On May 26, 2021, Karnataka Chief Minister(CM) B S Yediyurappa, launched an online portal named ‘Akanksha‘ to provide comprehensive details on all the Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) activities in the state. It is the first of its kind initiative in India.
- The portal was created by the Department of Planning, Programme Monitoring and Statistics, Karnataka in collaboration with UNDP’s (United Nations Development Programme) Sustainable Development Goals Coordination Centre (SDGCC).
- Objective: To make CSR fund utilisation easy, simple and transparent.
- NITI Ayog (The National Institution for Transforming India) Chief Executive Officer, Amitabh Kant also participated in the launch virtually.
Key points:
i.The portal will enable the CSR stakeholders to align their CSR goals with Karnataka’s sustainable development goals(SDG) priorities as the portal is linked with the state’s SDG targets.
iii.The state government has set Rs 61,407 crore in FY22 to meet SDGs and under the health sector, Rs 11,527 crore was allocated in 2021 and in 2022 it allocated Rs 11,650 crore.
ii.Yediyurappa has specified the utilisation of Rs 175.09 crore out of CSR funds for the health sector to mitigate COVID-19 in the state.
iii.He also invited donors to support the people who are suffering from COVID-19 through the Akanksha portal.
Recent Related News:
On January 20, 2021, Karnataka Chief Minister (CM), B. S. Yediyurappa launched the ‘Avolokana Software’ Transparent e-governance tool. The software will be used by the Government to monitor & access data on sanctions & expenditures incurred on 1800 programmes which have been implemented by 39 Departments.
About United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):
Establishment – 1965 by the General Assembly of the United Nations.
Administrator – Achim Steiner
Headquarters – New York, USA
About Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR):
i.On April 1, 2014, India became the first country to legally mandate corporate social responsibility.
ii.Applicability: Companies with Net Worth of Rs. 500 crore or more/ Turnover of Rs. 1000 crore or more/ Net Profit of Rs. 5 crores in the preceding financial year are applicable under the CSR policy.
iii.At least 2 percent of average net profits of 3 immediately preceding financial years should be spent by the companies on CSR.
