CSR funds not used to implement govt schemes, says MoS Finance

New Delhi: The government on Tuesday informed Parliament that corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds are not used for implementing the government's central schemes.

Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Singh Thakur, during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, said there is a clear definition in the Schedule 7 of the Companies Act 2013 where all CSR funds can be spent.

"I want to say the funds are not used for implementing the government schemes... There should not be a myth that CSR funds are used for implementing government schemes. The government makes adequate funding for various programmes," he said.

The CSR funds are used for the development of local areas as part of social responsibility for which there is a company's board-driven policy, he said.

So far, 60 per cent of the funds are spent through implementing agencies and 40 per cent by companies through its various bodies, he added.

Further, the minister said that there was no provision of implementing agencies and details of NGOs when the Companies Act came in 2013.

However, the current government made changes to the law and made it mandatory for implementing agencies to register themselves on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs registry, which will help in getting the details of implementing agencies, he said.