The private sector has significant contributions to the development of the country as corporate social responsibility (CSR) plays a vital role in the process and reaches out to the poorest people in remote areas to address their needs.
But the Ministry of Health’s recent draft for amending the tobacco control act by putting a ban on CSR programmes by tobacco companies will hamper the entire development process, observed experts.
The latest amendment proposal contains a number of proposals including eliminating designated smoking areas, outlawing CSR programmes of tobacco companies, and banning the sale of loose sticks.
Economists and CSR-field experts said that the proposal will have negative consequences in financial development, eliminating poverty, and combating climate change.
Dhaka University’s Institute of Business Administration professor Syed Ferhat Anwar said that CSR programmes are not charity; rather those are aimed to involve private sectors and corporate firms in sustainable social development.
He said that CSR programmes have become more relevant after the Covid pandemic and climate change challenge.
Corporate firms have been playing big roles in social forestry and provided medical support with equipment during the Covid outbreak, CSR experts said.
They believe that the impact of tobacco companies in CSR programmes and helping needy people cannot be denied.
Earlier, there were no restrictions on CSR activities by tobacco companies, but an amendment in the tobacco control act in 2013 barred tobacco businesses from engaging in CSR activities under their own identities. Since then, the companies have been engaging in CSR initiatives following the rules, the sector-related officials said.
The CSR programmes by tobacco companies over the past few decades have set examples for other organizations and made a huge impact on better livelihood of poor people and combating climate changes, said industry insiders.
Large-scale plantation of trees to combat climate change, ensuring safe drinking water to combat arsenic disease in areas where freshwater scarcity is a major concern, and supporting renewable energy efforts are major marks of tobacco companies’ CSR activities.
Millions of people have directly benefited from these initiatives.
Economists and CSR experts said that if the CSR activities of tobacco companies are banned, the move will put the achievement of the SDGs of the government by 2030 in uncertainty since the activities carried out by tobacco companies directly support several SDG goals.
