Philanthropy Meet: India Inc Converges to Promote Charity

Maiden charity meet highlights the need for help in areas vital to India's devpt

Dozens of India's wealthiest individuals huddled together on Friday to discuss philanthropy in the first such gathering of its kind in the country. Without any overt plea for charitable giving, the nearly 50 men and women who attended the event, were given a glimpse of the crying need for extra help in areas that are vital to India's development.?

The event, a brainchild of Wipro founder and philanthropist Azim Premji, is a subtle, carefully-crafted attempt at catalysing charitable giving by rich Indians. The media was shut out so that the discussions could be frank. And it was made clear right in the beginning that the invitees were not obliged to commit any money to charitable giving.?

The event, with a session each on education, healthcare, water and agriculture, was cohosted by Premji, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata. Gates, who along with billionaire investor Warren Buffett, has persuaded dozens of Americans to pledge the majority of their wealth to charity, spoke about the imperative for philanthropy, one of those who attended the event, said on condition of anonymity. Gates, this person said, spoke about how history has shown that leaving behind wealth to serve good causes is better than letting offspring inherit it.?

Among those in attendance were Analjit Singh (Max India), Anil Agarwal (Vedanta Group), Anu Aga (ex-Thermax), Cyrus Mistry (Tata Group), Cyrus Poonawalla (Poonawalla Group), GM Rao (GMR Group), GVK Reddy (GVK Group), Hemendra Kothari (DSP Group), Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (Biocon), Kris Gopalakrishnan (Infosys), MV Subbaiah (Murugappa Group), Nandan Nilekani (ex-Infosys), Naveen Jindal (JSPL), Nimesh Kampani (JM Financial), Omkar Kanwar (Apollo Tyres), Vallabh Bhanshali (Enam), Sunil Bharti Mittal (Airtel) and VG Sidhartha (Caf? Coffee Day). Also in attendance were Premji's sons Rishad and Tareq.?

One of the main messages was that it is possible for individuals to play a big role in transforming society. Also, while the government has a number of schemes aimed at the poor, improper implementation means that the gaps remain largely unfilled. One of the suggestions was that the government and wealthy individuals could cocreate schemes with a structure that ensures the proper delivery of services for the poor.?

One of the participants remarked that wealth and knowledge, if they are not shared, are useless. Another suggested that while Gates has shown himself an exemplar of generosity by pledging to donate a majority of his wealth to charity, it would be right too if some individuals gave away lesser proportions, say about a tenth of their wealth or 15%. Premji, while summing up, urged that for maximum impact, rich individuals should give away as much as they possibly can. Wipro's founder has so far given nearly . 9,000 crore to the Premji Foundation working to improve the quality of education in India.

The event, a brainchild of Wipro founder and philanthropist Azim Premji, was co-hosted by Microsoft founder Bill Gates

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