Skill Development a Preferred CSR Initiative: A Comparative study of select Oil & Gas Central Public Sector Enterprises

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a company's commitment to operating in a sustainable manner in the best
interests of its stakeholders in its immediate environment and community. A company meets all its requirement including land,
air, water, and personnel from the society and its environment. Hence, it strives to give back to people & planet from its profit
through CSR.
The industrial jobs are shrinking in India due to automation and other reasons. The pass-outs from school / colleges
finds themselves unemployable as they are not being considered industry fit due to lack of required skills. To make the youth
employable, Skill development can play a crucial role. CSR can act as a win-win opportunity for companies to invest in skilling for
creating sustainability for their stakeholders.
The objective of this paper is to understand (i) the initiatives of some select Oil & Gas Central Public Sector Enterprises
(CPSEs)under CSR and (ii) their preference given to Skill Development as CSR initiative. A descriptive type research design has
been employed and exploratory research has been done considering the requirement of the study.
A comparative analysis has been made of various skill development programmes undertaken as CSR initiative by select
Oil & Gas CPSEs to understand the reason for such preference given to education and skill development by such CPSEs.
The researchers made an effort to understand how the skill development Programmes are being undertaken by the
selected CPSEs of Oil & Gas Sector, whether they ensure the skill development through Education, Women Empowerment or
through various skill trainings / vocational trainings. Effort was also made to understand the correlation of the expenses made in
various Skill Development Programmes and their overall CSR expenses made in FY 2019-20.
The study concluded that skill development is increasingly becoming the preferred choice for corporates especially Oil
& Gas CPSEs to ensure compliance of Companies Act, 2013, partner in Skill India Mission and also reap the benefits of skill
development as a win-win proposition.