Corporate Social Responsibility: A Study of Selected Public Sector Banks in India

Abstract

Social Responsibility is the mechanism through which the corporate organizations have executed their philanthropic visions for social welfare. It is a powerful way of making sustainable competitive profit and achieving lasting values for stakeholder as well as shareholder. Corporate Social Responsibility is very popular in financial sector, which the financial crisis did not damage as perceptible as in other countries of developed economies (Singer, 2009). The process of Globalization creates competition among financial organizations to perform according to the internationally compatible trade practices. So this instigated them to divert their available resources to do more social activities. Nowadays, many nationalized banks in India have created their individual brand image in the field of Social Responsibility (CSR) by taking various social initiatives in the era of social welfare and community development. The catalytic contributions made by nationalized banks for economic growth in India have created their separate entities towards financial growth. The main objective of this study is to analyze the CSR activities carried out by selected nationalized banks of India. An attempt has been made to analyze the existing CSR practices of five nationalized banks i.e., Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India, and Uco Bank. It has been found that the selected banks are directly engaged in CSR activities mostly in the area of Rural Development, Education, Community Welfare, Women and Children. The analysis shows that, these banks are making efforts for the implementation of CSR, but are restricted within certain fields. There is a need for better CSR activities by the banks, which is possible by adding more and more social development issues link with corporate sector.