1. “DISASTER MANAGEMENT, CORPORATE GOVERNANCE &
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY”
Submi t ted to
MUMBAI UNIVERSITY
FOR THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE DEGREE OF
MASTERS OF COMMERCE
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
SESSION 2013-2014
DEPT. OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES
MULUND COLLEGE OF COMMERCE
Under the guidance of: MS. ROOPALI KOTEKAR
Submi t ted by: RAVEENA UDASI
Rol l : - 15051
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2. DECLARATION
I, Raveena Udasi , student of MCom here by declared that the research
report ent i t led “DISASTER MANAGEMENT, CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY” is
completed and submi t ted under the guidance of is my original work.
The imperial finding in this report is based on the data col lected by me. I have
not submi t ted this project report to any other Universi ty for the purpose of
compl iance of any requirement of any examinat ion or degree.
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DATE: Raveena Udasi
M.Com Sem I
ROLL NO. 15051

3. CERTIFICATE
I, Prof. Roopal i Kotekar , hereby cert i fy thatMiss Raveena Manoj Udasi ROLL.
No 15051 of Mulund Col lege of Commerce, S. N. Road, Mulund (West ),
Mumbai -400080 of M.com Par t I (Business Management ) has completed her
p r o j e ct o n “Disaster Management , Corporate Governance and Corporate Social
Responsibi l i ty” d u r i n g t h e a c ad emi c ye a r 2 0 1 3 -14. The informat ion submi t ted is
true and original to the best of my knowledge.
____________________ ___________________
Project Guide Principal
_____________________ ___________________
Co-coordinator External guide
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Date:

4. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This project aims to understanding the meaning and defini t ion of disaster
management , corporate governance and corporate social responsibi l i ty.
For a detai led understanding I have taken a company to dissect the defini t ions of
the above ment ioned terminology.
In this project I have tried to highl ight the various disasters in the wor ld and
one of which is India. And also highl ighted an understanding of how the disaster
in India has been managed due to strong disaster management forces.
The other hal f of my project talks about Corporate Governance and Corporate
Social Responsibi l i ty laid down by Rel iance Indust ries Limi ted. It gives a gist
of how the company operates.
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5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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A research project is a golden
opportuni ty for learning and sel f development . I consider mysel f very lucky and
honored to have so many wonderful people lead me through in complet ion of
this project .
My grateful thanks to Prof . Ms.
Roopal i Kotekar who in spi te of being extraordinari ly busy wi th her/his dut ies,
took t ime out to hear , guide and keep me on the correct path. I do not know
wh er e I wo u l d h a v e b e en wi t h o u t h er / h im. A h umb l e ‘T h an k yo u ’ S i r .
I would also l ike to thank everyone who took act ive involvemen t in helping me
wi th my project report wi thout whom, i t would not have been possible.
RAVEENA UDASI

6. TABLE OF CONTENT
SR. NO. TABLE OF CONTENTS
PG. NO.
1 DISASTER MANAGEMENT 7
2 MEANING & CLASSIFICATION 8
3 TYPES OF DISASTERS 9
4 UTTARAKHAND: A MODEL OF DISASTER 11
5 MANAGING UTTARAKHAND 18
6 CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 21
7 PRINCIPLES OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 23
8 GOVERNANCE MODEL AROUND THE WORLD 24
9 CODES & GUIDELINES 26
10 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 33
11 LIMITATION 47
12 BIBLIOGRAPHY 48
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7. DISASTER MANAGEMENT
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8. A disaster is a natural or man-made (or technological ) hazard resul t ing in an event of
substant ial extent caus ing signi f icant physical damage or dest ruct ion, loss of l i fe, or
drast ic change to the envi ronment . A disaster can be ostensively def ined as any t ragic
event stemming f rom events such asear thquakes , f loods, catast rophic accidents, f i res,
or explosions. It is a phenomenon that can cause damage to l i fe and proper ty and
dest roy the economic, social and cul tural l i fe of people.
In contemporary academia, disasters are seen as the consequence of
inappropr iately managed r isk. These r isks are the product of a combinat ion of both
hazard/s and vulnerabi l i ty. Hazards that st r ike in areas wi th low vulnerabi l i ty wi l l
never become disaster s, as is the case in uninhabi ted regions.
Developing count r ies suf fer the greatest cos ts when a disaster hi ts – more than 95
percent of al l deaths caused by disasters occur in developing count r ies, and losses due
to natural disasters are 20 t imes greater (as a percentage of GDP) in developing
count r ies than in indust r ial ized count r ies.
Researchers have been studying disasters for more than a century, and for more than
for ty years disaster research. The studies ref lect a common opinion when they argue
that al l disasters can be seen as being human -made, thei r reasoning being that human
act ions before the st r ike of the hazard can prevent i t developing into a disaster . Al l
disasters are hence the resul t of human fai lure to int roduce appropr iate disaster
management measures. [7] Hazards are rout inely divided into natural or human -made,
al though complex disasters, where there is no single root cause, are more common
in developing count r ies . A speci f ic disaster may spawn a secondary disaster that
increases the impact . A classic example is an ear thquake that causes a tsunami ,
resul t ing in coastal f looding.
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Natural disaster
A natural disaster is a consequence when a natural hazard af fects humans and/or the
bui l t envi ronment . Human vulnerabi l i ty, and lack of appropr iate emergency
management , leads to f inancial , envi ronmental , or human impact . The resul t ing loss
depends on the capaci ty of the populat ion to suppor t or resist the di saster : thei r
resi l ience. This unders tanding is concent rated in the formulat ion: "disasters occur
when hazards meet vulnerabi l i ty". A natural hazard wi l l hence never resul t in a
natural disaster in areas wi thout vulnerabi l i ty.
Var ious phenomena l ike ear thquakes, landsl ides, volcanic erupt ions, f loods and
cyclones are al l natural hazards that ki l l thousands of people and dest roy bi l l ions of
dol lars of habi tat and proper ty each year . However , natural hazards can st r ike in
unpopulated areas and never develop into di sasters. However , the rapid growth of the
wor ld's populat ion and i ts increased concent rat ion of ten in hazardous envi ronments
has escalated both the f requency and sever i ty of n atural disasters. Wi th the t ropical
cl imate and unstable land forms, coupled wi th deforestat ion, unplanned growth
prol i ferat ion, non-engineered const ruct ions which make the disaster -prone areas more
vulnerable, tardy communicat ion, poor or no budgetary al l ocat ion for disaster

9. prevent ion, developing count r ies suf fer more or less chronical ly by natural
disasters. Asia tops the l ist of casual t ies due to natural disasters.
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Man-made disasters
Man-made disasters are the consequence of technological or human hazards. Examples
include stampedes , f i res, t ranspor t accidents , indust r ial accidents, oi l spi l ls and
nuclear explosions/ radiat ion. War and del iberate at tacks may also be put in this
category. As wi th natural hazards, man -made hazards are events that have not
happened, for instance ter ror ism. Man -made disasters are examples of speci f ic cases
where man-made hazards have become real i ty i n an event .
Typhoon Haiyan – Phi l ippines
Considered one of the st rongest storms ever to make landfal l , Typhoon Haiyan tore
through the cent ral Phi l ippines November 8, ki l l ing near ly 6,000 people and
displacing more than 3.6 mi l l ion.
The 13-foot storm surge and up to 235-mph wind gusts largely wiped out coastal ci t ies
a n d d e s t r o ye d mu c h o f t h e r e gi o n ’ s inf rast ructure, such as roads, water and
sani tat ion systems, and telecommunicat ions l ines.
“Wh e n yo u l o o k a t t h e mo u n t a i n s , t h e y l o o k b a r e a n d s t r i p p e d o f a l l ve ge t a t i o n , ”
Aaron Aspi , a Wor ld Vision communicat ions of f icer , told ABC Radio on November 11
f rom nor thern Cebu.
Wi thin one month of the storm, Wor ld Vision had reached almost 150,000 people wi th
emergency food, shel ter , medical at tent ion, and other assistance. I t is prepar ing long -
term ef for ts to help people in as many as 80,000 households in the dis aster -prone
count ry get back on thei r feet .
Typhoon Phai l in – India
The st rongest cyclone to hi t India in 14 years, Typhoon Phai l in af fected the
l i ve l i h o o d s o f mo r e t h a n 1 3 mi l l i o n p e o p l e i n t h e c o u n t r y’ s n o r t h e a s t .
Heavy rains and more than 150 -mph winds brought widespread devastat ion. But fewer
than 50 people died in the mid-October storm. Governments and aid
organizat ions credi ted improved disaster preparedness and the ear ly evacuat ion of
about 1 mi l l ion of the most vulnerable residents along the coast .
As Phai l in approached, Wor ld Vision staf f had provided megaphones, l i fe jackets ,
f lashl ights, and ropes to communi ty leaders, enabl ing them to warn residents and
organize quickly. In the af termath, the organizat ion dist r ibuted emergency food and
other suppl ies to fami l ies in Brahmapur , in Odisha state.
Hur r icanes Manuel and Ingr id – Mexico
Two separate storms overwhelmed western Mexico wi th rain in September , t r igger ing
widespread f looding and landsl ides. More than 200,000 people were af fected in
Guer rero state alone. In Acapulco, f ive feet of mud over took vehicles and dest royed
homes.

10. Wor ld Vision staf f provided fami l ies in the Xochist lahuaca and Santa Catar ina River
communi t ies in Guer rero wi th food, blankets, and tarps. In the long term, we wi l l
provideclean water , sani tat ion ki ts, and cons t ruct ion mater ials to help fami l ies rebui ld
thei r homes.
We wi l l also operate Chi ld-Fr iendly Spaces , where chi ldren have a safe place to learn,
play, and receive counsel ing.
Ear thquake – Cent ral Visayas, Phi l ippines
Just three weeks before Typhoon Haiyan hi t Cent ral Visayas, a magni tude -7.2
ear thquake rocked the same region, ki l l ing 222 people, displacing 350,000, and
damaging or dest roying about 73,000 bui ldings. Tho usands of displaced or homeless
quake survivors st i l l had not found adequate shel ter before Haiyan blew through.
Wor ld Vision provided af fected fami l ies wi th food and basic household suppl ies in the
days af ter the quake.
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Tornadoes – Uni ted States
A massive tornado, packing 200-mph winds, raked a 12-mi le path through the
Oklahoma Ci ty area May 20, dest roying homes and severely damaging two elementary
schools. The twister ki l led 24 people, ABC News repor ted.
The week before, as many as 10 tornadoes touched down in Nor th Texas, ki l l ing six.
In response to the dual disasters , Wor ld Vision provided more than 15,000 af fected
people wi th emergency food ki ts, hygiene ki ts, cleanup ki ts, and blankets. Its mobi le
Teacher Resource Center suppl ied 156 teachers to serve 2,300 students at four schools
in devastated Oklahoma neighborhoods.
As par t of a long-term recovery commi tment , Wor ld Vision is par tner ing wi th local
churches and organizat ions to help fami l ies rebui ld thei r homes.
Other disasters
Other large-scale natural disasters Wor ld Vision responded to in 2013 include:
Solomon Islands ear thquake and tsunami (February)
Sichuan, China, ear thquake (Apr i l )
Southern Af r ica drought (May-present )
Ut tarakhand, India, f loods (June)
Colorado, U.S. , f loods (September )
Southern Asia f loods (October )
West Af r ica drought (ongoing)

11. UTTARAKHAND: A MODEL OF DISASTER
On the af ternoon of 16 June, local resident Manav Bisht watched dozens of constables
leaving the parami l i tary Sashast ra Seema Bal (SSB) Academy, which stood between
his house in Shakt i Vihar , a local i ty in Ut tarakhand’ s S r i n a ga r t o w n , a n d t h e
Alaknanda r iver that had star ted swel l ing f rom 10 am. The waters threatened to enter
the academy bui lding af ter 5 pm and more jawans were shi f ted to Paur i , the dist r ict
headquar ters.
SSB IG S Bandhopadhyay was aware of the tor rent ial rainfal l up in the hi l ls. There
was also the f lood warning issued by the Indian Meteorological Depar tment ( IMD) . As
night fel l , the Alaknanda breached the meagre embankment and ravaged the academy
bui lding. Somet ime af ter midnight , af ter drowning the 500-met re s t retch of the SSB
campus, the tor rent rose above the 10 -feet -high boundary wal l on the other side and
entered Shakt i Vihar .
Ba n d h o p a d h ya y’ s t i me l y a c t i o n s a ve d ma n y l i ve s . Bu t b u s y e va c u a t i n g h i s me n , h e d i d
not inform the dist r ict administ rat ion. “ I d i d n ’ t n e e d t o t e l l a n yo n e . T h e y c o u l d s e e
wh a t wa s h a p p e n i n g . E ve r yo n e h a d i n f o r ma t i o n a b o u t t h e h e a v y r a i n f a l l , ” s a ys
Bandhopadhyay. But nobody thought i t neces sary to warn the residents of Sr inagar .
So, Bisht , much l ike hi s neighbours, was caught unawares when the r iver entered his
house around 1.30 am. Suddenly, there was panic everywhere. Wi thin an hour or so,
the ent i re neighbourhood had gone under the roi l ing waters. Few managed to get hold
o f a n y va l u a b l e s . Bi s h t ’ s f ami ly barely managed to escape in the clothes they
weresleeping in.
About 100 km away, fur ther up in the hi l ls, another r iver was also in spate. Whi le the
Alaknanda was engul f ing par ts of Sr inagar , the Mandakini began bat ter ing
the templetown of Kedarnath in the ear ly hours of 17 June. Soon af ter pi lgr ims and
residents of the pi lgr image cent re woke up to sights of devastat ion, a massive
landsl ide sent huge mounds of rock into the Charbar i lake, 6 km upst ream
of Kedarnath.
Binod Mant r i , a pi lgr im f rom West Be n ga l ’ s Ho o gh l y , w a s u n e a s y s i n c e 1 6 J u n e . Wi t h
no let -up in the rain, wor r ied loca ls advised him to shi f t closer to
the Kedarnath temple f rom his hotel by the r iver . So he checked into the Rajasthan
guesthouse wi th 16 fami ly members and stayed indoors as landsl ides, rain and howl ing
wind bat tered the town. Next morning, the fami ly was prepar ing to venture out for a
quick breakfast when the tor rent entered the room. Mant r i and his brother -in-law
survived by cl inging on to the window gr i l l . Everyone else in the fami ly, al l 14 of
them, cl imbed onto beds and were swept away wi thin minutes.
“ T h e l a n d s l i d e c a u s e d a gi a n t s p l a s h l i ke a b r i c k d r o p p e d i n a b u c ke t o f wa t e r , ” r e c a l l s
one of the four Indian Army jawans posted at Kedarnath. The mass of rock smashed
against the sand and boulders, giving the r iver momentum to sweep up more rocks on
i ts way to become the dest ruct ive force that wiped clean everything in i ts path. By
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12. nine in the morning, Kedarnath had become a ghost town. Rambara, a set t lement
downst ream, simply di sappeared.
By 18 June, the magni tude of the disaster became clear . Across 37,000 sq km of the
Himalayan state, lands l ide and f loods t rapped more than 80,000 tour ists, t r igger ing
one of the biggest rescue operat ions by the armed forces and the biggest by
hel icopters so far . The race against t ime took i ts tol l even on those who toi led round
the clock to save l ives . On 20 June, Rudraprayag Dist r ict Magist rate Vi jay Dhaundiyal
suf fered a hear t at tack. At least 20 rescue personnel per ished, adding to the of f icial
death tol l of 5,000, which, locals and eyewi tnesses claim, wi l l b e in the range of 10-
20,000 if those who have gone missing are also accounted for.
For each survivor , another seems to have died in this unfolding t ragedy. Sixty -f ive-year
-o l d Ai s hwa r ya ma d e i t a l i ve , a l o n g wi t h j u s t s e ve n o f h e r gr o u p o f 1 5 . “ S t a n d i n g
beside a bonf i re to keep warm, she was having cof fee at a roadside shop when the
f lood waters came. Before she could react , out of nowhere, a pack of mules charged
t owa r d s h e r , k n o c ki n g h e r o ve r a n d p u s h i n g h e r i n t o t h e o p e n f i r e , ” s a i d o n e o f h e r
relat ives at the Himalayan Inst i tute Hospi tal Trust in Dehradun, the state capi tal ,
where she is being t reated for severe burns and an injured hip.
Against heavy odds, i t took even the army’ s b e s t e f f o r t s mo r e t h a n a we e k t o r e a c h t h e
s t r a n d e d i n ma n y a r e a s . “We we r e n e r vo u s wh e n we f i r s t go t h e r e . We d i d n ’ t kn o w i f
we would be able to pul l this of f . But today, we are get t ing the las t of the near ly 300
s u r vi vo r s d ow n f r om J u n gl e Ch a t t i , ” a Fi f th Sikh Regiment of f icer leading the rescue
operat ion in Kedarnath told TEHELKA, whi le keeping a watchful eye on able -bodied
survivors cl imbing of f a rope down a 80 -degree, 90-feet -deep drop.
As of 26 June, there are st i l l 5,000 survivors st randed in the Badr inath and Harsi l
areas and the rescue work — Operat ion Surya — cont inues despi te intermi t tent rain
and worsening weather condi t ions. Whi le some locals al lege that rescue operat ions
have been skewed towards saving pi lgr ims and foreigners, vi l lager s of Bhagor i and
Ganeshpur in Ut tarkashi are going out of thei r way to shel ter and feed the st randed.
Wi th the armed forces and the administ rat ion conf ident that the last f ew wi l l be
rescued in the next couple of days, the worst seems to be over for the visi tors.
The surviving tour ists wi l l return home. Ut tarakhand and i ts people wi l l have to face
the consequence of thi s disaster . Near ly 1 lakh of them have become homeless and
there is resentment among the locals that rescue ef for ts have ignored them so far .
Wi th more than 300 repor ted cases, acute diar rhoea is threatening to take epid emic
propor t ions as rot t ing corpses have begun to contaminate water sources.
Al ready, the state has est imated the damage to be upwards of Rs 3,000 crore.
Insurance companies are looking at claims wor th more than Rs 1,000 crore. The Char
Dham Yat ra has been cal led of f indef ini tely. Damaged roads and other inf rast ructure
may take years to rebui ld. Rel igious tour ism, the mainstay of G a r h wa l ’ s e c o n omy ,
wi l l now have to star t f rom scratch.
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13. In the 2011 census, Ut tarakhand’ s p o p u l a t i o n wa s 1 . 0 8 c r o r e . T h e s t a t e h o s t e d 2 . 6 8
crore pi lgr ims and tour ists in 2010 - 11. Since then, the Garhwal rel igious ci rcui t saw
a four -fold increase in the number of pi lgr ims as year -round access to the shr ines —
ear l ier rest r icted to four months — was al lowed.
According to Yat ra Rotat ion Sami t i member Sanjay Shast r i , around 1 lakh vehicles —
50-60 percent of these not f rom the state — do three t r ips of the Char Dham Yat ra
each year . Since 2005-06, the number of taxis and jeeps registered in the state has
jumped tenfold. Since 2010, the state has added 4,500 km of road under the Pradhan
Mant r i Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) alone. Its total road length near ly t r ipled in the
past decade.
“ P e o p l e b e c a me g reedy. Everyone went overboard. How long would the mountain
suf fer thousands of jeeps and buses crawl ing up and down and accommodate thousands
of tour ists? Al l along the banks of the r iver , there is const ruct ion of houses. Where we
used to have tents a few years ago, we have f ive -storey bui ldings . At some point or
t h e o t h e r , n a t u r e h a d t o h i t b a c k. T h i s wa s i t , ” s a ys Ga u r a v S i n g h , wh o r u n s a t e a s t a l l
in Guptakashi vi l lage.
And this is when things have gone to plan. Af ter an emot ional ly -charged pol i t ical
struggle, the creat ion of the Ut tarakhand state in 2000 promised i t s people thei r r ight
over the hi l ls, forests and water . At the t ime, many professed that the new sta te could
bui ld i ts economy wi thout compromising i ts pr ist ine hi l ls, by focussing on i t and other
sof t -ski l l indust r ies. Instead, Ut tarakhand decided to go big on tour ism, the only
indust ry i t had known unt i l then.
In 2001, the state cons t i tuted the Ut tarakhand Tour ism Board and chalked up i ts
t o u r i sm p o l i c y wi t h t h e vi s i o n t o “ m a ke Ut t a r a n c h a l s yn o n ymo u s w i t h t o u r i sm” . T h e
focus was on drawing higher numbers of tour ists and bigger investment into the state.
From 1 crore in 2001, the number of visi tors to the state grew to 3 crore in 2010.
Over the decade, a number of schemes and tax rebates for bui lding tour ism
i n f r a s t r u c t u r e e n s u r e d ‘ d e ve l o pme n t ’ o f p r i s t i n e d e s t i n a t i o n s a n d mu s h r o omi n g o f
hotels and resor ts. The state raised the budgetary al locat ion for tour ism by 224
percent in the 10th Plan. At present , 22 tour ism projects wor th Rs 1,840 crore are
coming up on the publ ic -pr ivate par tnership (PPP) model and account for 47 percent
of the total investment in the PPP schemes under implementat ion in the state.
Whi le promot ing unrest r icted growth in tour ism, the new state decided to exploi t i ts
hydropower potent ial as wel l . Former chief minister Ramesh Pokhr iyal prepared a
‘Vi s i o n 2 0 2 0 ’ s t a t e me n t t o ma ke Ut tarakhand a “ p r o s p e r o u s s t a t e ” . Wi t h t h e theme
‘Pahad Ka Pani , Pahad Ki Jawani ’ , t h e p l a n wa s t o h a r n e s s t h e n a t u r a l r e s o u r c e s o f t h e
state in an opt imal manner and create more jobs.
“ T h e s t a t e h a s a c a p a c i t y t o p r o d u c e a t l e a s t 4 0 , 0 0 0 mw o f p o we r f r om hydel projects .
Therefore, we have planned to instal l several hydel power uni ts in the state. The
surplus power wi l l be sold to other states. We have invi ted investors and the response
has been very encouraging. To rope in local talent and provide jobs, we have decided
t o e mp l o y l o c a l yo u t h s i n mi n i h y d e l p o we r p r o j e c t s , ” P o kh r i ya l wa s q u o t e d a s s a yi n g
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14. in 2010. The resul t : 73 hydel projects on the Alaknanda, Mandakini and Bhagi rathi ,
and several more on other r ivers of the state.
Unbr idled tour ism and const ruct ion of dams on r ivers had one common demand: newer
and wider roads across the state.
Ut tarakhand star ted widening i ts roads in 2002. Ti l l then, al l roads here were two -
lane, except for the Tehr i road, which was widened up to the dam si te in the 1990s .
The story was to repeat under BC Khandur i , the then sur face t ranspor t minister .
“ P e o p l e t h o u gh t t h a t a l l h e (K h a n d u r i ) wa n t e d wa s t o widen the roads for the growing
tour ist t raf f ic. It was only later that we star ted to see a di f ferent picture. For example,
a road was widened t i l l Lambagad and af ter that there was nothing. Now at Lambagad,
there was a dam const ructed by the Jaypee Group. It created a suspicion in our minds
that this widening of roads was done pr imar i ly for the movement of big
t rucks wi thconst ruct ion mater ial for dams, ” s a ys Dr Ra vi Ch o p r a , d i r e c t o r o f
P e o p l e ’ s ScienceInst i tute in Dehradun.
The other reason behind the spur t in road projects, says a t ranspor t depar tment of f icial
wh o d o e s n o t wa n t t o b e n a me d , i s t h a t t h e r e wa s “ a l o t o f mo n e y t o b e ma d e ” . S i n c e
the 1962 war wi th China, the Border Roads Organisat ion (BRO) bui l t the ar ter ial
roads in the region, put t ing in reinforcement wal ls in the unstable s t retches. Under the
cut -and-f i l l method, the excavated ear th was used to pave the road. But as too many
road projects were commissioned, nobody bothered to ident i fy the unstable slopes; the
ear th was s imply dumped in the r ivers below. To cut costs, road projects even stopped
creat ing adequate drainage systems .
“Us u a l l y, we c u t t h e mo u n t a i n s i d e a n d l e a ve i t f o r t wo ye a r s t o a l l ow d e b r i s a n d
overhanging mater ial to come down. The mountain stabi l ises thro ugh two monsoons
before we put in the hard topping. But growing t raf f ic demands that we expand the
roads and destabi l ise the mountains again. Also, whi le the widening was ear l ier done
by men and machines, now we use dynami te to do i t quickly. There are sev eral roads
that have become landsl ide -prone because blast ing l e a ve s c r a c ks i n s i d e t h e mo u n t a i n , ”
says a former civi l works engineer who served in Rudraprayag dist r ict .
Since 2010, under the PMGSY, a number of approach roads have been bui l t to vi l lages
way u p o n t h e s l o p e , wh i c h f u r t h e r i n c r e a s e s t h e r i s k o f l a n d s l i d e s . “ T h e r e h a s b e e n a
lot of road cut t ing by state agencies, not by the BRO, and the degree of care, I would
say, is marginal . It is a recipe for disaster i n a yo u n g , u n s t a b l e mo u n t a i n , ” s a ys
Chopra.
The indiscr iminate rol lout of roads also spur red unregulated const ruct ion across the
state. Unl ike in rural areas, there are const ruct ion codes for urban areas, but few
fol low the rules. Just across the state Assembly bui lding in the state capi tal ar e
encroachments on the Rispana st reambed.
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15. The si tuat ion is wel l imaginable in rural areas, where the tour ism cent res have become
death t raps. Af ter the 2011 ear thquake in Sikkim, a study by IIT Roorkee found that
t radi t ional low-r ise, l ightweight t imber bui ldings per formed ext remely wel l . But to
accommodate the growing number of tour ists , Ut tarakhand’ s t r a d i t i o n a l c o n s t r u c t i o n s
gave way to unplanned mul t i -stor ied bui ldings on columns and beams. At Gaur ikund,
where the t rek for Kedarnath begins, walking the 20-feet -wide road along the 200-odd
met res of the main bazaar is l ike moving t hrough a tunnel wi th ai r less three -storey
bui ldings on both sides.
It is not a coincidence that Garhwal suf fers heavy loss of l ives and proper ty year af ter
year whi le neighbour ing Kumaon repor ts far less damage. Al l major shr ines of the
state are in Garhwal and these dest inat ions are al l by the r ivers. Since pi lgr ims have
to access the ghats, hotels have cropped up on the edge of the r iver s. The resul t is an
unbearable load on the Garhwal mountains that are anyway much steeper compared to
the rol l ing hi l ls of the Kumaon. Wi th this lopsided burden alongside r ivers prone to
f lash f loods, i t was only a mat ter of t ime before the overhanging st ructures were swept
away.
The const ruct ion boom, on the other hand, fuel led i l legal mining of sand and boulders
f rom r iverbeds. Such ext ract ion changes the slope of the r iverbed, making the f low
restabi l ise i tsel f , causing the r iver to change course. Wi th const ruct ions r ight up to
the bank, the disast rous consequence was vis ible last week.
Nowhere in the state i s the SC orde r to rest r ict const ruct ion wi thin 200 met res of a
r iverbed fol lowed. The val leys here have been formed f rom debr is rol l ing down f rom
the mountain and are loose beds of gravel . When i t rains, the water sinks quickly,
giving the impression of dry real estate . But dur ing monsoons, these gravel beds
temporar i ly become very act ive. Yet , wi th the connivance of the local of f icials, scores
of bui ldings have come up on such t reacherous foundat ion al l over the state.
The SSB Academy bui lding that was inaugurated last year and damaged last week in
Sr inagar , for example, was bui l t on the Alaknanda r iverbed. Many houses that were
b u r i e d i n s i l t i n t h e a d j a c e n t S h a kt i Vi h a r we r e a l s o b u i l t i l l e ga l l y. “ It i s a n o l d
colony of Sr inagar which used to be a fai r di stance away f rom the r iver . But in the
p a s t f ew ye a r s , i t e x p a n d e d t owa r d s t h e r i ve r b e d i n c o n n i va n c e wi t h l o c a l o f f i c i a l s , ”
says Prat ik Palwar , a Sr inagar resident .
Over the past week, much has been said and wr i t ten about the absence of warning
f rom the Met depar tment , which, in turn, has claimed that i ts aler ts went unheeded. On
1 5 J u n e , t h e IMD f l a s h e d a “ s e ve r e ” wa r n i n g f o r K i n n a u r a n d Ga r hwa l . I t w a s
u p gr a d e d t o “ ve r y s e v e r e ” t h e n e x t d a y. It r e ma i n e d s o t i l l 1 7 J u n e wh e n f l o o d a n d
landsl ide ravaged Garhwal . Whi le Chief Minister Vi jay Bahuguna dismissed the
wa r n i n g a s “ u n s p e c i f i c a n d n o n -a c t i o n a b l e ” , h i s o f f i c e r s a p p a r e n t l y a c t e d o n i t .
“ T h e r e wa s a Me t wa r n i n g f o r h i gh r a i n f a l l a n d we we r e wa t c h i n g t h e wa t e r l e ve l . Bu t
this happens each year . In Rudraprayag town, we shi f ted people. In Gaur ikund, people
were asked to cl imb up and some were shi f ted to Rambara (which was eventual ly
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16. wiped out ) and the pol ice kept people awake through the night . Al l the people al ive
today are those who were evacuated to higher ground. But no one expected a mountain
to crumble and fal l into the lake ( in Kedarnath) , ” s a ys Ru d r a p r a ya g S u p e r i n t e n d e n t o f
Pol ice Bi render jeet Singh.
If the warning indeed aler ted at least a sect ion of the state adminis t rat ion, was i t
merely unprepared to meet the chal lenge? In i ts per formance audi t repor t submi t ted to
Par l iament on 23 Apr i l , the Compt rol ler and Audi tor General (CAG) of India had
highl ighted that the Ut tarakhand State Disaster Management Author i ty (SDMA) ,
const i tuted in 2007 and headed by the CM, had not formulated any rules or pol icies
for disaster management in the state.
“Wo u l d we b e b e t t e r o f f wi t h a p o l i c y? ” c o u n t e r s a s t a t e o f f i c i a l c l o s e l y i n v o l ve d wi t h
r e l i e f a n d r e s c u e o p e r a t i o n s . “ T h e s c a l e o f t h e d i s a s t e r wa s s i mp l y u nma n a g e a b l e . Bu t
we have done wel l . Wi th the army’ s h e l p , we h a ve t a ke n c o n t r o l o f t h e s i t u a t i o n
wi thin a couple of days. Whi le theoret ical ly i t might have been pos sible to save more
l ives by evacuat ing people before the f loods hi t , what do you do about the loss of
inf rast ruct u r e ? Ca n we mo ve r o a d s a n d b u i l d i n gs t o s a f e t y? ”
Exper ts such as geologist KS Valdiya and envi ronmental ist Himanshu Thakkar have
faul ted the government on that very ground. The rainfal l , they maintain, was not
unnatural but the human and inf rast ructural co s t o f t h e t r a ge d y wa s t h e s t a t e ’ s d o i n g.
“ T h e CM s a y s t h i s r a i n i s u n p r e c e d e n t e d . It i s n o t . Ut tarakhand has seen so many
disasters of this kind, but not this magni t ude. Just last year , there were two t ragedies
— Ut tarkashi in August and Rudraprayag in September — when houses col lapsed l ike
cardboard boxes and roads gave in. Yet , no lesson was learnt and blast tunnel l ing
wo r k c o n t i n u e d f o r h y d r o p owe r p r o j e c t s , ” s a ys T hakkar .
Others point out what they feel is the real t ragedy of Ut tarakhand’ s p e o p l e . “ T h e s t a t e
invests publ ic money in i l l -advised projects that compromise our safe ty. At the same
t ime , d a ma ge t o mi s p l a c e d i n f r a s t r u c t u r e c a u s e s t h e s t a t e e c o n omy h u ge l o s s e s , ” s a ys
Mal ika Vr idhi of Munsiyar i -b a s e d NG O Hi ma l P r a kr i t i . “ Af t e r a l l , i t ’ s t h e p e o p l e ’ s
money. Instead of pumping i t into dest ruct ive projects, the state should invest in
s u s t a i n a b l e a gr i c u l t u r e a n d s ki l l d e ve l o pme n t p r o gr a mme s . ”
Even where the warning system could save l ives, the inf rast ructural damage was
overwhelming. At the SSB Academy, the los s was est imated at 100 crore. Vast lengths
of vulnerable roads have simply been swal lowed by the r ivers. Several hydel
projects i n t h e r e gi o n a r e a l s o h i t . “Wh a t i s t h e wi s d om i n ma ki n g i n ve s t me n t t h a t
sel f -d e s t r u c t s , ” a s ks T h a k k a r , “w h i l e c a u s i n g d a ma ge t o t h e n a t u r a l s ys t e ms a n d
p e o p l e ? ”
On paper , the populat ion densi ty of Ut tarakhand is just 189 per sq km. But the sense
of space is misleading. More than 90 percent of the land is mountainous and 64
percent is protected forests out of bounds for the locals. Mushrooming development
projects are fur ther elbowing out the hi l l people whi le the Tour ism Board and
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17. numerous pr ivate players are hoarding land. The dams and reservoi rs are also eat ing
into agr icul tural land.
“He a v y i n f l u x o f t o u r i s t s a n d wr o n g t o u r i s m p r a c t i c e s a r e s t r e s s i n g t h e s e h i l l s . Ou r
people most ly work in menial jobs whi le out siders rake in the prof i t . In the t ime of
cl imate change, i t is very impor tant that the people protect thei r st reams and forests.
T h a t c a n o n l y h a p p e n wh e n t h e y h a ve t h e ow n e r s h i p , ” a r gu e s Vr i d h i . “Ou r mo d e l o f
eco-tour ism shows how communi t ies can benef i t by car ing for thei r
naturalenvi ronment . This is not a model for bout ique out lets but needs to be adopted
a c r o s s t h e s t a t e . ”
Through communi ty par t icipat ion in eco-tour ism, the hi l l people may actual ly benef i t
f rom tour ism that , cont rary to popular bel ief , now accounts for just 2 percent of the
s t a t e ’ s emp l o yme n t . B u t t h e s t a t e t o u r i s m p o l i c y h a s n o s u c h p l a n s . It s t o u r i s m Ma s t e r
Plan for 2007-2 2 i d e n t i f i e s “ ve r y l a r ge , o ve r a l l c a r r yi n g c a p a c i t y g i ve n t h e i mme n s i t y
of the natural envi ronment ” a s t h e b i g ge s t o p p o r t u n i t y f o r t h e i n d u s t r y i n t h e s t a t e .
Bar r ing a 2012 repor t by Inf rast ructure Leas ing and Financial Services Ltd that
examined the car rying capaci ty of Dehradun, Har idwar , Rishikesh and Mussoor ie, no
s t u d y h a s e ve r b e e n c o n d u c t e d t o d e t e r mi n e h ow mu c h t o u r i s m p r e s s u r e t h e s t a t e ’ s
overcrowded des t inat ions can take.
Meanwhi le, Bahuguna is determined to make Ut tarakhand p o we r s u r p l u s b y 2 0 1 6 . “ I t
is chi ldish to suggest that the cloudburst at Kedarnath happened because of wrong
const ruct ion on the r iverbeds. Wi thout tour ism, there wi l l be pover ty, unrest and
migrat ion. We have clearance for 53 run -of- the-r iver hydro projects and we wi l l rol l
o u t 3 6 f o r b i d d i n g b y De c e mb e r . I f yo u t a ke a d e c i s i o n , t h e n s t i c k t o i t , d o n ’ t s c r a p i t
b e c a u s e o f s ome a c t i vi s t s , ” h e a s s e r t e d , r e p e a t e d l y, o ve r t h e p a s t w e e k.
It may yet take more l ives for Ut tarakhand to real ise how far down the suicide slope i t
has come.
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18. Page
18
MANAGING UTTARAKHAND:
Indian Ai r Force of f icials working in Ut tarakhand—st i l l reel ing under the assaul t of
the f lash f loods last month—h a ve n o i d e a w h e n t h e i r t a s k c a n b e t e r me d a s “ c l o s e d ” .
Af ter evacuat ing thousands of people, they are now f lying in suppl ies to help rebui ld
the l ives of the local people, and set up sturdy inf rast ructure s o that this vulnerable
p a t c h o f t h e Hi ma l a ya s d o e s n ’ t ge t c u t o f f a ga i n .
The pace of work has been scaled down, but the operat ion has gained degrees of
danger wi th the monsoon al ready wel l -advanced into the hi l ls. The casual t ies have
been taken care of and evacuat ions near ly done, yet the urgency of providing rel ief
has remained near ly the same wi th locals in a hur ry to re -establ ish thei r vi l lages as
this is the t ime for stacking up on winter suppl ies.
“ I h a v e n o c l u e wh e n t h i s c a n b e s a i d t o b e o ve r , ” s a ys Ai r Commodore Rajesh Issar ,
who is leading the Indian Ai r Force operat ions f rom his temporary base at Jol ly Grant
a i r p o r t i n De h r a d u n . “ Be c a u s e o f t h e n a t u r e o f t h e d i s a s t e r , I t h i nk we would remain
h e r e f o r s ome t i me . ”
T h e Ai r F o r c e ’ s o p e r a t i o n s a r e n ow i n p h a s e t wo , d o wn t o f l yi n g 8 -10 ai rcraf t as
against 45 ear l ier , al l f lying into the nar row, mist -f i l led val leys, del iver ing what the
civi l administ rat ion and NGOs ask for —ranging f rom dropping road bui lding machines
l ike bul ldozers to mater ials for use for animal husbandry.
Bi l led as the biggest rel ief and rescue operat ion in recent t imes, fol lowing the 16 -18
June rain that ki l led thousands, an est imated 100,000 people have been re scued by the
Army, Ai r Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Pol ice and civi l rescue workers. Thei r
operat ions, focused on search, rescue, rel ief and evacuat ion, demonst rate thei r al l -
round ski l ls in disaster management wi th agencies having di f ferent special izat ions
working in coordinat ion.
The Army, cur rent ly ret ract ing f rom Ut tarakhand, deployed more than
10,000 personnel and saved 42,542 people, data on i ts websi te shows. Its
senior of f icers inst i l led conf idence into people by leading evacuees in groups of
hundreds by t rekking on landsl ide -hi t areas and r ickety temporary r iver crossingsto
reach to safety.
A major br idge was bui l t at Lambagar across the Alaknanda r iver for people st randed
in Badr inath to exi t . In other places, where the r iver was too turbulent and ba nks too
unsafe, hel icopter shut t les were star ted. About two dozen log -cross ings were made al l
over the af fected par ts of the state.
The Ai r Force under took 3,117 sor t ies, put t ing in 1,245 hours. It dropped 650 tonnes
of rel ief mater ials and evacuated 23,221 people. Amid al l this, they suf fered
casual t ies of thei r own—one MiG-17 ai rcraf tcrashed on 25 June in bad weather ki l l ing
20 people on board, al l rescuers.

19. The forces pushed the envelope, improvising ways and means to adapt to the
ci rcumstances.
The Ai r Force decent ral ized the operat ions by dist r ibut ing ai rcraf t to 8 -10 ai rst r ips,
which operated as smal l bases, so they could be closer to the areas of dist ress. Ways
had to be found to fuel the ai rcraf t , which were f lying wi th vi r tual ly no ai r t raf f ic
cont rol and negl igible ground suppor t . The ai rcraf t managed to car ry the fuel in
bar rels and refuel led when necessary.
Makeshi f t hel ipads were bui l t in Gaur ikund and Jungle Chat t i in the Kedarnath val ley,
but in many other places the ai rcraf t landed wherever th ey found a patch.
Looking at the hundreds t rapped in nar row s t r ips of land, dead in thei r midst , in the
pieced up route to Kedarnath, hel icopter pi lots decided i t was point less to rescue a
few and so they dropped army personnel special izing in jungle rescu e, wi th food and
medicines for the marooned people so they could survive a few more days.
These army personnel f ixed ropes to al low people to sl i ther down to the safety of
vi l lages or broad roads wherever possible.
Near the Pindar i glacier in an al l -night operat ion in the f reezing chi l l , wi th great
di f f icul ty, ColonelPrashant Kandpal and his men lodged a log into rocks to bui ld a
25f t br idge to br ing people, t ied in harnesses , to safety. At Sunderdunga val ley,
rescuers zigzagged though mountains to avoid landsl ides, opening an al ternate route to
keep evacuees safe.
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20. Disaster management (or emergency management ) is the discipl ine of avoiding and
deal ing wi th both natural and man-made disasters. It involves preparedness, response
and recovery plans made in order to lessen the impact of disasters.
Preparedness t raining may be done by pr ivate ci t izens, as by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) in the Uni ted States.
Al l aspects of disaster management deal wi th the processes used to protect populat ions
or organizat ions f rom the consequences of di sasters , wars and acts of ter ror ism. This
can be seen through government publ icat ions such as the Nat ional St rategy for
Homeland Secur i ty which detai l how individuals and varying levels of government
respond dur ing the di f ferent phases of a disaster .
Eme r ge n c y ma n a ge me n t c a n b e f u r t h e r d e f i n e d a s “ t h e d i s c i p l i n e a n d p r o f e s s i o n o f
applying science, technology, planning and management to deal wi th ext reme events
that can injure or ki l l large numbers of people, do extensive damage to proper ty , and
d i s r u p t c ommu n i t y l i f e ” (Dr a b e k, 1 9 9 1 a , p . x vi i ) .
An ‘ e me r ge n c y’ i s ‘ a n u n p l a n n e d e v e n t t h a t c a n c a u s e d e a t h s o r s i gn i f i c a n t i n j u r i e s t o
employees, customers or the publ ic; or that can shut down your bus iness, disrupt
operat ions,may cause physical or e n vi r o nme n t a l d a ma ge , o r t h r e a t e n t h e f a c i l i t y’ s
f i n a n c i a l s t a n d i n g o r p u b l i c i ma ge ’ ( F EMA, 1 9 9 3 ) .
Emergency events can include ter ror ist at tacks, indust r ial sabotage, f i re, natural
disasters (such as ear thquakes, severe weather , etc. ) , publ ic disorder , i ndust r ial
accident , communicat ions fai lure and loss, or cor rupt ion of cr i t ical informat ion. Some
examples of catast rophic incidents are:
The 1995 Kobe, Japan, ear thquake, which ki l led more than 6000 people and lef t
another 30,000 injured.
The 1994 Nor thr idge, Cal i fornia, ear thquake, which resul ted in approximately $33
bi l l ion in damages .
These individual events are signi f icant enough, but the losses are even more dramat ic
when accumulated over t ime. Between 1989 and 1999, the average natural disaster
loss in the US was $1 bi l l ion each week.
Disaster management does not necessar i ly aver t or el iminate the threats themselves,
al though the study and predict ion of the threats are an impor tant par t of the f ield. The
basic levels of emergency management also includ e the var ious kinds of search and
rescue act ivi ty.
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21. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
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21

22. Corporate governance refers to the system by which corporat ions are di rected and
cont rol led. The governance st ructure speci f ies the dist r ibut ion of r ights and
responsibi l i t ies among di f ferent par t icipants in the corporat ion (such as the board of
di rectors, managers, shareholders, credi tors, audi tors, regulators, and
other stakeholders) and speci f ies the rules and procedures for making decisions in
corporate af fai rs. Governance provides the s t ructure through which corporat ions set
and pursue thei r object ives, whi le ref lect ing the context of the social , regulatory and
market envi ronment . Governance is a mechanism for moni tor ing the act ions, pol icies
and decisions of corporat ions. Governance involves the al ignment of interests among
the stakeholders.
There has been renewed interest in the corporate governance pract ices of modern
corporat ions, par t icular ly in relat ion to accountabi l i ty, since the high -prof i le col lapses
of a number of large corporat ions dur ing 2001 –2002, most of which involved
account ing f raud. Corporate scandals of var ious forms have maintained publ ic and
pol i t ical interest in the regulat ion of corporate governance. In the U.S. , these
include Enron Corporation and MCI Inc. ( former ly Wor ldCom) . Thei r demise is
associated wi th the U.S. federal government passing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002,
intending to restore publ ic conf idence in corporate governance. Comparable fai lures
in Aust ral ia (HIH, One.Tel) are associated wi th the eventual passage of the CLERP
9 reforms . Simi lar corporate fai lures in other count r ies st imulated increased regulatory
interest (e.g. , Parmalat in Italy) .
Corporate governance has also been def ined as "a system of law and sound approaches
by which corporat ions are di rected and cont rol led focusing on the internal and
external corporate st ructures wi th the intent ion of moni tor ing the act ions of
management and di rectors and thereby mi t igat ing agency r isks which may stem f rom
the misdeeds of corporate of f icers."
In contemporary business corporat ions, the main external stakeholder groups are
shareholders, debtholders, t rade creditors, suppl iers, customers and communi t ies
af fected by the corporat ion's act ivi t ies. Internal stakeholders are the board of
directors, executives, and other employees.
Much of the contemporary interest in corporate governance is concerned wi th
mi t igat ion of the conf l icts of interests between stakeholders. Ways of mi t igat ing or
prevent ing these conf l icts of interests include the processes, customs, pol icies, laws,
and inst i tut ions which have an impact on the way a company is cont rol led. An
impor tant theme of governance is the nature and extent of corporate accountability.
A related but separate thread of discussions focuses on the impact of a corporate
governance system on economic efficiency, wi th a st rong emphasis on shareholders '
wel fare. In large f i rms where there is a separat ion of ownership and management and
no cont rol l ing shareholder , the principal–agent issue ar ises between upper -management
( the "agent") which may have very di f ferent interests, and by def ini t ion considerably
more informat ion, than shareholders ( the "pr incipals") . The danger ar ises that rather
than overseeing management on behal f of shareholders , the board of di rectors may
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23. become insulated f rom shareholders and beholden to management . This aspect is
par t icular ly present in contemporary publ ic debates and developments in regulatory
pol icy. (seeregulation and policy regulation) .
Economic analysis has resul ted in a l i terature on the subject . One source def ines
corporate governance as "the set of condi t ions that shapes the ex post bargaining over
the quasi-rentsgenerated by a f i rm." The f i rm i tsel f is model led as a governance
st ructure act ing through the mechanisms of cont ract . Here corporate governance may
include i ts relat ion to corporate finance.
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23
Pr inciples of corporate governance
Contemporary discussions of corporate governance tend to refer to pr inciples raised in
three documents released since 1990: The Cadbury Repor t (UK, 1992) , the Pr inciples
of Corporate Governance (OECD, 1998 and 2004) , the Sarbanes -Oxley Act of 2002
(US, 2002) . The Cadbury and OECD repor ts present general pr inciples around which
businesses are expected to operate to assure proper governance. The Sarbanes -Oxley
Act , informal ly refer red to as Sarbox or Sox, is an at tempt by the federal government
in the Uni ted States to legislate several of the pr inciples recommended in the Cadbury
and OECD repor ts.
 Rights and equi table t reatment of shareholders: Organizat ions should respect the
r ights of shareholders and help shareholders to exercise those r ight s. They can
help shareholders exercise thei r r ights by openly and ef fect ively communicat ing
informat ion and by encouraging shareholder s to par t icipate in general meet ings.
 Interests of other stakeholders: Organizat ions should recognize that they have
legal , cont ractual , social , and market dr iven obl igat ions to non -shareholder
stakeholders, including employees , investors , credi tors, suppl iers, local
communi t ies, customers, and pol icy makers.
 Role and responsibi l i t ies of the board: The board needs suf f icient relevant ski l ls
and understanding to review and chal lenge management per formance. It also needs
adequate size and appropr iate levels of independence and commi tment .
 Integr i ty and ethical behavior : Integr i ty should be a fundamental requi rement in
choosing corporate of f icers and board members. Organizat ions should develop a
code of conduct for thei r di rectors and execut ives that promotes ethical and
responsible decision making.
 Disclosure and t ransparency: Organizat ions should clar i fy and make publ icly
known the roles and responsibi l i t ies of board and management to provide
stakeholders wi th a leve l of accountabi l i ty. They should also implement
procedures to independent ly ver i fy and safeguard the integr i ty of the company's
f inancial repor t ing. Di sclosure of mater ial mat ters concerning the organizat ion
should be t imely and balanced to ensure that al l investors have access to clear ,
factual informat ion.

24. Corporate governance models around the wor ld
There are many di f ferent models of corporate governance around the wor ld. These
di f fer according to the var iety of capi tal ism in which they are embedded. T he Anglo-
Amer ican "model" tends to emphasize the interests of shareholders. The coordinated
or Mul t istakeholder Model associated wi th Cont inental Europe and Japan also
recognizes the interests of workers, manager s, suppl iers, customers , and the
communi ty. A related dist inct ion is between market -or ientated and network-or ientated
models of corporate governance.
Cont inental Europe
Some cont inental European count r ie s, including Germany and the Nether lands, requi re
a two-t iered Board of Di rectors as a means of improving corporate governance. [26] In
the two-t iered board, the Execut ive Board, made up of company execut ives, general ly
runs day-to-day operat ions whi le the supervisory board, made up ent i rely of non -
execut ive di rectors who represent shareholders and employees, hi res and f i res the
members of the execut ive board, determines thei r compensat ion, and reviews major
business decisions.
India
India's SEBI Commi t tee on Corporate Governance def ines corporate governance as the
"acceptance by management of the inal ienable r ights of shareholders as the t rue
owners of the corporat ion and of thei r own role as t rustees on behal f of the
shareholders. It is about commi tment to values, about ethical business conduct and
about making a dist inct ion between personal & corporate funds in the management of
a company." It has been suggested that the Indian approach is drawn f rom the
Gandhian pr inciple of t rusteeship and the Di rect ive Pr inciples of the Indian
Const i tut ion, but this conceptual izat ion of corporate object ives is also prevalent
in Anglo-Amer ican and most other jur isdict ions.
Uni ted States, Uni ted Kingdom
The so-cal led "Anglo-Amer ican model" of corporate governance emphasizes the
interests of shareholders. It re l ies on a single -t iered Board of Di rectors that is
normal ly dominated by non-execut ive di rectors elected by shareholders. Because of
this, i t is also known as "the uni tary system". Wi thin this system, many boards include
some execut ives f rom the company (who are ex of f icio members of the board) . Non -
execut ive di rectors are expected to outnumber execut ive di rectors and hold key posts,
including audi t and compensat ion commi t tees. The Uni ted States and the Uni ted
Kingdom di f fer in one cr i t ical respect wi th regard to corporate governance: In the
Uni ted Kingdom, the CEO general ly does not also serve as Chai rman of the Board,
whereas in the US having the dual role is the norm, despi te major misgivings
regarding the impact on corporate governance.
In the Uni ted States, corporat ions are di rect ly governed by state laws, whi le the
exchange (of fer ing and t rading) of secur i t ies in corporat ions ( including shares) is
governed by federal legislat ion. Many US states have adopted the Model Business
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24

25. Corporat ion Act , but the dominant state law for publ icly t raded corporat ions
is Delaware, which cont inues to be the place of incorporat ion for the major i ty of
publ icly t raded corporat ions. Individual rules for corporat ions are based upon
the corporate char ter and, less author i tat ively, the corporate bylaws. Shareholders
cannot ini t iate changes in the corporate char ter al though they can ini t iate changes to
the corporate bylaws .
Legal envi ronment – General
Corporat ions are created as legal persons by the laws and regulat ions of a par t icular
jur isdict ion. These may vary in many respects between count r ies, but a corporat ion's
legal person status is fundamental to al l jur isdict ions and is confer red by statute. This
al lows the ent i ty to hold proper ty in i ts own r ight wi thout reference to any par t icular
real person. It also resul ts in the perpetual existence that character izes the modern
corporat ion. The statutory grant ing of corporate existence may ar i se f rom general
purpose legislat ion (which is the general case) or f rom a statute to create a speci f ic
corporat ion, which was the only method pr ior to the 19th century .
In addi t ion to the statutory laws of the relevant jur isdict ion, corporat ions are subject
to common law in some count r ies, and var ious laws and regulat ions af fect ing business
pract ices. In most jur isdict ions , corporat ions also have a const i tut ion that provides
individual rules that govern the corporat ion and author ize or const rain i ts decision -
makers. This const i tut ion is ident i f ied by a var iety of terms; in Engl ish -speaking
jur isdict ions, i t is usual ly known as the Corporate Char ter or the [Memorandum] and
Ar t icles of Associat ion. The capaci ty of shareholders to modi fy the const i tut ion of
thei r corporat ion can vary substant ial ly.
The U.S. passed the Foreign Cor rupt Pract ices Act (FCPA) in 1977, wi th subsequent
modi f icat ions. This law made i t i l legal to br ibe government of f icials and requi red
corporat ions to maintain adequate account ing cont rols. It is enforced by the U.S.
Depar tment of Just ice and the Secur i t ies and Exchange Commission (SEC) .
Substant ial civi l and cr iminal penal t ies have been levied on corporat ions and
execut ives convicted of br ibery.
The UK passed the Br ibery Act in 2010. This law made i t i l legal to br ibe ei ther
government or pr ivate ci t izens or make faci l i tat ing payments ( i .e. , payment to a
government of f icial to per form thei r rout ine dut ies more quickly) . It also requi red
corporat ions to establ ish cont rols to prevent br ibery.
Sarbanes -Oxley Act of 2002
Main ar t icle: Sarbanes -Oxley Act
The Sarbanes -Oxley Act of 2002 was enacted in the wake of a ser ies of high prof i le
corporate scandals. It establ ished a ser ies of requi rements that af fect corporate
governance in the U.S. and inf luenced simi lar laws in many other count r ies. The law
requi red, along wi th many other elements, that :
 The Publ ic Company Account ing Oversight Board (PCAOB) be establ ished to
regulate the audi t ing profession, which had been sel f -regulated pr ior to the law.
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25

26. Audi tors are responsible for reviewing the f inancial statements of corporat ions and
issuing an opinion as to thei r rel iabi l i ty.
 The Chief Execut ive Of f icer (CEO) and Chief Financial Of f icer (CFO) at test to the
f inancial statements . Pr ior to the law, CEO's had claimed in cour t they hadn' t
reviewed the informat ion as par t of thei r defense.
 Board audi t commi t tees have members that are independent and disclose whether
or not at least one i s a f inancial exper t , or reasons why no such exper t is on the
audi t commi t tee.
 External audi t f i rms cannot provide cer tain types of consul t ing services and must
rotate thei r lead par tner every 5 years. Fur ther , an audi t f i rm cannot audi t a
company i f those in speci f ied senior management roles worked for the audi tor in
the past year . Pr ior to the law, there was the real or perceived conf l ict of interest
between providing an independent opinion on the accuracy and rel iabi l i ty of
f inancial statements when the same f i rm was also providing lucrat ive consul t ing
services.
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26
Codes and guidel ines
Corporate governance pr inciples and codes have been developed in di f ferent count r ies
and issued f rom stock exchanges, corporat ions, inst i tut ional investors, or associat ions
( inst i tutes) of di rectors and managers wi th the suppor t of governments and
internat ional organizat ions. As a rule, compl iance wi th these governance
recommendat ions is not mandated by law, al though the codes l inked to stock
exchange l ist ing requi rements may have a coercive ef fect .
OECD pr inciples[edi t ]
One of the most inf luent ial guidel ines has been the OECD Pr inciples of Corporate
Governance—publ ished in 1999 and revised in 2004. [1] The OECD guidel ines are
of ten referenced by count r ies developing local codes or guidel ines. Bui lding on the
work of the OECD, other internat ional organizat ions, pr ivate sector associat ions and
more than 20 nat ional corporate governance codes formed the Uni ted
Nat ions Intergovernmental Working Group of Exper ts on Internat ional Standards of
Account ing and Repor t ing ( ISAR) to produce thei r Guidance on Good Pract ices in
Corporate Governance Disclosure. [35] This internat ional ly agreed[36] benchmark
consists of more than f i f ty dist inct disclosure i tems across f ive broad categor ies: [37]
 Audi t ing
 Board and management st ructure and process
 Corporate responsibi l i ty and compl iance in organisat ion
 Financial t ransparency and informat ion disclosure
 Ownership st ructure and exercise of cont rol r ights
Stock exchange l ist ing standards
Companies l isted on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and other stock exchanges
are requi red to meet cer tain governance standards. For example, the NYSE Listed
Company Manual requi res, among many other elements:

27.  Independent di rectors : "Listed companies must have a major i ty of independent
di rectors. . .Ef fect ive boards of di rectors exercise independent judgment in car rying
out thei r responsibi l i t ies. Requi r ing a major i ty of independent di rectors wi l l
increase the qual i ty of board oversight and lessen the possibi l i ty of damaging
conf l icts of interest ." (Sect ion 303A.01) An independent di rector i s not par t of
management and has no "mater ial f inancial relat ionship" wi th the company.
 Board meet ings that exclude management : "To empower non -management di rectors
to serve as a more ef fect ive check on management , the non -management di rectors
of each l isted company must meet at regular ly scheduled execut ive sessions
wi thout management ." (Sect ion 303A.03)
 Boards organize thei r members into commi t tees wi th speci f ic responsibi l i t ies per
def ined char ters. "Listed companies must have a nominat ing/corporate governance
commi t tee composed ent i rely of independent di rectors." This commi t tee is
responsible for nominat ing new members for the board of di rectors. Compensat ion
and Audi t Commi t tees are also speci f ied, wi th the lat ter subject to a var iety of
l ist ing standards as wel l as outside regulat ions. (Sect ion 303A.04 and others) [38]
Other guidel ines
The investor -led organisat ion Internat ional Corporate Governance Network ( ICGN)
was set up by individuals centered around the ten largest pension funds in the wor ld
1995. The aim is to promote global corporate governance standards. Th e network is
led by investors that manage 18 t r i l l ion dol lars and members are located in f i f ty
di f ferent count r ies. ICGN has developed a sui te of global guidel ines ranging f rom
shareholder r ights to business ethics.
The Wor ld Business Counci l for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has done work on
corporate governance, par t icular ly on accountabi l i ty and repor t ing, and in 2004
released Issue Management Tool : St rategic chal lenges for business in the use of
corporate responsibi l i ty codes, standards, and f rameworks . This document of fers
general informat ion and a perspect ive f rom a business associat ion/ think -tank on a few
key codes, standards and f rameworks relevant to the sustainabi l i ty agenda.
In 2009, the Internat ional Finance Corporat ion and the UN Global Compact released a
repor t , Corporate Governance - the Foundat ion for Corporate Ci t izenship and
Sustainable Business , l inking the envi ronmental , social and governance
responsibi l i t ies of a company to i ts f inancial per formance and long -term
sustainabi l i ty.
Most codes are largely voluntary. An issue rais ed in the U.S. since the 2005 Disney
decision is the degree to which companies manage thei r governance responsibi l i t ies;
in other words , do they merely t ry to supersede the legal threshold, or should they
create governance guidel ines that ascend to the level of best pract ice. For example,
the guidel ines issued by associat ions of di rectors, corporate managers and individual
companies tend to be whol ly voluntary but such documents may have a wider ef fect by
prompt ing other companies to adopt simi lar pract ices .
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27

28. Rel iance Group, an of fshoot of the Group founded by Shr i Dhi rubhai H Ambani (1932 -
2002) , ranks among I n d i a ’ s t o p t h r e e p r i va t e s e c t o r b u s i n e s s houses in terms of net
wor th. The group has business interests that range f rom telecommunicat ions (Rel iance
Communicat ions Limi ted) to f inancial services (Rel iance Capi tal Ltd) and the
generat ion and dist r ibut ion of power (Rel iance Inf rast ructure Limi ted) .
Re l i a n c e Gr o u p ’ s f lagship company, Rel iance Communicat ions, is India's
largest pr ivate sector informat ion and communicat ions company, wi th over 150
mi l l ion subscr ibers. It has establ ished a pan -India, high-capaci ty, integrated (wi reless
and wi rel ine) , convergent (voice, data and video) digi tal network, to of fer services
spanning the ent i re infocomm value chain.
Other major group companies — Rel iance Capi tal and Rel iance Inf rast ructure — are
widely acknowledged as the market leaders in thei r respect ive areas of operat ion.
We wi l l create wor ld-class benchmarks by:
 Meet ing and exceeding Customer expectat ions wi th a segmented approach
 Establ ishing, re -engineer ing and automat ing Processes to make them
customer cent r ic, ef f icient and ef fect ive
 Incessant of fer ing of Products and Services
that are value for money and exci te customers
 Providing a Network exper ience that is
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28
best in the indust ry
 Bui lding Rel iance into an iconic Brand which
is benchmarked by others and leads indust ry
in Intent ion to Purchase and Loyal ty
 Developing a professional Leadership team
that inspi res, nur tures talent and
propagates RCOM Values by
personal example
India ’ s l e a d i n g i n t e gr a t e d t e l e c om company Rel iance Communicat ions is
the f lagship company of the Rel iance Group. Listed on the
Nat ional Stock Exchange and the Bomb a y S t o c k E x c h a n ge , i t i s I n d i a ’ s
leading integrated telecommunicat ion company wi th over 150 mi l l ion
customers.
Our business encompasses a complete range of telecom services cover ing
mobi le and f ixed l ine telephony. It includes broadband, nat ional and
internat ional long distance services and data services along wi th an
exhaust ive range of value -added services and appl icat ions. Our constant
endeavour is to provide an enhanced customer exper ience and achieve
customer sat isfact ion by upscal ing the product ivi ty of the enterpr ises and
individuals we serve.
Rel iance Mobi le ( former ly Rel iance India Mobi le) , launched on 28
December 2002, coinciding wi th the joyous occasion of the late
Dh i r u b h a i Amb a n i ’ s 7 0 t h b i r t h d a y, wa s a mo n g t h e i n i t i a l i n i t i a t i ve s o f
Rel iance Communicat ions. It marked the auspicious beginning of
Dh i r u b h a i ’ s d r e a m of usher ing in a digi tal revolut ion in India. Today, we
can proudly claim that we were inst rumental in harnessing the t rue power
of informat ion and communicat ion, by bestowing i t in the hands of the
common man at af fordable rates.
We endeavour to fur ther extend our ef for ts beyond the t radi t ional value

29. chain by developing anddeploying complete telecom solut ions for the
ent i re spect rum of society.
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29
Rel iance Mobi le
Wi th over 150 mi l l ion subscr ibers across India, Rel iance
Mo b i l e i s In d i a ’ s l a r g e s t mo b i l e service brand. Rel iance
Mobi le services now cover over 24,000 towns, 6 lakh vi l lages,
and st i l l count ing.
We have achieved many mi lestones in this shor t journey. In
2003, AC Nielsen voted Rel iance Mobi le ( former ly Rel iance
I n d i a Mo b i l e ) a s I n d i a ’ s Mo s t T rusted Telecom Brand. In July
2003, i t created a wor ld record by adding one mi l l ion
s u b s c r i b e r s i n a ma t t e r o f j u s t 1 0 d a ys t h r o u g h i t s ‘Mo n s o o n
Hu n ga ma ’ o f f e r .
What sets Rel iance Mobi le apar t is the fact that near ly 90 per cent of our handsets are
data-enabled, and can access hundreds of Java appl icat ions on Rel iance Mobi le Wor ld.
Rel iance Mobi le has ushered in a mobi le revolut ion by of fer ing advanced mul t imedia
handsets to the common man at very af fordable rates. This innovat ive low pr icing has
increased the number of mobi le phone users and i ts resul t is clear ly ref lected in the
me t e o r i c r i s e i n I n d i a ’ s t e l e -densi ty over the past four years.
Our pan- India wi reless network runs on CDMA2000 1x technology, which has
super ior voice and data capabi l i t ies compared to other cel lular mobi le technologies.
CDMA2000 1x is more cost -ef fect ive as i t ut i l ises the scarce radio spect rum more
ef f icient ly than other technologies do. Enhanced voice clar i ty, super ior data speed of
up to 144 kbps and seamless migrat ion to newer generat ions of mobi le technologies
are some of i ts key di f ferent iators.
R Wor ld
The R Wor ld sui te of Rel iance Mobi le is a
unique Java-based appl icat ion. Its uniquenes s
l ies in the fact that i t enablescomplex Internet
appl icat ion to be int roduced in mobi le phones
ef fect ively and quickly. R Wor ld receives over
1.5 bi l l ion page views per month f rom Rel iance
Mobi le users.
R Wor ld of fers a wide ar ray of appl icat ions that
include hour ly news updates, high qual i ty
headl ine video cl ips, downloadable mul t i -
l ingual r ing tones, seasonal updates including
fest ival specials, ci ty and TV specials, exam
resul ts, ast rology, mobi le banking, bi l l payment .
Wi th over 150 data appl icat ions of fer ing var ied services - unique to any
wi reless service in India - R Wor ld is t ruly a t reasure house of
knowledge, informat ion, enter tainment and commerce.

30. Organisat ions, l ike individuals, depend for thei r survival , sustenance and growth on
the suppor t and goodwi l l of the communi t ies of which they are an integra l par t , and
must pay back this generosi ty in every way they can. . .
This ethical standpoint , der ived f rom the vis ion of our founder , l ies at the hear t of the
CSR phi losophy of the Rel iance Group.
Whi le we st rongly bel ieve that our pr imary obl igat ion or dut y as corporate ent i t ies is
to our shareholders – we are just as mindful of the fact that this imperat ive does not
exist in isolat ion; i t is par t of a much larger compact which we have wi th our ent i re
body of stakeholders: From employees , customers and vendors to business par tners,
eco-system, local communi t ies, and society at large.
We evaluate and asses s each cr i t ical busines s decision or choice f rom the point of
view of diverse stakeholder interest , dr iven by the need to minimi se r isk and to pro -
act ively address long-term social , economic and envi ronmental cos ts and concerns.
For us, being social ly responsible is not an occasional act of char i ty or that one -t ime
token f inancial cont r ibut ion to the local school , hospi tal or envi ronmental NGO. It is
an ongoing year -round commi tment , which is integrated into the very core of our
business object ives and st rategy.
Rel iance Group of Companies cont inual ly reviews corporate governance best pract ices
to ensure that they ref lect global developments. It takes fe edback into account , in i ts
per iodic reviews of the guidel ines to ensure thei r cont inuing relevance, ef fect iveness
and responsiveness to the needs of local and internat ional investors and other
stakeholders.
The Code of Conduct ( s) and Business Pol icies ad opted by the Rel iance Group
Companies are given here.
1. Values and Commi tments
2. Code of Ethics
3. Business Pol icies
4. Ethics Management
5. Prevent ion of Sexual Harassment
6. Pol icy on Insider Trading
Every signi f icant management decision has ethical value dimensions. Managing ethics
is par t icular ly relevant for Rel iance Group Companies today because i t is cr i t ical to
understand and manage highly diverse values in the workplace.
At tent ion to business ethics is cr i t ical dur ing t imes of fundamental chang e – t imes
much l ike those faced now by businesses l ike ours. In t imes of such fundamental
change, values that were previously taken for granted are now st rongly quest ioned.
Many of these values are no longer fol lowed.
Consequent ly, there is no clear compas s to guide us through complex di lemmas about
what is r ight or wrong.
T o t h a t e n d , Re l i a n c e Gr o u p Comp a n i e s ’ Va l u e s a n d Commi t me n t s a r e p r e s e n t e d h e r e .
These should be used to guide our act ions in business conduct .
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31. Page
31
Commi tment to Stakeholders
In al l our relat ionships we demonst rate our s teadfast commi tment to al l our
stakeholders:
Our employees
Rel iance Group Companies recognize that i ts commercial success depends on the ful l
commi tment of al l employees .
We are commi t ted to respect the human r ight s of our employees. We st r ive to t reat our
employees wi th honesty, just management , due digni ty and fai rnes s. We are commi t ted
to provide our employees wi th a good, safe and heal thy envi ronment and compet i t ive
terms and condi t ions of service. Rel iance Group Companies promotes the development
and best use of human talent . It encourages the involvement of employees in the
planning, di rect ion and fai r appraisal of thei r work. The employees are also
encouraged to par t icipate in the appl icat ion of these ethics and va lues wi thin the
company.
Our customers
We are commi t ted to produce rel iable, wor ld -class qual i ty products and services,
del ivered on t ime, at a fai r pr ice. Rel iance Group Companies st r ives to win and
maintain customers by developing and providing product s and services which of fer
value in terms of pr ice, qual i ty, safety and envi ronmental impact , which are suppor ted
by the requisi te technological , envi ronmental and commercial exper t ise.
Our envi ronment
Rel iance Group Companies are commi t ted to act ing as a concerned and responsible
communi ty par t icipant ref lect ing al l aspects of good corporate ci t izenship. Rel iance
Group Companies are commi t ted to achieving the global standards of heal th, safety
and envi ronment . Rel iance Group Companies works wi th i ts communi ty by
volunteer ing and suppor t ing educat ion, medical wel fare and other wor thy causes that
lead to sustainable development .
Our shareholders
We are commi t ted to pursuing sound growth and earnings object ives and to exercising
prudence in the use of our assets and resources. Enhancing shareholder value remains
t h e p r i me d r i vi n g f o r c e o f Re l i a n c e Gr o u p C omp a n i e s ’ b u s i n e s s a n d f i n a n c i a l
decisions.
We wi l l ensure our success by sat isfying our customers and increasing shareholder
value.
Our lenders and other investors
We are commi t ted to t ruthful disclosure of al l mater ial facts and the regular and
t imely payment of al l our debt service obl igat ions.

32. Our Suppl iers and other service providers
We are commi t ted to fai r compet i t ion and the sense of responsibi l i ty requi red of a
good customer .
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The government
Rel iance Group Companies are f iercely pat r iot ic company and is enthused and proud
to be a home-grown enterpr ise.
We are commi t ted to the payment of al l -appl icable taxes and dut ies and adherence to
al l appl icable laws and regulat ions.

33. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
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34. Corporate social responsibility (CSR, also cal led corporate conscience, corporate
ci t izenship, social per formance, or sustainable responsible busines s/ Responsible
Business) is a form of corporate sel f -regulat ion integrated into a business model . CSR
pol icy funct ions as a bui l t -in, sel f -regulat ing mechanism whereby a business moni tors
and ensures i ts act ive compl iance wi th the spi r i t of the law, ethical standards, and
internat ional norms. In some models, a f i rm's implementat ion of CSR goes beyond
compl iance and engages in "act ions that appear to fur ther some social good, beyond
the interests of the f i rm and that which is requi red by law." CSR i s a process wi th the
aim to embrace responsibi l i ty for the company's act ions and encourage a posi t ive
impact through i ts act ivi t ies on the envi ronment , consumers, employees,
communi t ies, stakeholders and al l other members of the publ ic sphere who may also
be considered as stakeholders.
The term "corporate social responsibi l i ty" became popular in the 1960s and has
remained a term used indiscr iminately by many to cover legal and moral responsibi l i ty
more nar rowly const rued.
Proponents argue that corporat ions make more long term prof i ts by ope rat ing wi th a
perspect ive, whi le cr i t ics argue that CSR dis t racts f rom the economic role of
businesses. McWi l l iams and Siegel 's ar t icle (2000) publ ished in St rategic Management
Journal , ci ted by over 1000 academics, compared exist ing economet r ic studies of the
relat ionship between social and f inancial per formance. They concluded that the
cont radictory resul ts of previous studies repor t ing posi t ive, negat ive, and neut ral
f inancial impact , were due to f lawed empi r ical analysis . McWi l l iams and Siegel
demonst rated that when the model is proper ly speci f ied; that is, when you cont rol for
investment in Research and Development , an impor tant determinant of f inancial
per formance, CSR has a neut ral impact on f inancial outcomes .
In his widely ci ted book ent i t led Misguided Vi r tue: False Not ions of Corporate Social
Responsibi l i ty (2001) David Henderson argued forceful ly against the way in which
CSR broke f rom t radi t ional corporate value -set t ing. He quest ioned the "lof ty" and
somet imes "unreal ist ic expectat ions" in CSR.
Some argue that CSR i s merely window-dres sing, or an at tempt to pre-empt the role of
governments as a watchdog over power ful mul t inat ional corporat ions . Pol i t ical
sociologists became interested in CSR in the conte xt of theor ies of global izat ion, neo -
l iberal ism, and late capi tal ism. Adopt ing a cr i t ical approach, sociologists emphasize
CSR as a form of capi tal ist legi t imacy and in par t icular point out that what has begun
as a social movement against uninhibi ted corpo rate power has been co-opted by and
t ransformed by corporat ions into a 'business model ' and a 'r isk management ' device,
of ten wi th quest ionable resul ts
CSR is t i t led to aid an organizat ion's mission as wel l as a guide to what the company
stands for and wi l l uphold to i ts consumers. Development business ethics is one of the
forms of appl ied ethics that examines ethical pr inciples and moral or ethical problems
that can ar ise in a business envi ronment . ISO 26000 is the recognized internat ional
standard for CSR. Publ ic sector organiz at ions ( the Uni ted Nat ions for example) adhere
to the t r iple bot tom l ine (TBL) . It is widely accepted that CSR adheres to simi lar
pr inciples but wi th no formal act of l egislat ion.
The not ion is now extended beyond purely commercial corporat ions, e.g. to
universi t ies.
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35. Social Responsibi l i ty and Communi ty Development
RIL's cont r ibut ion to the communi ty are in areas of heal th, educat ion, inf rast ructure
development (dr inking water , improving vi l lage inf rast ructure, const ruct ion of schools
etc. ) , envi ronment (ef f luent t reatment , t ree plantat ion, t reatment of hazardous waste) ,
rel ief and assistance in the event of a natural disaster , and miscel laneous act ivi t ies
such as cont r ibut ion to other social development organisat ions etc. RIL's CSR teams
across i ts manufactur ing divisions interact wi th the neighbour ing communi ty on
regular basis.
Educat ion
A network of nine schools caters to 13,251 s tudents spread across geographies in
India. CSR teams f rom RIL's manufactur ing divisions and E&P operat ions work
ardent ly to suppor t the educat ional requi rements of the communi ty and schools in the
neighbour ing region benef i t ing thousands of students f rom the underpr ivi leged sect ion
of the society.
RIL plays a pivotal role in suppor t ing Government 's ini t iat ive towards educat ion of
gi r l chi ld. In Gujarat , under the project "Kanya Kelvani", RIL's Dahej Manufactur ing
Division has extended f inancial assistance towards educat ion of gi r l chi ld in the state.
RIL has created a plat form for computer learning in many vi l lages. Its manufactur ing
divisions have provided computers to pr imary and secondary schools under the
Company's computer l i teracy ini t iat ive.
RIL cont inues to provide suppor t to school run by Lions Club of Naroda Char i table
Trust . The school renders qual i ty educat ion in Engl ish medium to chi ldren of
labourers working in GIDC, Naroda area, who are economical ly and social ly
backward. Jamnagar Manufactur ing Division const ructed a school bu i lding for vi l lage
Kana Chikar i of Lalpur taluka in Gujarat . Hoshiarpur Manufactur ing Division has
adopted vi l lage Mangrowal - Nar i pr imary school . Annual ly f ree uni forms , books,
shoes and school bags are given to students and also f ree elect r ici ty is provi ded to the
school .
RIL's CSR teams cont inue to provide uni forms, books etc, to students of neighbour ing
vi l lages of manufactur ing divisions and E&P operat ions. Fur ther ,
cont inuous moni tor ing is being done in local schools for improving the per formance
of students. Regular counsel ing sessions are also being ar ranged wi th exper ts in
personal i ty development and psychology for mot ivat ing the chi ldren to achieve bet ter
resul ts.
To encourage school chi ldren f rom neighbour ing vi l lages in thei r learning process,
Nagothane Manufactur ing Division and the MADER Foundat ion provided school
uni forms to the t r ibal and underpr ivi leged students. Eleven schools were selected for
this ini t iat ive, out of which seven Zi l la Par i shad schools are located on a hi l l top near
the manufactur ing division. Fur ther , mer i tor ious students were fel ici tated wi th an
object ive of encouraging them for higher studies.
RIL's Project Jagrut i , the project to tackle dyslexia in Surat , is set t ing the pace for the
communi ty's response to the social dogma of the mental ly underpr ivi leged chi ldren.
More than 8,800 hours have been spent by 35 t rained teachers and more than 1,000
hours by RIL volunteers to upl i f t and br ing the dyslexic students f rom the
underpr ivi leged segment into the main st ream. RIL employe e's spouses are suppor t ing
this act ivi ty and many teaching aids have been developed. NIOS regist rat ion has been
ini t iated for Academic Year ("AY") 2011 -12.
Par tnership wi th simi lar associat ions across the count ry and UNESCO / BBC has been
ini t iated to spread awareness and benef i t the students wi th latest t raining aids .
Awareness stal l was put up that at t racted thousands at the nat ional book fai r organized
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36. by Surat Municipal Corporat ion (SMC) . Membership of Maharasht ra Dyslexia
Associat ion and Internat ional Dyslexia Associat ion has been taken to make the project
more focused wi th proven scient i f ic pract ices and to get avai labi l i ty of resourceful
exper ts, sourcing global knowledge / resources and best pract ices / models in the
LD/Dyslexia space. Focus is on ear ly ident i f icat ion of learning disabi l i ty in chi ld and
procur ing var ious screening tests for the same.
Rel iance Dhirubhai Ambani Protsaham Scheme
The Scheme, launched in AY 2008-09, cont inues to suppor tpoor mer i tor ious students.
Recipient students of Rel iance Dhi rubhai Ambani Protsaham Scheme got admissions
in junior col leges of thei r choice. Wi th admi ssions of AY 2010 -11, the total st rength
of students receiving suppor t under the scheme has gone up to 656. The f i rst batch of
the Protsaham student s passed out the intermediate examinat ion held in March 2010
wi th f lying colours and f rom AY 2010 -11 onwards, RIL is providing f inancial aid to
the toppers for pursuing thei r higher studies in engineer ing and medical st reams .
Mumbai Indians Educat ion for Al l Ini t iat ive
Mumbai Indians took on the mandate of educat ion as a pr imary social issue. It
launched i ts Educat ion for Al l Ini t iat ive dur ing the Indian Premier Le ague ( IPL)
season in 2010 to create a movement to suppor t ef for ts to provide qual i ty educat ionto
al l chi ldren. This ini t iat ive was the brainchi ld of Mrs. Ni ta Ambani , a passionate
advocate for the cause of educat ion. Through this ef for t , Mumbai Indians sup por ted
f ive NGOs car t ing out outstanding work in the f ield of educat ion - Akanksha, Nanhi
Kal i , Pratham, Teach for India and Ummeed. As par t of this ini t iat ive, Mumbai
Indians helped create awareness for the cause of educat ion and the work of these f ive
organizat ions through of f icial Mumbai Indian videos, TV commercials that ran
through the durat ion of the IPL, sale of Mumbai Indians Educat ion for Al l wr istbands
as par t of the merchandizing and awareness creat ion through i ts radio par tners and
instadium announcements dur ing games.
In addi t ion, Mumbai Indians also invi ted 700 chi ldren f rom al l the NGOs to see each
of the Mumbai Indians home games . The Mumbai Indians team joined Mrs. Ambani at
the presentat ion ceremonies and worked wi th the media to ensure ad equate coverage
of the work of such groups. Mumbai Indians also organized a br ief ing for the cr icket
team to interact wi th chi ldren and staf f of al l the NGOs.
Through the sale of the wr istbands and addi t ional suppor t , Mumbai Indians was able
to gi f t Rs. 11 lacs to each of the groups at the conclusion of IPL 3. This col laborat ion
cont inued through the year wi th an invi tat ion to the groups to send chi ldren to at tend
the Mumbai Indians games at the Champions League matches in South Af r ica.
Communi ty Heal th Care
RIL has developed Communi ty Medical Cent res near most of i ts manufactur ing
divisions to provide comprehensive heal th services cover ing prevent ive, promot ive
and curat ive heal th care services to the communi ty f rom neighbour ing vi l lages.
The manufactur ing divisions conduct regular heal th checkups for chi ldren in schools
of thei r respect ive neighbour ing regions . Doctors advise chi ldren and thei r parents on
var ious heal th care issues and personal hygiene. Medical camps were organized by al l
si tes benef i t t ing pat ients f rom nearby vi l lages and t r ibal areas. Al l pat ients are given
medicines f ree of cost . As requi red, al l si tes have provided ambulance suppor t to
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37. roadside accident vict ims to shi f t them to hospi tals / nursing homes. Patalganga si te
has conducted a ser ies of heal th awareness programs in local schools and nearby smal l
scale indust r ies.
Drisht i
A unique joint ini t iat ive of RIL and Nat ional Associat ion of Bl ind, Project Dr isht i has
under taken over 9,000 f ree corneal graf t surger ies for the visual ly chal lenged Indians
f rom the underpr ivi leged segment of the society. It is the largest corneal graf t ing
surgery project enabled by a single corporate ent i ty in India.
The ini t iat ive to combat TB, HIV / AIDS is a unique publ icpr ivate par tnership
program between the Government , NGOs, several agencies and RIL. It extends f rom
creat ing awareness to providing care, suppor t and t reatment including f ree of cost
t reatment to those who cannot af ford the same.
Hazi ra Manufactur ing Division's DOTS HIV / AIDS Cent re is one of the largest Ant i -
Ret rovi ral Treatment Cent re (ART Cent re) in the count ry. A 22 bedded hospi tal for
HIV / AIDS pat ients has been commissioned recent ly. Manufactur ing divisions at
Jamnagar and Patalganga too have ART Cent re faci l i t ies. The ini t iat ive was expanded
to other manufactur ing divisions; act ivi t ies are largely in the advocacy and awareness
area. A special ini t iat ive of awareness campaign on 'Prevent ion of HIV/AIDS' targeted
at dr ivers and cleaners of al l product t ranspor t vehicles has been und er taken at var ious
si tes. Awareness lectures on prevent ion are conducted and condoms have been
dist r ibuted.
Dahej Manufactur ing Division commenced Integrated Counsel ing and Test ing Cent re
( ICTC) for HIV/AIDS at Dahej in par tnership wi th Gujarat State AIDS Cont rol
Society (GSACS) in FY 2010-11. This ini t iat ive is aimed at addres sing the heal th of
the increasing number of migrant workers in the region resul t ing f rom the indust r ial
growth planned under Dahej SEZ and PCPIR Zone. Object ive of the ini t iat ive is t o
create necessary awareness amongst workers to prevent HIV/AIDS.
Jamnagar Manufactur ing Division runs 'Project Balkalyan' , wi th an object ive to
provide nut r i t ional suppor t to chi ldren af fected wi th HIV infect ion. Nut r i t ional ki t is
dist r ibuted to al l HIV posi t ive chi ldren when they visi t the Cent re for monthly fol low
up. Hazi ra Manufactur ing Division, through Rel iance Ladies Club (an associat ion of
s p o u s e s o f R I L e mp l o ye e s ) h a s a s i mi l a r o n go i n g c h i l d a d o p t i o n p r o gr a mme â € “
'Project Hope' , at Hazi ra to take care of nut r i t ional requi rement of HIV posi t ive
chi ldren.
The Primary Heal th Centre (PHC) at Dahej , Bharuch dist r ict , adopted by RIL under
the Nat ional Rural Heal th Mission Programme caters to the communi ty heal th needs of
23 sur rounding vi l lages.
In 2004, RIL establ ished the PHC at Gadimoga. The PHC has six member medical
staf f wi th al l the ameni t ies such as two -bed nursing room. Medicines are of fered f ree
of cost . Fur ther , RIL runs two sub -cent res of the PHC at Bhai ravapalem and
Laxmipathipuram. RIL is also const ruct ing a new 30-bed PHC and the exist ing PHC
wi l l be shi f ted to the new bui lding.
Dhirubhai Ambani Hospi tal at Lodhival i , Maharasht ra cont inues to play a signi f icant
role in improving the qual i ty of l i fe in sur rounding communi t ies. I t extends p rompt
and special ized services to the Mumbai -Pune highway accident vict ims . Trauma
pat ients are provided f ree l i fesaving t reatment . Besides taking care of hospi tal izat ion
requi rements, the hospi tal provides poor pat ients and senior ci t izens subsidized
t reatment - both in the outpat ient and in-pat ient depar tments. ART cl inic, a publ ic -
pr ivatepar tnership ini t iat ive between RIL, CII and NACO, of fers f ree of cost
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38. t reatment to HIV/AIDs pat ients. In associat ion wi th the Lions Club, the hospi tal
conducts cataract surgery camps annual ly.
A wel l -equipped communi ty medical cent re wi th four observat ion bed faci l i ty at
Jamnagar cont inues to of fer f ree -of-cost , round the clock wi th comprehensive heal th
services. Manufactur ing divisions of fer f ree medical services inclu ding f ree medicines
to the neighbor ing vi l lages.
In t r ibal vi l lages sur rounding Nagothane Manufactur ing Division, vi l lagers are
depr ived of medical faci l i t ies in the region because of absence of proper approach
road to the vi l lages as they are located on hi l l tops. The manufactur ing division
real izes the heal th problems faced by the t r ibal 's and i t took a major step towards
providing f ree OPD (out pat ient depar tment ) t reatment on weekly basis to the t r ibal
people staying at hi l l tops. Moreover , the manufac tur ing division developed the road
and even made i t motorable up to vi l lage Gangawane. Every week a doctor wi th
medical team and medicines visi ts t r ibal hamlet and provides OPD services to t r ibals.
Hazi ra Manufactur ing Division along wi th an NGO have lau nched an or thopedic
hospi tal wi th ul t ra -modern faci l i t ies and one rehabi l i tat ion cent re. Both faci l i t ies have
become operat ional in March 2011. Hospi tal bui lding was inaugurated by the Chief
Minister of the State of Gujarat .
RIL's manufactur ing divisions of fer f ree medical , diagnost ic and therapeut ic services
i n c l u d i n g f r e e me d i c i n e s t o n e i gh b o u r i n g vi l l a ge s . Mo b i l e Va n Cl i n i c s â € “ He a l t h -on-
Wheels, which are special ly designed mobi le dispensar ies equipped wi th doctor
accompanied by a nurse, visi ts neighbour ing vi l lages on a scheduled basis al l through
the week.
RIL has establ ished an Ear ly Intervent ion and Rehabi l i tat ion Center for suppor t ing the
mental ly chal lenged chi ldren l iving in Tal larevu Mandal and Yanam Union Ter r i tory.
This center is being run wi th the technical suppor t of NGO Uma Mano Vikasa
Kendram, Kakinada. At present , chi ldren f rom the region having di f ferent disabi l i t ies
have al ready been enrol led.
Safety ini t iat ives for communi ty
Road Safety System is most cost ef fect ive and easy to use tool for improving publ ic
safety and thus of fer ing a l i fe -l ine to humani ty. Hazi ra Manufactur ing Division has
inst i tut ional ised road safety t raining and has reached out to over 158,000 tanker /
t ruck dr ivers who visi t the plant for pick -up and dropping feedstock / f inished goods .
The t raining focuses on safe operat ion of f leet vehicles by el iminat ing unsafe dr iver
and dr iving behaviors and reinforcing aspect s of save l ives, reduce injur ies, prevent
crashes, cont rol dr iver per formance, minimize r isk and l iab i l i ty. A cent re dedicated
for t raining t ruck dr ivers for t ranspor tat ion of hazardous goods has been establ ished
for round-the-clock t raining. No dr iver is al lowed inside complex wi thout t raining.
To provide emergency and t rauma care to vict ims of highway a ccidents, Hazi ra
Manufactur ing Division has t ied up wi th an NGO, 'Li fe Line Foundat ion' and adopted
110 kms st retch on the State Highway in Gujarat star t ing f rom Sachin to Bharuch and
the state highway via Hazi ra Olpad Hansot Ankleshwar .
Fur ther , for the f i rst t ime in State of Gujarat , the local RTO has been suppor ted by
instal l ing a mul t imedia based t raining faci l i ty to render safety awareness to al l l icense
aspi rants.
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39. Environment ini t iat ives for the communi ty
A zero garbage campaign has been launched i n Rel iance Townships to propagate the
concept of sol id waste (dry and wet waste) management . This is a par t of cleanl iness
dr ive for a disease -f ree envi ronment at employees ' township, the sur rounding vi l lages
of Hazi ra Manufactur ing Division and also Surat ci ty in Gujarat .
To reduce plast ic l i t ter , as par t of i ts commi tment towards respons ible care and
product stewardship intervent ion, Hazi ra Manufactur ing Division in par tnership wi th
an NGO is working for social and economical secur i ty of woman rag -pickers . Under
the programme, di rect sale of waste PET bot t les to processing uni ts is faci l i tated, thus
el iminat ing channel of waste merchants and promot ing, woman rag pickers ' group.
This program is being extended to over 350 s lums of Surat and also var ious othe r RIL
locat ions in Gujarat and other states.
Fur ther , RIL in par tnership wi th Gujarat Engineer ing Research Inst i tute (GERI) and R
& B Depar tment const ructed a 900 meter road st retch using 5% plast ic waste. RIL's
CSR team used unat tended / non -recyclable plast ic waste in const ruct ion of tar road
which reduced const ruct ion cost as wel l improved road l i fe and reduced road
maintenance cost . Unat tended and non recyclable plast ic waste sourced f rom rag
pickers ' cooperat ive group also dead stock seized by Surat Mu nicpal Corporate was
used. Awareness and sensi t izat ion programs about the technology and i ts benef i t to
communi ty have been under taken to benef i t the populat ion of neighbour ing vi l lages of
Hazi ra.
RIL's manufactur ing divisions cont inue i ts green energy dr ive by making the rural
folks aware of al ternate energy, ef f icient energy usage. An NGO cal led GAIA
Ini t iat ive f rom Japan i s working wi th Hazi ra Manufactur ing Division for this project .
Some of the projects that have been ini t iated are: instal lat ion and commissioning of
solar -microwind combined power system at HIV DOT Cent re, Mora vi l lage, Surat ,
instal lat ion and commissioning of Solar -Micro-wind combined system (2 kW) at J H
Ambani School , Surat , instal lat ion and commissioning of solar AC (1.7 TR) at
Orphanage, HIV DOT Cent re, Mora Vi l lage and t raining on "house -hold energy
conservat ion / ef f iciency measures" conducted for al l vi l lage in the vicini ty of the
manufactur ing division.
To br ing out the innovat ive spi r i t of young s tudents of Surat / RIL employe es and also
to acknowledge / reward the ideas that can cont r ibute to improving the envi ronment ,
Hazi ra Manufactur ing Division announced a 'Green Idea Award Scheme' in 2010.
RIL organised programmes of indust r ial , academic, histor ical and envi ronmental
impor tance such as Chemical Indust ry-2020 Vision and Act ion at Ankleshwar ; Global
Bi rd Watchers Conference at Jamnagar ; Van Mahotsav - 2010 at Pal i tana; Internat ional
Conference on Global Warming at Gujarat Vidyapeeth; Conference on Synergy wi th
Energy; Conference on Gujarat 's Mar i t ime History by Darshak It ihas Nidhi . Fur ther ,
t ree plantat ion act ivi t ies were organaised at many locat ions. Awareness of cleaner ,
greener envi ronment and global warming issues are made at school s and also to
vi l lages f rom the sur rounding region.
Communi ty Development
Rel iance Rural Development Trust
In FY 2010-11, Rel iance Rural Development Trust (RRDT) under took 797 works in
760 benef iciary vi l lages of 125 talukas under 24 dist r icts of Gujarat to create rural
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40. inf rast ructure under the Gokul Gram Yojana (GGY) of the Government of Gujarat .
Total 608 faci l i t ies got completed dur ing the year . The completed faci l i t ies include
478 Anganwadi bui ldings , 58 Cement Concrete Roads, 61 underground RCC sumps
and 05 Check Dams and 06 other works wi th the total expendi ture of Rs. 24 Crore in
FY 2010-11. The Check Dams completed in FY 2010 -11, wi l l have total water storage
capaci ty of 8.7 mcf t and would cater to about 1,065 Hectares of rural land. RRDT,
since i ts incept ion in 2001 t i l l March 31, 2011 , across the State of Gujarat , has
completed 7,306 var ious rural inf rast ructure faci l i t ies wi th an expendi ture of more
than Rs. 270 crore.
Fur ther , RIL's manufactur ing divisions supply f ree potable water to the neighbour ing
vi l lages especial ly dur ing water shor tage per iods. They also cont r ibute to the
development of var ious vi l lage inf rast ructure such as developing, bus sheds, roads,
st reet l ights, instal lat ion of solar st reet l ight s in number of vi l lages, f ree supply of
blankets etc.
Livel ihood Support Programmes
RIL has always been at the foref ront in implement ing ini t iat ives especial ly for the
wel fare of rural women and youth of sur rounding vi l lages through var ious sel f -help
groups (SHG) .
Cont inuing wi th the services and keeping up the t radi t ion, Hazi r a, Vadodra,
Nagothane, Gadimoga and many other manufactur ing divisions of fer t raining
programmes through var ious SHGs help the rural women and youth to be "sel f
sustaining" and generat ing income for themselves and suppor t ing thei r fami l ies. It is a
mat ter of great pr ide that many of the benef iciar ies of these t raining programmes are
earning a decent amount of l ivel ihood and are f inancial ly suppor t ing thei r fami l ies.
For the womenfolk, courses are of fered for dress making and designing, beauty cul ture
and heal th care, hospi tal at tendant (Helpers for Hospi tal and Nursing Homes) ; whi le
for the youth of the sur rounding communi t ies, courses such as plumbing and hand
pump repai r ing t raining, computer hardware repai r , motor vehicle dr iving, mobi le
repai r ing and doormat making etc. Fur ther , t raining in hor t icul ture cul t ivat ion and
f rui t sapl ings are also given to the farmers of the adjoining vi l lages.
Jamnagar Manufactur ing Division cont inues to serve the vi l lages around the ref inery
complex, the ci ty of Jamnagar an d the communi ty at large. RIL's local communi ty
wel fare cel l constant ly remains in close touch wi th the vi l lagers.
Numerous inf rast ructure developments in vi l lages adjoining and neighbour ing the
Jamangar Manufactur ing Division such as development of ceme nt concrete roads,
drainage, cremator ium and also supply of water const ruct ion of Haja Dada temple at a
neighbour ing vi l lage, Sikka were under taken in FY 2010 -11. Fodder for cows of
neighbour ing vi l lages was suppl ied by RIL's CSR team working at Jamnagar .
In FY 2010-11, RIL ini t iated several vi l lage inf rast ructure development projects such
as const ruct ion and renovat ion of communi ty hal ls, bur ial ground and school
compound wal l in Gadimoga Panchayat . RIL promoted Organic Aqua cul ture wi th the
technical guidance of Nat ional Center for Sustainable Aqua cul ture (a sister concern
of MPEDA) .
Around RIL's on-land operat ions in the Coal Bed Methane project areas in Madhya
Pradesh, the Company cont inues to give medical suppor t to the vi l lagers through a
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