Indian corporations must play a more proactive role in adoption and implementation of corporate citizenship practices, a top official of state-owned oil producer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) said.

Speaking at the 3rd Annual General Meeting of Indian Global Compact Society, the Indian arm of the United Nations movement on spreading awareness on corporate social responsibility last week, ONGC chairman and managing director R.S. Sharma said that Indian corporations should be more proactive in executing their social responsibilities.

Sharma, who is the president of the Society, has called upon the participating corporations to suggest methodology to turn Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in India to a movement.

Appealing to the corporate heads to integrate CSR in their Business Models proactively, rather than getting involved in repairs reactively, Sharma said that there is a need for greater interaction and synergy in CSR activities among different corporations and various sections of the society.

Global Compact Society (GCS) of India, comprises of 127 leading Indian organizations (of which 45 are members) participating in the Global Compact Programme initiated by the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

These organizations include a number of corporate giants like ONGC, Infosys, Tata, Wipro and Thermax. The Indian GCS is leading the Asian effort towards this UN movement. It is planning to hold a global conference involving all the SAARC countries in January 2008, to take the movement forward among the Asian nations.

India