Discuss the role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) spending by Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) in supplementing government welfare delivery, with reference to health-sector initiatives in the coal sector.

Mandated by Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013, CSR obliges eligible companies — including CPSEs — to spend 2% of average net profits on social development [1]. In the coal sector, where Coal India Limited (CIL), its subsidiaries and NLCIL commit nearly ₹800 crore annually [2], CSR has evolved into a significant supplementary channel of welfare delivery, now being consolidated into a first-of-its-kind sector-wide CSR framework.

How CPSE CSR supplements welfare delivery

• Filling tertiary-care gaps: Under the Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojana, run with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, over 700 children have received free bone marrow transplants; the Minister's "One State, One Hospital" goal seeks to decentralise BMT access beyond metros [3].
• Reaching neglected disease burdens: Project Nanha Sa Dil, a ₹9.37 crore initiative with the Sri Sathya Sai Trust, screens children for Congenital Heart Disease across four Jharkhand districts, addressing a condition where only a small fraction of affected children access surgery [4].
• Off-budget financing: Recurring CSR outlays add welfare resources outside the Union Budget, and PSU-hospital partnerships supply specialist capacity the public system lacks locally.
• Compensatory justice: Funds flow to mining-affected districts of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, partly offsetting the environmental and displacement costs borne by these communities [2].

Limitations to address

• CSR is profit-linked and discretionary in choice of activity, hence unpredictable and unsuitable as a substitute for universal entitlements.
• Historically fragmented, subsidiary-wise spending caused duplication and weak impact measurement — the rationale for a unified sector framework.
• Benefits remain enclave-centric, concentrated near operational areas rather than by need.

CSR by coal CPSEs thus works best as a targeted complement — not a replacement — to programmes like PM-JAY, converting corporate obligation into measurable child-health outcomes. Institutionalising a sector-wide framework with common monitoring, convergence with National Health Mission priorities, and needs-based geographic spread would align such spending with SDG-3 and the Directive Principle under Article 47 of raising public health standards.