Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation Ltd: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility with Sound Business Sense

VK Malhotra, General Manager, CITCO, said, "Actually there is a taboo as regards AIDS and HIV [...]. So we have joined hands with the AIDS Control Society of Chandigarh and we thought through this medium we will try to promote and prevent this dreaded disease."⁸ The bar seemed to have received a good initial response as a large number of people thronged the bar. This allayed initial fears that the target audience's inhibitions would prevent them from visiting the bar. Jasbir Singh Bir (Bir), Managing Director, CITCO, said, "We at CITCO thought that this was one social cause we could be attached with. There were some apprehensions earlier but the whole concept has come out beautifully."⁹

It was reported that an HIV/AIDS education expert had visited the bar to study the concept so that this model could be replicated in other countries plagued by HIV/AIDS. CITCO had raised the bar in HIV/AIDS awareness, the experts felt. The company planned to increase the seating capacity of the bar and to attract the target audience through special events, such as a pageant for HIV/AIDS victims. However, the bar also attracted the ire of the conservative sections of Indian society. Critics argued that the bar would promote promiscuity and that it was against Indian culture. CITCO countered these arguments by pointing out that surveys had indicated that the younger generation was already involved in unprotected, pre-marital sex.