Corporate Social Responsibility!

When Growth-For-All was invited by CII Northern Region to be the Knowledge Partner for the CSR ‘Best Practices’ Meet, one of our key recommendations was focus! Focus on the specific needs of the ‘home’ states of a majority of the delegates, viz. Punjab, Haryana and HP. And, more important, focus on some real action, instead of just listening and discussions.

We were delighted when other CII members agreed to go down this path.

That brought us to the real question: do these ostensibly-prosperous states have any real challenges at all?  After all, Punjab, HP & Haryana are ranked 1,3 and 6 respectively in India Today’s 2008 ‘Ranking of States’. We spent time talking to NGOs and government officers to debate this. Simultaneously, we also commissioned a researcher to scan through all available published information.

A closer look revealed that Punjab itself had real problems. Its economic development is now the second-slowest, while its human-development indices for health and education are comparable to backward states. Livelihoods is a real challenge: while Punjab and Haryana face unemployment and underemployment on account of crisis in agriculture, HP’s problem is to meet the aspirations of its educated youth. The gender challenge is serious in all three states.

We now had our direction. And set about creating three highly-focused Panel Discussions: on livelihoods, gender and CSR. These, we knew, would provide delegates with ample food-for-thought on the real challenges facing their states. At the same time, we wanted to ensure that delegates ended the day with a clear, actionable CSR plan. So, we invited Mumbai-based Green Kettle Consulting to do a workshop-format session which would provide delegates with a framework within which to plan their own CSR.

I am delighted to announce that everything went as per plan, and we had a very-successful CSR ‘Best Practices’ Meet.

Remarkable People!

It would be no surprise to anyone that the states of Punjab, Haryana and HP face huge gender-related challenges. However, what is surprising is that not enough positive action has been witnessed; in fact, the reality is that this issue is usually brushed under the carpet.

Based on the strong hypothesis that gender discrimination can hinder the pace of development, Growth-For-All worked with CII to assemble a strong panel of speakers to focus on finding practical answers that could be supported and endorsed by CII members. Prof. Pam Rajput( Executive Director, Women’s Resource & Advocacy Center) anchored a spiritied discussion that went way beyond normal expectations. While Mr Anurag Agrawal( IAS; and author of a path-breaking book on the ‘missing girl child) emphasised the need to capture data and build case histories in order to sensitise people, Mr Subhash Mendhapurkar of NGO, Sutra, provided fascinating insights from HP. Dr Ashish Banerjee(Director, Fortis Hospital) & Mr Rajat Ray( UNFP) spoke about successful experiences with women in work-force, and the need for effective communication strategies.

What can corporates do to start making a difference?

The Panel came up with simple, elegant, and practical suggestions that corporates can start with. That corporates should hire more women, and focus on gender diversity was one clear answer.( In fact, Dr Banerjee provide a ringing endorsement when he said quite simply, ” women work better”). The other, equally-simple answer was that corporates should track the health and nutrition standards of their workers’ spouses as a routine practice, thereby driving widespread sensitization and awareness. Likewise, corporates are in a position to monitor incidences of domestic violence as well. Finally, corporates -especially those running factories - can create awareness about gender issues in their immediate neighbourhoods.

Inclusive Growth!

Who would ever believe that the prosperous states of Punjab, Haryana & HP have an underlying unemployment problem?

Raghuttama Rao, Managing Director, ICRA Management Consulting Services, and his team of consultants have looked at the livelihood problem closely across the country, and especially in these states.

As Raghu put it so succinctly at the CII Meet, almost 1.5 crore youngsters need into move the workforce each year, nationally. And the important thing is that they are completely unprepared for it. While a majority of these youngsters are from rural, farm backgrounds, most of the opportunities are in urban, non-farm sectors. At the same time, the education system does not prepare them at all with the kind of skills required for available jobs or self-employment opportunities.

In Punjab and Haryana, traditionally the granaries of India, a multi-faceted agricultural crisis has created a large unemployment and underemployment problem. Crop diversification, and initiatives in agri business and rural, non-farm sector haven’t quite kept pace. HP, on the other hand, has the twin challenge of generating livelihood avenues that keep pace with the inflow of educated youth, while- at the same time - balancing industry, tourism and ecology.

So, what can corporates do - as CSR - to help ‘prepare & repair’ this massive influx of unprepared/under-prepared entrants into the workforce each year?

Expertly anchored by Pradeep Narayanan, the CII ‘Best Practices’ Meet generated a set of ideas ranging from simple, practical ones( donate old computers; take interns) to more-involved ones( active participation in skills development and vocational training), to those with strong business linkages( e.g. co-create businesses that engage and benefit rural communities; make their produce part of the supply chain).

Reshma Anand, Founder & CEO of Earthy Goods, described her experience in helping horticulture producers in HP and Uttarakhand scale-up by providing market access, in a manner similar to what successful packaged goods companies have done for years. Anish Kumar, of Pradan, narrated how rural families in Central India have grown their low family-incomes by diversifying into mushroom, poultry, and tasar. 

The important thing now is to translate these ideas into concrete actions.

CSR That Works!

This year’s ‘CSR Best Practices Meet’ by CII North Region will be a departure from the past.  It goes beyond the traditional format of nice, informative panel discussions that create a feel-good factor, but don’t lead to tangible actions.

Growth-For-All( GFA) is working with CII to create a specific focus on the livelihood and gender challenges in the states of Punjab, Haryana, and HP. GFA has commissioned a ‘knowledge paper’ that researches these challenges in great detail. Having done that, the February 4 Meet will have participating delegates exposed to the government, NGO & Corporate points of view. But the most important innovation is a workshop that they will go through, which guides them on how to create an actionable CSR plan for their organisations. The workshop, anchored by consulting firm, Green Kettle, will aim to trigger positive actions in these three states, and especially relating to livelihood and gender challenges. 

Mrs Meira Kumar, Minister for Social Justice, will be the Chief Guest at this Meet.

Remarkable people!

I’ve met some very interesting people in recent months, who opened my mind to a range of issues and ideas.

Mrs Anjaly Duggal Chib( IAS), Punjab government’s Resident Commisioner in Delhi spent over an hour describing the various dimensions of the gender issue in Punjab.  While the outward manifestations of the gender issue - in the form of dowry and female foeticide - are well known, I understood well, for the first time, how basic cultural upbringing  perpetuates this inferior status further. Whether it is to do with women not taking a share of family property, or women eating after the men have eaten, or the fact that boys are taken to hospital faster, or how a ‘get rich fast’ attitude leads to dowry demands, these are facets of the gender issue that were put across very lucidly.

Around the same time, I also met Ena Singh, who heads UNFPA, and tackles the gender issue with the same vigor and passion. She emphasized how it was critical for everyone to get women in Punjab into visible, non-conventional jobs like driving a crane, a tractor, or a taxi. This, in her view, would be an important step in changing society’s perceptions of what women can do, or should be doing. She  gave the example of the newly-started Azaad Foundation in Delhi, which is a ‘by women’, ‘for women’ NGO that aims to train poor women in Delhi to become drivers, besides organising them into a taxi service.

I was also introduced to Niranjan Khatri, who drives CSR for ITC Hotels’ Sheraton and luxury brands. Niranjan told me about their tie-up with the Ministry of Social Justice to train 400 destitute women in aspects like hygiene, cooking, housekeeping, and safety, which would prepare them for careers in hospitality or as domestic help. For instance, the Eva Floor at ITC hotels, meant exclusively for lady guests, is staffed only by women.

Then there was the conversation with Manish Sabharwal of TeamLease, who is on the PM’s Skills Development Mission. Manish broadly described the Mission’s attempt to create a supply of  range of skilled and semi-skilled talent for the job market simply by making available a vast array of vocational training options. It ended on a strong note of disagreement because I felt strongly that the approach would falter on two counts. One, because it appeared to be too much of a simplistic, cookie-cutter approach which fails to take into account the executional complexities. The bigger disagreement was on account of the Mission’s assumption that bulk of India’s unemployed should be directed to job-based employment, as opposed to self-employment. In fact, the Mission’s bias seems to be against self-employment. To me, it seems not just impractical, but a wrong objective to aim for. A large proportion of India’s unemployed youth- for reasons of education, or mindset - will not be the right match for the vocational training options offered.  More important, because they don’t want to commute long distances, or be dislocated from their communities, many are happiest being in self-employment. While I completely agree that inadequate or sub-optimal self-employment is undesirable, but any employment generation policy simply cannot discount the value of creating a vibrant self-employment culture and eco-system.

Finally, there was young Sumant Dubey, an executive at TERI, who reached out to me. He spoke about a range of innovations that various people and organisations were exploring. Apart from TERI’s own ambitious Solar Lantern project, he told me about the Water Purifiers’ project run by Nandi Foundation, and an Eco Tourism project in Maharshtra.

Inclusive Growth! 

It was on August 15th 2007, as India turned 60, that the Growth-for-All movement was launched.

In an email to several friends, I had shared my thoughts, “ GROWTH-FOR-ALL will be a significant development-sector initiative  which will involve a large number of individuals & organizations( corporates, NGOs, CII, etc) to see how our collective efforts can achieve a lot more. Over the next year or two, we hope to run some key ‘pilot projects’ focused on urban & rural poor communities.”

A year later, this collective effort has blossomed. The core idea of individuals, corporate and governments working together to focus on inclusive growth and integrated development has taken off. The first ‘pilot’ project in Delhi’s Savda Ghevra resettlement colony is now almost 8 months old. 

When Delhi CM’s office pointed us towards Savda Ghevra a year ago, they knew that they had a problem on their hands. Several thousand slum dwellers had been hastily relocated to a barren patch of 256 acres on the outskirts of Delhi. Growth-for-All’s household census also revealed the other problems. Among the 11,381 residents of Savda Ghevra, there are hundreds of people without livelihood. 655 kids don’t go to school for myriad reasons – admission problems, perceived cost, lack of interest, etc. Almost 1400 adults can’t read or write. No water supply; over 1500 families don’t use the community loo. Only 262 families throw waste in the dumpster. Just one doctor in a 3-hour shift.

Since the Growth-for-All initiative began,  over 100 youth enrolled in a 3-month vocational training by Dr Reddy’s Foundation, and now work at places like Pizza Hut & Spencer’s. 20 women are about to start carpet weaving for Jaipur Rugs Co. Over 2000 patients visit the 3 Suraksha Clinics each month… supported by Samir Arora. Health camps & ambulance service about to start.  15 women enrolled into TCS’ designed Adult Literacy Program. Almost 100 youngsters( mainly girls) learn music and dance over week-ends, at Hasmukh Kala. Computer classes are on the anvil, thanks to PCs contributed by my friend Deven Taneja’s company, PC Solutions. So, that’s the integrated model of Growth-for-All at work, with multiple partners & individuals chipping in what they are good at.

Lot more remains to be done. 468 people want to start their own business, ranging from general stores to tailoring shops & beauty parlours. Over 400 want jobs. 1500 adults want training in areas ranging from computers and English, to construction skills and tailoring. In the absence of running water, arrangements for Rain-water harvesting need to be made so that water becomes available. Kids who can’t go to school need to be nutured via non-formal education; likewise, those who are enrolled still need supplemental education.

Where can individuals & organizations help?

Individuals can help in many ways – either with their ideas, time or financial support. In teaching kids for a few hours each week-Maths, English, computers, Science, etc.. By mentoring adults who want to start their own business.
Corporates and other organizations can help with Rain-water harvesting, Strategies for waste management & sanitation, or by supporting other programs like sports.

The power of Growth-for-All’s collective model lies in large-scale participation. Big or small, everything helps. Ideas, time or financial support.

As the idea of Growth-for-All becomes a year old, and the successes are visible, we look forward to active participation from many more.

Weekly Review! 

The week started with Time magazine’s cover story, “How to Help Those Left Behind”, where Bill Gates expounds his views on how a new creative capitalism can make the world better for all.

Midway through the week, Indian Express reported Delhi government’s plans to implement Brazil’s Bolsa Familia project( search for a link), which apparently brought down poverty by 27%.
And fittingly, the week ended with an announcement that Prof Kalam would teach a new course at IIMA, “Globalising a Resurgent India through Innovative Transformation”

In their own way, each of these developments have the potential to make a huge difference to the way India runs its development and anti-poverty efforts.

Gates firmly believes that corporations can use market forces and innovations to complement what governments and non-profits do. Apart from tailoring products & services that reaches the poorest( think C.K. Prahlad!), he believes that corporations can do a lot more provided the right incentives are offered, e.g. recognition, fast-track approvals.
Gates’ heart and wallet are certainly in the right place, and he is already making a difference with his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; but, I reckon that capitalism’s participation in social development will always be controversial. After all, where do you draw a line between a “Buy One, We’ll give the poor a Free One” promotional offer, and a genuinely participative effort.

Be that as it may, I certainly see – and have seen( in Gates Foundation-supported Khushi Clinics)- the impact of importing professional business best-practices in the social sector. So, if creative capitalism causes controversy, we can live with that, as long as it makes a difference. At Growth-for-All, we have already seen this while working with Dr Reddy’s Foundation & TCS.

Likewise, the Delhi government’s effort to provide a single-window access to beneficiaries who want to access 42 social schemes run by various departments, will certainly make life simpler. While the revelation that Brazil’s Bolsa Familia project- which is the inspiration for Delhi- achieved 27% reduction in poverty, seems like hyperbole, I can imagine how much simpler things would be, if a single window were available. Just recently, Growth-for-All has been witness to the utter confusion and opacity that Savda Ghevra residents face, while grappling with school admissions for their kids.
Why didn’t anyone think of this before?

Ex-President Kalam’s course at IIMA aims to fill this gap beautifully. By getting B-School students to think about issues of governance and policy-making, we will hopefully have a cadre of business professionals who can inspire Creative Capitalism, besides driving ideas like Bolsa Familia indigeneously.
 

Remarkable People!

Music and dance take over the lives of 50+ children on weekend afternoons as they learn intently from their ‘guruji’, Mr Lal. These kids, mostly girls, learn music and dance as part of the ‘Hasmukh Kala’ program launched at Savda Ghevra.

The brainchild of my friend and IIM classmate, Hemu Javeri, Hasmukh Kala builds on the vision and experience of his family’s decades-old Swami Samarth Foundation in Mumbai. Hemu and his friend Shailja Dutt( the Delhi-based CEO of Stellar Search, the reputed executive search firm) first visited Savda Ghevra few months ago to get to know the community better. Thereafter, Hemu and Shailja quickly gave shape to the ‘Hasmukh Kala’ program, identified the right teacher, and got started.

Hemu has articulated his vision  upfront,”Hasmukh Kala is a unique initiative that is dedicated to a woman who has inspired me over the years. Music is universal, and Hasmukh Kala is focused on using music, dance and drama, to empower women and unite communities. Through guru-shishya based training methods, and with instruments from both Indian and international music, intense learning is imparted to students to enrich their lives. The goal would be for our students to reach the pinnacle of music, dancing and acting and empower them to achieve their dreams!”.

 One hour each of singing, dancing and instrumental music is now the regular routine on Saturdays and Sundays. A few boys also join in to play the ‘bongo’. While most of the talent at Savda Ghevra is raw, ‘guruji’ has already spotted some real bright sparks. Everyone is pretty excited - the kids, guruji, as well as Hemu and Shailja.

Hemu and Shailja are busy planning a big community music event on August 15th, as well future roll-out of Hasmukh Kala, in tandem with Growth-for-All’s own expansion in 2008 and 2009.

For me, personally, it is immensely gratifying to have committed people like Hemu step in and complement the Growth-for-All movement, with their own thoughts and vision. This is a virtuous cycle which lends great strength.

CSR that works! 

Fifteen women from the Savda Ghevra resettllement colony( North-West Delhi) assembled in a room, in early-April, to begin a new chapter in their lives. Growth-for-All, in partnership with TCS, launched an Adult Literacy Program.

Shyamwati, who lives with her husband and four kids, is a classic case-in-point. As I chatted with her, a Bollywood-style story emerged. Her husband runs a tea shop; eldest son, Bhola, is a part-time security guard; other three sons are at various stages of schooling.  She hails from Etah district of UP, and recalls moving to Delhi a year after Indira Gandhi was assasinated. Illiteracy has its virtues: the mind relies on significant events as  anchors!

I was keen to find out why she had been never been to school.  Actually, she did have chance to attend school. For a few months,  she would walk 2 km to the next village , where the school was located. Until one day, the school master caught her plucking fruits from someone else’s tree. He whacked her. In anger, she hit him on the head with an iron rod, which resulted in 18 stitches on his head. Scared, she ran away from school, and never went back.

Gayatri’s tale is sadder. This mother of three kids dropped out of school for financial reasons when her brother died of polio.

After all these years, Shyamwati, Gayatri and thirteen other women are determined to achieve functional literacy through TCS‘ Adult Literacy Program( ALP).

The TCS ALP is a fascinating program. Originally conceived by the legendary F.C.Kohli, TCS now has a complete set of structured, PC-enabled content that teaches adults to manage their lives satisfactorily. No degrees or diplomas are earned, but each adult is equipped to do basic things like reading signboards, application forms, and other simple messages so that they are no longer helpless.

TCS volunteers get involved in training a community trainer, and running some of the classes during the 40-hour module. The TCS model is a great example of CSR which plays to an organisation’s strengths. TCS know software; so, its only natural that they go out and create a software that helps fight illiteracy, using animation, sound and puppets. TCS has a massive work-force; so, it makes sense for them to engage them in voluntary efforts. The end-result is a great CSR effort whereby adults learn to read and write in as many as nine Indian languages.

Vivek, Bhavna, and other volunteers from TCS- who write software during the week - travel quite a distance, during weekends, to get to Savda Ghevra, and train the community trainers. By doing so, this sincere bunch is doing its bit to ensure that the benefits of the economic boom are shared with their not-so-fortunate brethren.

At Growth-for-All, we are privileged and delighted to have TCS with us.

On September 19th, we walked into the CM, Sheila Dikshit’s residence( thanks to a meeting fixed by my friend, Kanika Mathur, and her mother, Mrs Rajni Mathur) to describe the Growth-for-All model, and seek her advice for using this in Delhi. We hardly thought things would move so fast. But, the CMO quickly arranged for us to meet various stake-holders and before we knew it, we were in Savda Ghevra.

( As an aside, I must add that all our interactions with the CMO have been so dynamic that it goes contrary to popular perceptions that governments move slowly. Just about everyone-Principal Secretary to CM, Mr P.K Tripathi; Addnl Secretary to CM, Mrs Alka Diwan; Jt Secretary, Mr Kulanand Joshi; SuperintendentBhagidari, Mr Manoj Jain-has completely welcoming and responsive)

Its been an hectic, but energizing period for the team at Growth-for-All. We’ve spent the past few months creating the building blocks that will give shape to our ‘movement’ that helps achieve inclusive’ growth & faster socio-economic development through an integrated, scaleable model.

Thanks to the CM’s Office, we’ve had the opportunity to launch our first pilot project at Savda Ghevra, the large re-settlement colony in North-West Delhi. Several week-ends and holidays were spent at Savda Ghevra, and it soon became apparent that this would be truly a test-case for the Growth-for-All model, which believes that each poor neighborhood or local community needs to have multiple ‘inputs’ dove-tailed simultaneously: livelihood, health, education, women’s empowerment, and whatever else is required.

With most Savda Ghevra families desperately looking for livelihood, this became the first focus for Growth-for-All. We quickly introduced Dr Reddy’s Foundation (DRF)to the community, and their livelihood program for the first batch of youth got underway. Three months from now, 100-150 youngsters will find jobs in hospitality, retail, sales, customer service, and auto repair. Repeat batches will then begin. A big ‘thank you’ to the dedicated, committed team at DRF-Amit Sharma, Sunil Sharma, and Gaurav- who’ve spent countless hours and road-miles with us, giving shape to this.

Meanwhile, I was joined by two exciting people as full-time members of the team- Shakti Callikan, and Mathew Mathai. My 3-month-long search for the ideal team-mates had ended, with Shakti and Mathew coming on-board, in February.

Our collective energies are now deployed in exploring a range of micro-enterprise options for the residents of Savda Ghevra, especially women. These include – carpet weaving, food products, assembly of kitchen appliances, running sales kiosks, offering community services, BPO services, and lots more.While livelihood programs get underway, detailed blueprints have been drawn up for upping the ante on health services - additional doctor(s) and clinic(s), specialized health camps and consultation, an ambulance service. In education, innovative education formats for school drop-outs, and adult illiterates are being explored.
While basic, and tangible areas like livelihood, health and education are vital priority, the socio-cultural environment cannot be ignored. Hence, Music & Sports - as a means of recreation & enjoyments, as well as away of building self-confidence and camaraderie. My friend, Hemu Javeri, flew down from Mumbai one week-end, to commit his support for a Music academy where 100 or more young girls will be provided formal training in music. The really-talented ones will be given special, individual coaching, as well as scholarships.

Watch out for more updates from Savda Ghevra as these programs get rolled out. And also, from Alwar district where our second- rural- project gets underway soon.