HCL Foundation has won the ET Corporate Citizen award for the year 2021 due to its focus on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives.
Be it Covid-19 support initiatives, rural and urban development programmes, Pundhir said the vertical and lifecycle-based approach to track every growth outcome has been a constant and core strategy instead of one off “emotional charity” programmes.
HCL Foundation, set up in 2011, has invested over Rs 680 crore, impacting 2.14 million lives.
Its green initiatives have helped to revitalize 52,000 acres of land, establish sustainable community governance, rejuvenate 82 water bodies, and ensure protection of over 18,000 animals.
“So, the vision that we set ourselves was that we should be the source code for social economic environmental development,” said Pundhir. “All the flagship programmes, at their core, are aligned with the sustainable development goals, national missions, Niti Aayog, state-level missions and district-level missions and block levels and village levels.”
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In addition, HCL Technologies’ founder Shiv Nadar has established the Shiv Nadar Foundation, which focuses specifically on philanthropic projects related to education, including the Shiv Nadar University and schools.
HCL Foundation programmes in India include HCL Grant, which funds non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in environment, health, and education; and HCL Samuday, which provides financial and other support to rural communities.
Through the HCL Uday programme, the company leverages the scale of the government, expertise of NGO partners and the volunteering spirit of its employees to bridge the access gap and reach the city’s poorest residents with quality services.
Rural community development programmes, urban development programmes to address poverty and climate action for the environment are the three main clusters of work that the foundation addresses, she said.
“We take a lifecycle approach. We start with early childhood care and development. Then we have education, skill development and livelihood programmes. Finally, we have an environment-focused vertical and we also respond to disasters across the country. The global CSR policy is woven around 10 commandments outlined by the foundation,” Pundhir added.
HCL has been cutting greenhouse gas emissions and reducing its carbon footprint, as well as promoting ethical waste management and energy efficiency.
The company has achieved 55.9% reduction in per capita carbon footprint between 2010 and 2020, increased the renewable energy portion of its energy consumption to 10.4% in FY20 and decreased per capita water consumption by 23.5% since 2013.
A key aspect of the decade-long programme has been its strict fund governance policy, said Pundhir.
“We don’t do anything which is ad hoc. So, each one of the flagship programmes have their own verticals and targets that are defined. There is an advanced Board approval that happens for three to five years and then there are reviews which happen every six months. There is a very high level of governance behind the funds which are deployed in our CSR and is measurable in every aspect,” she said.
Through its programme, the ‘Power of One’, the employees aggregate contributions in areas of payroll giving, active volunteerism and capacity building of communities.
HCL’s employee volunteer groups also played a pivotal role in the foundation’s Covid-19 response initiatives from running command centres and food banks to patient support programmes, Pundhir added.
HCL Technologies had introduced a host of support measures including helplines, isolation facilities and family assistance for dependents of employees who lost their lives to the pandemic. The company had also partnered with organisations to provide services including home delivery of medicines, medical care at home services, food delivery services, RT-PCR and lab services, thermometers, vaccination and oximeters.
In addition, the foundation also leverages its reach across rural communities and its digital capabilities to connect rural artisans to customers across the globe through an ecommerce platform called My E-Haat.
