Stress in the banking system is limiting State Bank of India’s spend on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to one per cent of its profit, according to SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya.
“Currently, as there is a lot of stress in the banking system the regulator feels it is necessary for us to continue only with 1 per cent. Going forward, as things look up I am sure we will be allowed to hike our spending to 2 per cent (of the profit),” she said here on Thursday.
Ophthalmic equipment
Ms. Bhattacharya was speaking to presspersons at the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute in the city to which SBI donated Rs. 1.15 crore. The donation is for ophthalmic equipment, for six examination rooms for non-paying patients and surgery equipment for one operation theatre.
Noting that the SBI sets aside 1 per cent of its profits every year towards CSR, she said that the bank continues to be outside the ambit of Companies Act that mandates, among other things, a 2 per cent spend on the CSR.
Digital literacy
The bank would increase the spend when the regulator feels is the right time, she said, adding Rs. 99 crore is to be spent this fiscal on CSR. The focus of the activities was on areas of health, education, livelihood creation, sustainability and integration of disabled into mainstream society.
Under its Digital Village Project, by providing a Wi-Fi environment, the SBI sought to make people digitally literate so that they could access various government services, educational material and healthcare through telemedicine besides moving towards a much less cash society.
While 21 villages have been covered, the aim is 100 villages by March. The bank, Ms. Bhattacharya said, had also joined hands with Oracle to make underserved population computer-literate. School students, their teacher and parents are to be covered and the pilot projects are to be launched next month in Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
Founder and chair of L.V. Prasad Eye Institute Gullapalli Rao said the generosity of the SBI will help the Institute take care of more people and in a better way.
As things look up, I am sure we will be allowed to hike our spends to 2% of the profit,”
-Arundhati Bhattacharya,SBI Chairperson