The Emergence And Growth Of Social Entrepreneurship in India

January 1, 2010 @ YouthKiAwaaz
-Arun Sharma:

Social Entrepreneurship as the concept was coined long ago but has been in the corporate parlance in just the recent past. Traditionally, entrepreneurship has been associated with profit making individuals who aim high and achieve a lot for themselves in the world of tough competition. And the success of enterprise was and is being judged on parameters like ROI and Net Income margins. But, with the empowerment and awareness of the citizens of the developing world, a new revolution has started, particularly among the youth of the world. This revolution is the growth of Social Entrepreneurship – the form of entrepreneurship where profits are not the end result, but just the means to achieve the end result of social upliftment and further empowerment.

Initially, the concept of social entrepreneurship used to be associated with the Corporate Social Responsibility of the corporate houses that provided funds to the charitable institutions to run the philanthropic organizations at a small scale. These institutions or organizations did not have any business model of their own and largely operated with the funds from government or donations from the donors.

Globally, non-profit organizations like SOS Children’s Village, however large they are, are funded completely by the donors who are the charitable trusts, individuals, governments or corporates. Though the objectives are noble and the achievements are incredible, the business model of these organizations is to be judged on two very important parameters: Sustainability and Scalability.

Can these non-profit organizations sustain on their own if the external funding from them are unplugged? Can this model be applied to other sectors successfully? As explained by CK Prahalad through his book “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid”, social cause has always been considered a moral obligation that cannot be fulfilled by means of business. But the paradigm shift took place when the entrepreneurs realized the potential of the untapped markets that could generate profits for them and provide a better way of life to citizens of the society at the same time. The biggest boost was given by the Nobel Prize winner Dr. Mohammad Yunus when his brain-child Grameen Bank became so successful in one of the so-called least developed countries, Bangladesh. It was soon realized that profits can be made along with serving the society, provided you treat profits as a means and not the end result.

Subsequently, initiatives like Casas Bahia and CEMEX in Brazil, and ITC e-choupal and Aravind Eye Care sprung up in India. Most of these initiatives are well into their second-generation, in business terms. In India, various other organizations like SEWA, AWAKE, Nandi Foundation and Jaipur Foot have been started by the awakened and empowered citizens of India. But as they say, Entrepreneurship is contagious and so is Social Entrepreneurship. This sector, called the “third sector” in the book “The Emergence of Social Enterprise”, has been growing at a very high pace even through the current economic downturn. Definition of social entrepreneurship has changed over time. From corporate philanthropy to non-profit and now to self-sustainability, Social Entrepreneurship has evolved and will keep evolving with time and needs of the world.

But the major challenge that Social Entrepreneurship faces today is the definition of the goals and the objectives. Unlike the corporate sector where the achievements are clearly defined and roles identified, it’s seldom to be seen in the social sector. Organizations like SEWA are content to provide employment to the women in downtrodden areas of India, but do not have any goals in terms of the number of employed women or the average salaries, if these parameters can be justified as relevant goals in the first place. Nevertheless, this challenge doesn’t hamper the progress of the third sector but infact makes it more challenging for the entrepreneurs to explore.

The above flow of thoughts can be summarized by approving the fact that intention is a critical parameter to distinguish between the two forms of entrepreneurship – Social and Business.

Courtesy: http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/

Who taught whom? - honesty, integrity - for every YOUTH

April 4, 2009 @ YouthKiAwaaz

- Umashankar Sahu

Since 14 months of his retirement, Gupta Sir neither got his pension nor his G.P.F. money. He ran here and there but still the output was zero. Really, he was feeling very hopeless and helpless after all. But surprisingly one sunny morning, while reading local news paper Gupta Ji found a known name on the front page of a news daily. That was nobody other than his student Bhagaban Das. Yes, Bhagaban Das, student of Gupta Sir came to that district as new District Collector. Unknowingly, a ray of hope shined at Gupta ji’s face.

The very next day he ran to the Collector’s office with a hope that his student, Bhagaban, will help him in getting his pension and due G.P.F money . Guptaji showed all documents anxiously to his student, and narrated his sufferings. Bhagaban listened to Gupta sir and with a long breath said “this is a big process sir, it will take at least a week and yes you need to spend some money as well.” “Spend?” Gupta sir asked astonishingly. With a smile Bhagaban replied, “Yes sir, I can do it if you are ready to spend only Rs.4000 as you are were teacher. For others I would have asked a minimum of rupees 15,000 for this work.” Gupta sir, surprised by hearing those words from his student asked “for this work you are asking a bribe Bhagaban?” Bhagaban replied, “Sir, it is not only me who will take this 4000, there is a junior clerk, senior clerk, lower officer, peon, everybody, who will take their shares from it.”

Gupta ji said “Won’t you get your salary Bhagaban, really it is very shameful for me and it hurts a lot that my student has become a corrupt officer”.

With a smile on face Bhagaban replied, “I am your student, that’s why I am doing this sir, and you are asking whether I get salary or not..!!! In the past days, you were also getting salary sir…but without completing the course in our school classes, you were giving priority to your tuition, and earning extra money out of your salary, why sir? And today you are trying to underestimate me by taking the name of illegality and corruption? Do you remember those days sir? Our village doctor’s son was very much weak in education as compared to me, but each and every time you were being partial and were making him come 1st in class, by getting beautiful and costly gifts from his father. You always helped and supported those rich guys in our school at the time of the exams. Sometimes you even wrote for them on their examination answer sheets. You were always giving extra marks to your tuition students. I think you forgot those days when you were smoking in front of us and even passing comments on some young girls of our school who were of your daughter’s age. Your name was scribbled and displayed on our school walls by other students. So after all, I am a student of such a great teacher. And what is the problem if I ask for only Rs. 4,000 instead of 15,000 sir? Now you can go and please come after a week with the money I asked for, and collect your documents ready.”

After a week Gupta sir came. The district collector, one of his oldest and poor students, Bhagaban was not in the office. But his steno was there. Without asking anything from Gupta sir, the steno gave him an envelope and said that all the work had been done. And as per the commitment, Gupta sir handed an envelope containing Rs.4, 000 to the collector’s steno. But the steno refused to take that money from Gupta sir and said, “Sir has asked me not to take anything from you, and has left this letter for you..!” Gupta Sir sat beneath an old mango tree inside the office compound and opened the letter.

The letter read as follows:

“Respected Sir,
As a human tendency, when anybody feels a little bit of scarcity of law, humanity, punctuality in other’s ideology, then he starts complaining and arguing, but he never feels the same scarcity that has also been inside him, and unfortunately he never tries to research his own ideology. But I have researched this sir. So I never learnt any bad things from you, despite being your student for a long time. I neither take bribe nor indulge in corruption. I never misbehave with my women colleagues in the office or do partialities for any of my office staff members. I neither smoke nor drink alcohol. I am an honest officer sir. Hope you never mind what I said to you because it was what I felt. Sir, today I recall one small story, you were saying on those school days. “If we want to listen to a sweet voice of cuckoo, we need to provide a mango tree and a spring environment to it, otherwise that sweet voice will move far from us. Now stopping my writing here sir.
Yours,
Sonly Bhagaban;”
After reading this letter, Gupta sir kept silent for some time and realized his mistake. At last, he felt proud to have had such a great student in his whole life time. He then started for his home with a smile of happiness and 2 tear drops of realization.

Awake The Youths Of India!

The youth of India, our mother nation,

Create a fresh & new India

Of your true and united yet inevitable creation.

With the power of infinite knowledge,

A vision of new Indian era

Today with our heart, we all must pledge.

Courage be the verse of the birds,

For your success very high

That’ll shine with the stars in the altar sky.

Love be the fragrance of the flowers,

For your dreams to care

That’ll blossom in beauty you go anywhere.

Even one drop of value system,

In time you must save

For idleness retreat & work to authenticate.

Even one inch of valuable sunlight,

In truth you must save

For justice against falsehood, you must fight!

But... you must shed no tears in poverty,

Or create the differences

Of caste, religion and gender inequality.

Be always co-operative and united,

With a good understanding

You’ll be always strong and spirited.

Awake the passionate Indian youths,

Of this mythical land,

Don’t die & scatter your ashes in sand.

With the resource of knowledge and truth,

Create a new age of thinking wide,

That’ll make India developed; & prosper with pride!

-arpan shah

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Just a small piece of thought from our member, scripted into a poem... Am sure many of you share the same thoughts... yeah we do... don't we...!?!