The Corporate Citizenship Annual Report 2020-21 showcases a glimpse of the firm’s efforts towards its community development initiatives. At KPMG in India, we uphold the values of Together, For Better which reflects in the work we do not only with our clients but our communities as well.
In the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic brought a unique set of challenges, the brunt of which was borne the most by the communities we work with. Even during these tough times, with the support of our not-for-profit partner organisations and our people, we could continue our interventions and make a meaningful impact.
As a firm, we recognise that education is key to lifting people out of poverty and is one of the most powerful drivers of economic growth, social mobility, and well-being. Therefore, our Corporate Citizenship initiatives prioritises supporting Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) – 4 ‘Quality Education’ and Lifelong learning; key enablers for all other SDGs.
The report highlights our key initiatives that were a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, our focused support at NGO run schools that are situated in urban slums and rural areas, our flagship programme-Aspire, the virtual volunteering roadmap and various green initiatives that address environmental sustainability.
As part of our response to the pandemic, the firm took swift measures by collaborating with organisations working on the ground to provide relief kits and medical supplies. In addition to contributing to the initiatives led by the firm, many of our employees, in their personal capacities, went above and beyond to support the people in need.
For the schools that we work, transitioning to remote schooling in a short span of time was even more challenging due to limited resources. Therefore, we had to relook at our strategy and improvise our approach to embrace the new reality. We adopted a holistic approach to assist the students by not only providing them with devices to study from safety of their homes, but also continued to support their nutrition, coaching and additional training. We also continued to invest in teachers by supporting their salaries and training. At the school, we invested in IT and infrastructure to enable classroom teaching with social distancing.
As a firm, we believe that environmental consciousness must be an inherent part of our culture. Hence, we have adopted a well-rounded approach by continuing to follow green practices at our offices, invest in green initiatives, encourage our people to adopt eco-friendly lifestyles at home and inculcate sustainable habits amongst students at the schools we work with.
Volunteering is an integral part of our Citizenship culture. In 2020-21, we completely switched to a virtual mode of engagement for volunteering and received an overwhelming response from our people and the students. Through our virtual volunteering initiatives, we witnessed a cent per cent increase in the number of volunteering sessions from 2019-20. This clearly demonstrates our people’s passion and commitment towards community initiatives.
We invite you to read our Corporate Citizenship Annual Report 2020-21, be a part of the stories of our people and beneficiaries and experience the KPMG in India #jOSH.
