India needs to redefine the concept of giving

Different things set you thinking. At the time I met Arnold Palmer, he was 84 and thinking of how he was going to change people's lives. He has been giving back to golf for years and now he even gives back to society through a variety of philantrophic measures. He admits its golf that made him generous.

"Golf has been my vehicle for philanthropy. I have been able to give back to society all because of this sport. Golf has been my vehicle for travelling and getting to know people across the world. In the community of health and well being, golf has been the reason that afforded me the opportunity about how I could help with medicine or hospitals. These are getting better and better all the time and are doing everything to put people together and provide them quality services."

In the week when we had Bill and Melinda Gates discussing philanthropy and support for new causes, it's worth a re-look at how India Inc spends its 'social money.' Should corporations in India spend more money for society? Should they rework their models of giving?

Charitable giving is not new to India but it's not common for India's new-money owners. The Gates along with Warren Buffett have tried to get many to pledge more and more money but the selection
of the people seem to be the same set on most occasions. In today's world Azim Premji has come to be the mascot of pledging for social causes and Nandan & Rohini Nilekani and S Gopalakrishnan
have also donated significant money.

In that sense the Tatas represent old money in India and their funds are spent in creating institutions that are built to last and mostly Tata-agnostic in functioning. If one excludes the donations to religious institutions, temples and trusts in general (for which by the way there is no good means to make a calculation) then we are not sitting on significant social contributions given the solid base of over 150 billionaires in India.

Unfortunately campaigns are still being launched and run by the Indian government. Despite the previous UPA government's mandatory 2% spend on CSR what is clear is that funding isn't really an issue the problem lies with execution of those monies. Now with the NDA government laying emphasis on corporate participation in civic services and public health, there can be some interesting new ideas that emerge as long as the execution of it lies with the private sector. What Bharti and TCS have done with about Rs 200 crore towards building toilets, is something that will up for a test after they have been built and run.

The solution may lie somewhere in between where it is neither the law which makes corporations spend nor is it a sole private sector or government responsibility. If the government uses serious private and public partnership in this front, the idea of CSR will take new meaning. Indians gave an average 3.1% of their income to charitable causes in 2011 — up from 2010 but far behind the 9.1% average in the United States, according to consultancy Bain & Company.

As we approach 2nd Minister will launch a Clean India campaign, it will be a test case to see if India is ready for a more viable and sustainable solution towards finding new ideas of social good. With more monies being directed towards such work both private sector and government have an opportunity to redefine the concept of giving.