New Delhi, Apr 23 (PTI) Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday urged industry leaders to harness the potential of CSR initiatives to drive sustainable development, saying efforts should be converged towards addressing pressing social issues and fostering innovation.

He said everyone has a responsibility to give back to the society.

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Corporate social responsibility (CSR), he said, is much beyond a legal obligation and is a moral imperative and a powerful tool for social change.

The Indian industry can help the country create world-class research and development centres and institutions of eminence.

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Pooling of CSR funds for this purpose even by those at the top can do wonders, he noted.

Dhankhar noted that in developed nations, research and development is spurred by industry. The situation is the same when it comes to creation, development and nurturing of institutions of eminence, he observed.

He made these remarks at an award ceremony in the national capital where veteran journalist N Ram was conferred with the "lifetime contribution to media" award.

Public sector undertaking HAL bagged the "outstanding PSU" award.

Building skills into the workforce of industry is imperative, Dhankhar said and added there is a dire need to identify and develop the disciplines and the required missing abilities in order to build suitable skills into the industry workforce.

"One needs to step out of bubble to experience the environment of hope and possibility, the exponential growth and feel unstoppable upsurge," he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)