Corporate social responsibility or CSR has come to be regarded mostly as a farce. . Indian companies put a little money into CSR to make themselves look good. It is important for them to be seen as caring. For the record, CEOs pay the usual lip service to development and working for the community. CSR with a nudge and wink has now become commonplace. But what about those companies that want to go beyond corporate charade and really make a difference? How do they make CSR work? The TVS Motor Company makes a significant contribution around its factories in south India through the Srinivasan Services Trust (SST). Recently, SST, whose head is Ashoke Joshi, a public spirited former IAS officer, got its work independently assessed for the second time in eight years. This time it called in a team from the Gandhigram Trust, which spent 20 days examining the sustainability of SST's initiatives at three locations. April 2008