Social Responsibility
Noble acts Dr Ken Gnanakan, General Director, ACTS, answers questions about channelising CSR through NGOs.
Corporate India’s social conscience was awake long before Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) became a buzz word. Indian history abounds with stories of benign deeds of the rich and the mighty, and philanthropy has always been a prized virtue amongst business people.
What do non-government agencies expect from corporates? NGOs need the goodwill of both the public as well as the government to accomplish their goals in urban settings and the remotest parts of our country. Most NGOs rely on grants from governments or from private donors. The concept of CSR is gradually coming into India with some of the big corporates setting up funds for charity but there is much more that could be done.
Dr Ken Gnanakan
What are the areas of activity of ACTS? ACTS is committed to socio-economic and environmental development. We have a three-pronged operation – Education, Environment and Health, with education being the tool in each. You have heard the adage – Give a man a fish and you feed him for today; teach him how to fish and you feed him for life. Our environmental activities are focused on educating at various levels, largely through PEAS, the Programme for Environmental Awareness in India that we run in schools. Health and nutrition are major concerns for the poor. We do not build large hospitals, but are involved in community health which is an even more crucial need. This involves holistic education for families to prevent disease rather than cure it when it comes. One of our major roles is educating NGOs through programmes such as a Masters in Development Studies and even an MBA in NGO Management. This is an Asia-wide program, now reaching parts of Africa too. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in Delhi has called upon our expertise. Do most NGO programmes require grants? Health programmes and direct educational interventions in poorer rural and slum areas are all charity based and require grants. There are many NGOs who work in remote areas on some very noble programmes and these do require ongoing funding. Grant makers should be open to such needs. But in ACTS, our urban educational institutions only require start-up funds. Schools can generate fairly good incomes for themselves, as we have proved. Now we have started a University College as well as The William Carey University in Meghalaya, a private university, both of them run on self supporting programmes.
ACTS believes in health for all
F
rom merely doling out money to the poor, corporate citizens are taking active pride in providing opportunities for the less privileged to access education and employment.
Operational NGOs, very often voluntary agencies offer many options in both small and large scale community operations for those interested in helping the needy. ACTS is a non-governmental organisation working for holistic development in rural and urban areas of India. It draws upon the expertise of a network of experts from government and non-government agencies, universities and other agencies.
Photo: Ramya Reddy
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The William Carey University is a unique socio-economic development model that will attract investors into varied commercial activities - horticulture, floriculture and other appropriate areas that will explore the utilisation of natural resources of the region. The people who live here must benefit directly, but the investors will reap good profits too. And yes, all this in a university! How should NGOs evolve? There will always be the requirement for funding, but grant makers should begin to design some financial management and accountability criteria to help NGOs evolve into more responsible fund managers. My big dream for any NGO, in this case, ACTS, is that it will be a self-funded NGO which will also generate funds so that we can assist smaller NGOs. Tel: +91 80 25531025 www.acts.co.in