Corporate Social Responsibility

Project implemented by WIPRO

Bengaluru, India
January 2011
Project co-financed by WIPRO

The Azim Premji Foundation is the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of the WIPRO
group of companies in India that works in the field of education, especially to build capacity
among teachers and develop innovative curricula. Corporate Social Responsibility is an integral
part of WIPRO. Azim Premji, the founder of the company, considers support to social
development as a vital responsibility of all private businesses and considers it to be the key to
long term sustainability of businesses. CSR is the approach to ethical and responsible
cooperation among the key stakeholders of development - government, civil society and the
private sector.

CSR, also called corporate conscience, corporate citizenship, social performance, or sustainable
responsible business (i) is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model.
CSR policy functions as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby businesses monitors and
ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards, and international
norms. The goal of CSR is to embrace responsibility for the company's actions and encourage a
positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities,
stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere. CSR is not new to India. Companies
like TATA and BIRLA have been imbibing the case for social good in their operations for
decades long before CSR become a popular cause.

The Azim Premji Foundation has done significant work in the field of education for the past 11
years. WIPRO is one of India's Information Technology giants competing with Indian companies
like Infosys, HCL, Satyam. Premji Demonstration Schools provide the opportunity to strengthen
the theory- practice linkage and give a purpose to experiment, plan, implement and tackle some
core issues or problems that the Indian education system faces, within the context of larger
education challenges faced by India. These schools reflect the understanding of the importance
of education as one of the most powerful vehicles of social transformation. Education, especially
in this context is seen as a process of human interaction and not just as a set of techniques. An
environment of opportunities, respect and dignity is given to all in the school and is reflected in

policies, working conditions, school culture and practice. Care, tolerance and sensitivity for
diversities - dialogue is the approach used to resolve conflicts or ongoing issues.

The foundation has collaborated with the Government in different States of India to develop
curriculum, pedagogy, needs assessment, school management, teacher education. It runs two
schools for the children of migrant labour and works with them to raise awareness on issues that
tackle the overall development of the child. The two main elements that comprise the guiding
spirit of WIPROs commitment to education is (i) the need to create new talent and transform
existing talent (both government and non-government); and (ii) the creation of pressure and
strong demand for high quality education with Azim Premji State & District Institutes, Institute
for Assessment and Accreditation, Communication and Engagement (with stakeholders),
Networking of Partners.

Additional Information

CSR in India is in a very nascent stage. It is still one of the least understood initiatives in the
Indian development sector. It is followed by a handful of public companies as dictated by the
very basis of their existence, and by a few private companies, with international shareholding as
this is the practice followed by them in their respective foreign country. Thus the situation is far
from perfect as the emphasis is not on social good but rather on a policy that needs to be
implemented. In October 2011 the European Commission published a new policy on corporate
social responsibility

[1]
In the WIPRO education model, strict guidelines ensure that there is no use of fear as it is
detrimental to learning. Memorization is not be the primary form of learning or assessment,
assessment does not become an intimidating process that involves the labelling and segregation
of students, children are not treated as passive receivers of information and school processes will
not lead to boredom and monotonous routines and rituals.
Physical environment, architecture and infrastructure of school along with materials, resources,
are committed to quality in learning, safety, security, comfort and care to all children to learn,
grow and develop with equal concern for sustainability. There are provisions for safe drinking
water; separate, clean and functional toilets for boys and girls. Meals are provided to all children
based on their nutritional requirements.