The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Government of India, released a set of guidelines in 2011, expected to provide guidance to businesses on what constitutes responsible business conduct. Identify what they were cal

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Government of India, released a set of guidelines in 2011 called the National Voluntary Guidelines on the Social, Environmental and Economic Responsibilities of Business (NVGs). This was expected to provide guidance to businesses on what constitutes responsible business conduct. In order to align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP), the NVGs were revised and updated. After, revision and updation, the new principles are called the National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct (NGRBC). As with the NVGs, the NGRBC has been designed to assist businesses to perform above and beyond the requirements of regulatory compliance. The National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct Principals and its core elements pertaining to human rights and provision of goods and services in a manner that is sustainable and safe are discussed as follows: Principle 2: Businesses should provide goods and services in a manner that is sustainable and safe. Core Elements: Businesses should, in designing, producing and making available goods and services, endeavour to ensure that resource-efficient and low-carbon processes and technologies are deployed to minimize adverse environmental and social impacts. Businesses should provide stakeholders across the value chain with adequate information about environmental and social issues and impacts across product life cycle from design to disposal. This may be done through appropriate and relevant tools such as certifications, labels, ratings and other communication and disclosure platforms including reports, websites, etc. Principle 5: Businesses should respect and promote human rights. Core Elements: The Governance Structure should ensure that the business undertakes to make its employees aware of the human rights content of the Constitution of India, relevant national laws and policies, and the International Bill of Human Rights and their application to businesses as outlined in the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights. It should further ensure that the responsibility for addressing such impacts is assigned to the appropriate level and function within the business. The Governance Structure should ensure that the business has in place such policies, structures and procedures that demonstrate respect for the human rights of all stakeholders impacted by its business. This includes carrying out human rights due diligence to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address adverse human rights impacts.