CSR in India: Between compliance and conscience

Recently, a well-known chartered accountant introduced himself cheerfully: "CSR ka kaam karta hoon” (I do CSR-related work). The words, at first blush, carried a ring of idealism and purpose. 

But as they say, ‘the penny dropped’, when the man explained: his “business services” were to route CSR funds through designated channels and then refund most of it back in cash at a fixed commission, and that experts like him work with many companies. What should have been about education, health, livelihoods, or dignity for the underserved had been reduced to a cynical cash-return mechanism, a business of deceit, dressed up in the language of responsibility. 

It is easy to be outraged at such brazenness, but the more troubling truth is that the story does not shock us.