Kumar said the Government is in the process of promulgating a new set of rules for CSR initiatives by various corporate and industrial houses in the State. He said the loopholes in the existing system of CSR spending have been to a large extent taken care of in the new rules.Special Secretary to Chief Minister, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary was also present in the meeting.