XYZ Corporation is a leading conglomerate with an average CSR obligation of ₹ 12 Cr. over the past three financial years. It has recently decided to get carried out a comprehensive Social Impact Assessment (SIA) for its

There are various tools available for conducting a Social Impact Assessment (SIA). It is left to the individual organisation and the independent agency conducting the assessment to choose one/ many specific tools. The chosen tool must be able to provide the desired results. A Questionnaire is one popular tool used to conduct the assessment. This tool is a means of gathering information about a wide range of actions including those in the past, present or future impacting a project or its objectives. In the current case, the Questionnaire to assess the impact of providing clean drinking water by installing community water filtration systems should include the following: Who are the key beneficiaries (stakeholders) of this clean drinking water project? Are they aware of the project and its impact? Have they understood the negative impacts of the project and the steps taken to mitigate the same? Does the project's objective to provide clean drinking water consistent with their needs, interests and capacities? Has the project (to provide clean drinking water) benefited women and vulnerable groups? Are all the stakeholders able to participate and benefit from the provision of clean drinking water? Are there restrictions on account of gender, caste, ethnicity or income levels? Does the project require an institutional arrangement to deliver clean drinking water? If there are different needs for different stakeholders (men/women/children) have all the needs been met? Are there continuing risks which can affect the smooth running of the project? Is the provision of clean drinking water sustainable? To perform Social Impact Assessment, certain tools are required and the organisations to choose the appropriate tool for conducting Social Impact Assessment which derive the results as desired. The tool to be utilised for conducting Social Impact Assessment should provide for: baseline information about the social and economic conditions prevailing or existing in the project area; information on potential impacts of the project and the characteristic of the impacts, magnitude, distribution, and their duration upon the community and target stakeholders; information on who will be the affected group, positively or negatively; information on perceptions of the affected people about the project and its impact; information on potential mitigation measures to minimize the impact; information on institutional capacity to implement mitigation measures. There are numerous tools and methodologies which may be used to harness citizen involvement and get the most from their input and feedback at all stages of the process. While choosing the appropriate tool for conducting Social Impact Assessment, consideration should be given to composition, timing, location and format of stakeholder and citizen meetings. This must also be seen, how 'harder to reach' groups such as economically disadvantaged, ethnic minorities, women and vulnerable groups will be involved so that they can share their experiences and provide input in Social Impact Assessment process and desired outputs can be carved out and execution & implementation of proposed project. Questionnaires: Under this tool, basic to advance level of questionnaire is prepared and circulated amongst the community or target beneficiaries of project in order to ascertain their lifestyle, prevailing issues related to subject of proposed project, their expectations from the proposed project, risks associated & mitigations. In other words, this tool of Social Impact Assessment is a means of gathering information about a wide range of actions, including those in the past, present and future which may influence the impacts of a project and ultimately the objective of project. Some questions that should commonly be addressed in social impact assessment include the following: Who are the key stakeholders? What do they already know about the proposed project, its impact and the measures being contemplated to mitigate its negative impact? What are their interests? Are the objectives of the project consistent with their needs, interests, and capacities? What is the impact of the project on various stakeholders, and particularly on women and vulnerable groups? What social factors affect the ability of stakeholders to participate or benefit from the operations proposed? (Gender, caste, ethnicity, or income level) What institutional arrangements are needed for participation and project delivery? What are the risks which might affect the success of the project? (Lack of commitment or capacity, resource crunch, incompatibility with existing conditions) How does the project address need of different stakeholders? Do any of these issues pose risks to overall project success and sustainability?