Caring for People

The Managing Director, Mr. B. Muthuraman has repeatedly espoused the need for the corporate sector in India to share the burden of the socio-economic development of the people of the country. We bring you excerpts from “The 27th Sir Rajendra Nath Mookerjee Memorial Lecture” delivered by him to provide an insight into his thoughts.

India Vs Bharat
Even as the Sensex, our barometer of growth, breaches the 9000 point mark and has rallies of 100 points a day, India is ranked 127th out of 159 nations for its Human Development Index in the Human Development Report 2005.

India, therefore, presents an extremely peculiar and contrasting picture of development. While at one end it is a strong contributor to the world economy, at the same time one out of every four Indians has to struggle for survival, subsisting on less than a US $1 a day. 27.8% of India or 285 million of its 1 billion people contribute 60% of the country’s national income. This section of the population has higher literacy, larger number of skilled persons, enjoys better health status, owns televisions, has access to knowledge centers and many more such aspirations in life.

72.2% of the Indians live in villages – that is what we call Bharat. It contributes 23.6% of the GDP. The population is unskilled – in modern terms, has a low health and education status and suffers from disguised unemployment.

If India is to achieve development by 2020, as is its Vision, India must focus urgently on Bharat. But had it not been for Bharat, India would have starved in the 1960s. For development to be sustainable, the gap between India and Bharat must be bridged, if not become non existent.

In India, only 17 % of the workforce is involved in industries and contributes 28.4% of the GDP. It is the single largest cohesive group of people, which if brought together can effect change in India. Therefore, I believe that we have the responsibility to bridge the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Business must indeed be concerned with the creation of wealth, but can wealth be created or industries exist in a sea of poverty?

The business community, by investing in its own surrounding community can help reduce poverty and effect socio-economic development. An improvement in the income levels translates into greater purchasing power and also improved health status of individuals, their educational status and development of skills, all of which in the long run contribute to the sustainability of business. A socially responsible organisation is, thus, more likely to be continuously profitable in the long run, as we at the Tata Group and Tata Steel, have seen through experience. Development is an inclusive process and businesses need to focus on the collective advancement of the community.
 

EDITORIAL