Corporate and caring

I believe we are all born for some purpose. And that goes beyond one's individual material needs. Every citizen has a social responsibili...

I believe we are all born for some purpose. And that goes beyond one8217;s individual material needs. Every citizen has a social responsibility, and no corporate can deny that. A corporate is in fact placed well to fulfil his responsibility. But then richness is a relative thing, conditioned by your wants. How much is enough for your personal fulfilment is therefore subjective.

From the late eighties onwards, the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India ICICI set up special funds for donations for various causes. However, at one point of time, we thought of getting more involved by directly supporting certain projects through some credible NGOs or individuals. By this time, I had also become keen on funding for education, because I felt education and health were the two most important social factors behind a nation8217;s prosperity.

By then I was also sure of the inadequacy of governments in dispensing their social obligations. For one, a government cannot muster enough resources for the social sector, and for another, corruption in government is in abundance at the operational level. So those for whom welfare programmes are meant do not get the full benefits.

When the boys from Pratham approached us in the early nineties and informed about the programme to impart education to slum children by starting non-formal balwadis, we liked the idea. There are now nearly 3,000 balwadis providing pre-primary education to over 50,000 children from Mumbai under the programme. Most of these children are in the age group of 3 to 5. It is vital to integrate non-formal education with the formal educational set-up.

We have asked our colleagues in ICICI for contributions. The maintenance cost for each balwadi is Rs 6,000 per year. We aim to cater to ten balwadis per year.

This also brings to my mind the serious debate that has taken place among my colleagues on what kind of projects we should be supporting. An NRI has set up a school in Dharmapuri keeping the role model of an elitist school like the Doon school in mind. The idea is to choose some of the best talent from poor families and give the children the very best. I like this idea too, but the investment per child in such a case is more. So some of my colleagues say the same amount we invest in Dharmapuri will cater to many more children in balwadis in Mumbai.

Now that ICICI has been working with NGOs for the last 10-15 years, certain things are clear. NGOs are needed as much as the government and corporates. The three need to bring education to every child8217;s doorstep. In May, a meeting of corporates was held in Mumbai to envisage just that.

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However, there are three major problems along the path. We are currently working in association with a hundred-odd NGOs in the country. The problem with NGOs is the tendency to go in for cheap publicity. Members from some of the NGOs with which ICICI is working would come up to me and request for their nomination in any award in whose distribution I have a say. They say it will perk up the spirit, motivation et al of the organisation. I do not agree. One should work in public spirit and selflessness.

That is not exactly happening. You see it everywhere. Every time a corporate goes for an endorsement, it is complete with a philanthropic air and an attitude of I am doing you a favour.8217; That is why the corporates8217; endorsement of a cause lasts only for a short while. Take for instance the Kargil fever8217; at the moment. Everybody would like to chip in. My company has also considered that, but I have put up a condition. Instead of sending money to any particular authority, I said, let us identify twenty-five to thirty affected families of jawans, see what their needs are and directly deal with the members of such families.

I do not foresee much of a change in the philanthropic attitude of corporates in the near future. It will take a long, long time for corporates to look at this contribution as their responsibility, because it is a question of changing the attitude from that of philanthropy to one of accountability. I have asked for their help many times, but for every ten doors I knock, only one opens up. After all, it is a different ball game. If elites ask for something, corporates are too willing to offer. We corporates are very comfortable with elites.

Still I am not disappointed by the indifferent response of fellow corporates. That is how it is, and considering the time constraint, I could not try out more.

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Meanwhile, NGOs would do well to shake off their oodles of attitude and their strongly leftist, anti-establishment ways against the government. It does not help anyone. You cannot work by ignoring the government or crying foul about it. Similarly, the government must realise its limitations. It cannot mobilise human resources the way a non-governmental organisation does for a cause. Once, when I asked a Chief Minister if he does not feel revulsion at the sight of poor children, he quickly replied, 8220;They are not a vote bank!8221; It is high time the government at least appreciated the NGOs for their work and offered them co-operation.

In the village in which I spent my childhood, there were two trees. On one of them, farmers kept some rice so that poor people who needed it could get it without having to ask for it. On the other tree, some rice was kept only for pregnant women. That was purana chaval old rice, which is supposed to be better. The poor people can8217;t be expected to save any rice for the pregnant women. Hence the rice on the other tree for the poor pregnant women, so that they could give birth to healthy babies.

This is the collective responsibility, and this is also the need of the day.

As told to Sudeshna Chatterjee

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