Social Audit

  Mumbai town, is vulnerable site from the threat of high sea level. It has potential of damaging the banking business situated at Mumbai. But in the banking sector while disclosing BRSR report, this ESG risk  is missing. There is no contingency plan to handle this risk. This is one example of several other missing high ESG risks in the BRSR disclosure submitted to SEBI  by the Indian Banks * BIRENDRA K JHA  I visited a big branch of ICICI Bank at Delhi-NCR sometimes back. I found "5S" policy hanging in a clip placed in an isolated corner at bank, with lot of dust on it. In reality, policy is there but practice is missing. This is not the story of ICICI Bank alone. The condition of government sector banks are more poor and worst. One can't expect a systematic culture of "5S" here. You ask director level people sitting here in bank about the "5S". They start looking here and there! They try to skip their face! They try to avoid this question! This is sk

                                                                       * BIRENDRA  K JHA The thrust of the Companies Act, 2013 on businesses,  puts fiduciary duties on the Directors of a Company under Section 166,  requiring them to promote the objects of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole, and in the best interests of the company, its employees, the shareholders, the community and for the protection of environment. If this mandate is read clearly then it requires the director to follow strictly, the Complaints/Grievances'  on any of the principles (Principles 1 to 9) under the National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct, based on reasonable assurance & audit. A large number of top Indian companies have been getting third-party audit-assurance on their sustainability reports under the voluntary reporting regime as well as mandatory. The crux is that, if BRSR is presented for disclosure with the annual report, it should must incorporate SEBI mandatory

                                                                              * BIRENDRA K JHA   So far, what I know about the Adani,  the top leadership Mr. Gautam Adani, is very law adherent person. He has great respect for the social conscious business. People sitting in the downside or even sitting in the board of directors if are not doing their  job properly, then this is a gap point.   It requires complete training of people from top to bottom in the field of ESG skill. This is completely lack of skill,  at Adani, where  ESG practices are not managed correctly. Regular ESG Audit has become ever more essential tool for the companies to remain in business.  A regular thorough ESG Audit,  allows to identify corporate strategies gaps. A qualified ESG Auditor, tracks down key environmental, social, and governance indicators. This needs the ESG Auditor, to collect company's ESG program from multiple sources using his "professional skepticism" approach in collecting data.

* BIRENDRA K JHA  "Many HR Managers think that ESG is a technical job. No,  ESG is a tool for considering social concerns including equality, human rights, and labor relations. Hence,   this is pure HR job,  which involves, social dimension of handling the human resource compliance to the environmental compliance including the labor  related issues and problems. The HR Managers have failed to understand the job description of the ESG profile. They are shifting the ESG job from there own shoulders to the   other shoulders".  The high rate of carbon emission is a panic alarm for the regulatory authority. In most of the Indian companies, if ESG part is seriously audited, then the  result is very grim. Most of the ESG Auditors are not properly trained in human resource practices, so they are unable to audit effectively the "Social" pillar in the ESG Part and capture the gaps in the ESG practices. Many environmental compliance issues are related with the social administr

  .                                                                      * BIRENDRA  K  JHA  Now entire banking industries in India with effect from 1st June  2023 are binded by the Reserve Bank of India guideline for mandatory audit by the Social Auditor for conducting the "Social Impact Assessment Audit" under para C clause 5 (iii) and para E, for raising "Green Capital". The RBI Guideline "Framework for Acceptance of Green Deposits" gives under Para Clause 2 standard "definitions". This "definitions" say further in the guideline:  "All other expressions unless defined herein shall have the same meaning as have been assigned to them under  any statutory modification or re-enactment  thereto or as used in commercial parlance, as the case may be".   The "Social Impact Assessment" and "Social Impact Assessor" are not defined in the RBI Guideline  Para Clause 2,  the RBI Guideline connects automatically w

                                                        * BIRENDRA K JHA Most of the ESG Auditors,  have no idea, how  carbon emission is audited, which is  accounted from the human resources. Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) are the potent greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. They have large impacts on Earth's radiative forcing and climate. The role of human metabolic emissions has received zero attention throughout the world by the ESG Auditors as well as in the carbon emission control policy.     However, in standard laboratory experiments conducted at Europe, this has widely been demonstrated that in a controlled environmental conditions in a climate chamber, the metabolic emissions from humans play an increasing role in regional and global warming. The average human exhales about 2.3 pounds of carbon dioxide on an average day. This is 840 pound per year or  0.42 ton per year of carbon dioxide.  In this way, any company with total human force of 5000 employees,  shall  exh

  Once 2024 approaches, most of the Indian Companies who have Europe oriented business, shall loose export potential, if not changing to the European Union ESG practices. Other companies are also synchronizing with the ESG Practices including India through the SEBI.  In India no one can say HR Practices are very strong. There are many loopholes and poor practices which impacts workforce. In Axis Bank women's attrition rate is very high.  The Axis Bank has failed in controlling the visual complains on sexual harassment cases against the women employees. In this circumstances if HR and company claims to give women empowerment. This is nothing but an eyewash and greenwash. This is not only the story of the Axis Bank.  But many other companies in India  are adopting the short cut and hanky-panky poor HR practices for cost cutting and easy gateway to the capitalism approach. For them the ESG is burden. But, if such companies  are doing export in any European Union countries, now they sh