Village Financial Services Ltd is one of India’s leading NBFC-MFIs based in the eastern part of the country, providing cutting-edge products and customer service to its member-base. VFS lends to individual women who are part of a Joint Liability Group (JLG). The microfinance business of VFS has helped many poor families by providing them credit for entrepreneurial activities that can make them economically self-sufficient. VFS sensitizes women about empowerment issues and brings about a qualitative change in their lives and so the lives of their families.
VFS prioritizes financial inclusion while offering a bouquet of financial products. It offers a complete range of financial and non-financial services such as loans and community- and institution-building support that help the poor become financially sustainable units.
The Company constantly strives to maintain a strong corporate culture that emphasizes the integration of CSR values with business objectives. It pursues initiatives to eradicate hunger and poverty; promote preventive healthcare and make available safe drinking water; promote education, including special education, train women in vocational skills, promote gender equality, pursue programmes that empower women and build projects for environmental protection. The CSR activities of VFS span five key areas and its goal here is to approach poverty reduction holistically and improve the quality of lives of the poor through social development projects.
Any other projects that are relevant and qualify as CSR activities under the Companies Act, 2013.
The Board of Directors of VFS has formed a Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. The members of this committee are
CSR expenditure will include all expenditure, direct and indirect, incurred by the Company on CSR programmes taken up under its CSR Policy. The surplus cash arising out of the CSR projects, programmes or activities shall not form part of the Company’s business profit and is netted off from the CSR expenditure and such net amount will be reported as CSR expenditure.
The Company shall prepare an action plan at the beginning of every financial year specifying the amount it is required to spend in that financial year as well as the tentative allocation of funds under different heads of activities, in line with the CSR policy and the relevant provisions of the Companies Act, 2013.
The action plan shall be placed before the CSR Committee and the Board of Directors for their approval.
VFS will implement CSR activities via direct funding, registered trusts/organizations/agencies—either government or private—or in such other manner as it may deem appropriate, expedient and beneficial. The CSR projects, programmes, activities or expenditure will always be done in India. VFS may also use the services of Village Foundation for Social Services or other NGOs/organizations for identifying, implementing and monitoring of projects, as and when required. The Company may also coordinate with the other group companies/associate companies to take a joint approach in CSR activities. However, in all such cases, it has to be ensured that each such joint project/module of projects may be specifically identified for each such group company/ associate company.
The CSR committee will determine the monitoring process on a case-to-case basis depending upon the nature of the CSR activity and the manner of implementation. The CSR committee will also monitor the progress of identified CSR projects periodically.
CSR activities will form part of the Directors’ Report of the company. The reporting would be in the format prescribed under the Companies Act, 2013, and the Rules under it. The board will review the CSR Policy annually and any modification/ amendment can be made only with its approval. The company’s website shall have the annual report of CSR activities and the details of the CSR policy.
Last reviewed by the Board of Directors at its meeting on July 12, 2019.
