Investigation of Opinion and Choice of Public in Coalfields Towards CSR Practice of Indian Coal Mining Industry

Abstract

This paper describes a qualitative study for investigating what local people in Indian coalfields opine towards CSR initiatives of coal mining industry and what choices they propose to be undertaken in CSR delivery of the industry. The first part of the paper consists of a pen picture of Indian coal mining industry and its CSR initiatives undertaken during last three years based on content survey of annual reports of coal mining companies as well as government reports. The second part narrates a qualitative survey conducted with the help of a well constructed instrument to investigate the opinion and the choice of local public in a coalfield towards CSR practice of the Indian coal mining industry. The respondents of the survey included the elected village representatives (n = 174) and local members of national parliament and state assembly, media reporters, NGO representatives, teachers and government administrative officials (n = 60). The results reflected that the general opinion of local public towards CSR practice was positive. The primary beneficiaries of CSR initiatives in India i.e. the village representatives expected much more benefits but the secondary beneficiaries opined higher in favour. The list of choices collected from the respondents has been edited and a summary has been presented in results which will be useful for the industry, the institutions and the academicians.