Mahindra to bring it's CSR activities under single branding umbrella of ‘Rise for Good’

MUMBAI: The Mahindra Group is set to bring its corporate social responsibility, sustainability and corporate governance initiatives under a new branding umbrella 'Rise for Good' that it is set to unveil on Thursday, on the occasion of its 70th founder's day. "The real reason to bring these initiatives under one umbrella is to give them more strength and to give a further impetus, momentum and synergy to the movement for employees to be more involved," Rajeev Dubey, president, group HR, corporate services and aftermarket sector at Mahindra & Mahindra, told ET in an exclusive interaction. 

The exercise will entail the group's partnership with the external world, including individuals, organisations or groups, he added. Some of the group's CSR initiatives include the 'Nanhi Kali' programme, which focuses on educating the girl child; 'Mahindra Pride School', which provides livelihood training to socially and economically marginalised youth; scholarships and grants to needy and deserving students; 'Hariyali', an environment initiative that encourages people to plant more trees;and health initiatives, including Lifeline Express, a mobile train hospital, and disaster relief. 

"The aim of creating one branding umbrella is to both motivate people internally and bind them around what we do for society as well as excite people from outside to join in," said SP Shukla, president, group strategy, member, group executive board and chairman, innovation academy, at M&M. 

The group's CSR and sustainability initiatives focus on four broad areas — education (with a focus on education of the girl child), health, environment and disaster relief. 

What began as announcement of the 'Rise Credo' was followed by 'Spark The Rise' platform three years ago to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and grass roots change. 

The group followed this up with 'Rise Prize' - a million-dollar prize to drive disruptive, high-end technology and innovation from India. And now comes 'Rise for Good'. This year, the group is set to spend over Rs 150 crore on CSR initiatives, compared with Rs 42 crore last year.