Tata Group is the most respected Indian Industrial Group,however that seems to be changing
India’s Tata Group of companies is the most respected corporate group in the country.Group companies like Tata Steel,Tata Motors,TCS and others are known for their strong corporate governance and fair treatment of all stakeholders.But some recent incidents have put some doubts about whether the Tatas are diluting their reputation for fairness and ethics in the mad scramble for growth being witnessed amongst Indian industrial groups.
Tata and other Industrial Groups facing protests over their mega industrial projects
Tata’s plans to build the cheapest car in the world at Singur in the eastern state of West Bengal faced massive controversy.There were police firings on protestors who were opposing the building of the Nano Factory.The concerns raised were about the loss of livelihood through the loss of land.There were also protests about the government-industry high handedness in running roughshod over farmer rights.These protests have also dogged Tata and other group’s mega industrial and mining projects in other states.Recently protests over a mega coal plant by Nagarjuna Construction Company led to more killings by police firings.It seems that protester killings are becoming a regular feature in India.This is also one of the major causes for rise in Naxalism which has rapidly spread in almost half of India’s landmass.
Tata’s exit from social responsibility – Mines and Communities
Ratan Tata is one of India’s most powerful magnates – with a dream to build cars for his country’s poor. But as a farm girl is found butchered on his land, Peter Popham asks: is the price of his vision too high?
“I want to be able to go to bed at night and say that I haven’t hurt anybody,” Ratan Tata says. He repeated the sentiment twice in a recent interview with The Economist. The company he runs, Tata Group, India’s oldest and biggest conglomerate, is one of the few Indian firms to have built a reputation for taking its social responsibilities seriously.
Tata tries to intimidate Greenpeace
Tata Sons which is the holding company for the Tata Group has filed a legal case in India against Greenpeace.It alleges infringement of Tata logo and defamation by Greenpeace.The case comes after Greenpeace has made a Pacman type of game where monsters with a “T” logo try to eat the Pacman.It seems strange that the Tata group had to take such an extreme measure against an environmental group over such a small thing.Organizations frequently resorts to legal intimidation against non profit groups,bloggers and smaller entities.This case seems to be just such a case of intimidation.Hope better sense prevails and Tatas find an out of court agreement with Greenpeace.
Tata Sons drags Greenpeace to HC – FE
Google+Tata Sons has moved the Delhi High Court against leading environmental NGOs Greenpeace India and Greenpeace International following a game that makes direct refrences to the company which are “disparaging” and “libelous” in nature. The online game Turtle vs Tata (http://greenpeace.in/turtle/turtle-vs-tata) is modelled on the popular computer game Pacman.
New Delhi-based law firm Anand & Anand is representing the Tatas. The court has served notice to the NGOs and asked them to respond by July 27.The game seeks to create awareness on the alleged environmental impact of Tata Steel’s deep water port in Orissa on turtles.Ashish Fernandez, who is heading the campaign against the Tatas, told FE that so far the NGOs had not received any notice from the court and declined to comment further.Fernandez explained that the game was an awareness-creating exercise that seeks to compel the government and corporate houses to come up with environment-friendly projects.
There seems to be some point that we are missing out here. Turtle nesting definitely sounds like a game for Greenpeace but it is certainly not so for an environmentally conscious corporate house like Tata Steel. If we go by facts, people should actually take note of a few turtle congregation figures. In 2009 almost 1.7 lakh turtles had come to Gahirmatha for their annual arribada. In year 2010 all nesting records in the last decade have been surpassed with almost 3.5 lakh turtles coming to Gahirmatha in a two-phase congregation. All this happened while construction work and dredging activities were going on in full swing at the port site. So what is the point in targeting a renowned name out of malice if Nature herself has no problems in following her usual course. Turtles have always come to the beaches of Orissa for nesting purposes and the fact that they have returned in large numbers in both 2009 and 2010 proves that nothing is amiss.
I could not figure out whether this is a spam mail or not.You are definitely missing out on what the post is all about though.
Greenpeace is funny! They bring information without having appropriate scientific data or logic. This is known to all that Olive Ridleys arrived two times for mass nesting at Gahirmatha. Probably Greenpeace does not know this information. This year Gahirmatha had witnessed the record amount of mass nesting of Olive Ridley sea turtles.
Turtle lovers are surprised in the year of 2010 as the vulnerable Olive Ridley’s visited the beaches of Gahirmatha en-masse for their annual nesting, in two consecutive phases. In March, over 1.87 lakh turtles had come for nesting at their favourite place at Gahirmatha. They returned randomly for second time and congregated at the south-eastern part of Nasi-2 Island. As per the reports issued by forest officials, the second phase commenced on the night of March 20th and 1.7 lakh turtles were arrived on that night.
For information – “Never before, turtles have reappeared in Gahirmatha in such large number for a second phase of mass nesting. Turtles’ preference for Gahirmatha beach is indeed a significant development for conservation of these aquatic animals that enjoy threatened status equal to that of royal Bengal tigers in the country, said Prasanna Kumar Behera, divisional forest officer, Rajnagar Mangrove (wildlife) division.”
You can also visit the following links to get more in details:
http://www.wwfindia.org/?4200/Olive-ridley-turtles
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/environment/flora-fauna/18-lakh-Olive-Ridleys-arrive-on-Orissa-beach-for-nesting/articleshow/5637963.cms