Rajasthan gets first ‘sustainability officer’

JAIPUR: For the first time, a department of the state government appointed a chief sustainability officer (CSO) after Jaipur City Transport Services Limited (JCTSL) nominated its company secretary as the CSO of the corporation.

For private corporations and government PSUs, appointing a CSO is the newest trend. A CSO generally implements the environment sustainability governance (ESG) strategies and sustainable policies on behalf of the corporation.

“We have nominated our company secretary as the first CSO of JCTSL. Soon we will hold our board meeting to approve the roles of the CSO that have already been drafted,” Ajitabh Sharma, the CMD of JCTSL, told TOI.

With this, Bhavyata Soni, the company secretary of JCTSL, has become the first CSO of any department of corporations under the Rajasthan State Government.

Officials said the city transportation network has an immense impact on the city's environment through various aspects. The CSO would be responsible to implement environment friendly strategies that would also help the corporation to be sustainable.

“Such strategies include important decisions like modification in operation methods and procedures and change in fleet technology, " an official added.

According to industry experts, in 2020-21 several global companies appointed the first batch of CSOs. Following several issues related to environmental challenges, corporates are paying urgent attention to sustainability and ESG factors. In India several corporate giants like Tatas and ITC and PSUs like ONGC and Indian Oil Corporation have appointed CSOs.

“To address issues at the intersections of sustainability and business, it was imperative to create a separate designation and appoint a CSO who would develop a reporting and disclosure framework for JCTSL to measure, track, assess, evaluate, and create a sustainable partnership with the stakeholders,” added Sharma.