KSRM organized an alumni talk on 8 September 2023. The speaker for the event was Mr. Pritam Motilal, Senior Manager – CSR, Tata Motors Limited. An alumni of MBA (Rural Management), 2011-13 batch, he is currently leading the CSR activities and Employee Volunteering for Tata Motors Limited’s commercial vehicle manufacturing plant, located at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. Mr. Pritam has also done a ‘Certified CSR Professional’ course from Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI). He has an industry experience of close to 10 years across leading manufacturing and automobile companies in India like Honda Cars India Limited, Hyundai Motor India Limited and Tata Motors.
Mr. Pritam emphasized how CSR is vital for businesses and shared examples of Tata Motors and TCS investing in CSR. He elaborated the focus on education, awareness, and the importance of addressing “India’s tech knowledge gap”. He further highlighted that CSR should focus on comprehensive and inclusive development that leverages a company’s competencies and the programs undertaken should have the potential to scale across India. Mr. Pritam spoke about the “Challenges of CSR” including land acquisition, pollution control, social expectations, and government policies, transitioning from high carbon to low carbon value chains and obtaining a social license to operate. Internal challenges include alignment, talent retention, and budget constraints.
Mr. Pritam highlighted Tata Motors’ CSR focuses on education, health, environment, skill development, and volunteering and Tata Amrutdhara initiative. He emphasized the importance of disaster response and the need for scale, empowerment, investment, promotion, and leverage in disaster risk reduction. Mr. Pritam also mentioned about the growing importance of ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) and sustainability in CSR and shared insights into integrating ESG principles into business strategies. He concluded by stressing the importance of leading with affection to be a true leader.