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Guide · CSR

How CSR teams choose schools to fund

A company with ₹50 lakh of CSR money for school water and sanitation needs a shortlist its committee and auditors will accept, in days rather than months. The method below starts from government data on India's 10.2 lakh government schools, narrows to the neediest in one or two districts, and confirms each one on a visit.

By the TerraSetu engineering team · Last checked

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Five steps to a shortlist

  1. Pick one or two districts

    Prefer districts near your plants or offices (Schedule VII favours the local area) that are also Aspirational Districts or groundwater stressed. Our CSR need by district pages put these figures side by side.

  2. Filter schools from data

    No working drinking water, no working girls' toilet, a single teacher, 100 or more students. Rank by need and map them.

  3. Check the top 20 to 30

    Against their UDISE+ report cards. These are the government's own figures, which auditors accept.

  4. Visit the best 8 to 10

    With a checklist and geo-tagged photos. Meet the headteacher, the School Management Committee and the block education officer.

  5. Fund 3 to 5 schools, or a cluster

    A cluster of 10 to 50 schools with the same need is cheaper to run. Each school needs a costed plan and a written handover.

The scorecard (100 points)

GroupSignalPoints
Need (50)No safe drinking water (none working, or fluoride or salinity)12
No working girls' toilet12
Over 30 pupils per teacher, or a single teacher8
Unsafe building or classrooms needing major repair8
No electricity or no handwashing5
Next-level school beyond 3 km (class 6) or 5 km (class 9)5
Who benefits (20)Number of students8
Share of girls and SC/ST students6
Rural, tribal or in an Aspirational District6
Will the money work (20)Not already funded by PM SHRI, Samagra Shiksha, Jal Jeevan Mission or another donor6
Headteacher and SMC keen to look after it6
School will stay open, with room to build4
Reachable in every season, with a local partner4
Fit with the company (10)Near the company's operations5
Matches its focus area5

Where the need is, from the data

Schools whose children must travel beyond the norm to the next level (3 km to class 6, 5 km to class 9) cluster in Jaisalmer (43% of its government schools), Leh (39%), Bundelkhand (Mahoba 28%, Hamirpur 25%, Lalitpur 22%), Bikaner, Sonbhadra and Gadchiroli. Among states, Arunachal Pradesh (28%), Manipur, Ladakh, Andaman and Nicobar and Nagaland lead.

Water is the other half. A school in a district with salty or fluoride groundwater needs treated drinking water, not just a tap; see water quality by district and fluoride affected districts.

Rules worth keeping

  • Do not fund on data alone. UDISE+ data can be a year or more old, so a visit always confirms the need.
  • Avoid schools with fewer than about 30 students unless it is the only school nearby.
  • Record a baseline before work starts (enrolment, girls' attendance, water quality, toilet use) so the change can be shown after a year.
  • The implementing agency needs CSR-1 registration, the project needs a board-approved plan under Schedule VII, and payments should follow milestones with photos and utilisation certificates. See the CSR rules guide.

Check the numbers for your area

Frequently asked questions

Where can I find data on government schools for CSR?

The UDISE+ school report cards (Know Your School) give students, teachers, toilets, water and electricity for each school. Our CSR need by district pages combine school counts with groundwater, water quality and pond data.

Can a company build in a government school with CSR money?

Yes. School infrastructure is under promoting education in Schedule VII. The asset is handed over to the school or the education department.

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