Making Sustainability a Key Purpose of Business

Observing our neighborhood and surroundings is a start. It helps us shift focus from big-picture questions to narrowing them down to our own realities. When we look around and identify the 'poor' and their activities, we get more ideas on what they require and what will make a difference.

In January, Unique Times conducted a seminal event discussing the CSR landscape in India, or Corporate Social Responsibility, which refers to the voluntary and philanthropic efforts made by companies to give back to society and have a positive impact on the environment and communities in which they operate. In India, CSR is mandated by law, with companies having to spend 2% of their net profits on CSR activities. These activities can include social entrepreneurship, promoting education, alleviating poverty, improving public health, protecting the environment, and promoting gender equality, among others. The implementation of CSR initiatives in India has seen a significant increase in recent years, with companies recognizing the importance of responsible business practices.

A decade ago ‘Social Business’ had been considered an oxymoron indicating that they are seemingly divergent economic paths. Several leading social entrepreneurs have proved over the years that it is not true and that social businesses thrive when they are looked at as businesses and not philanthropy. Prof Mohammad Yunus, Nobel laureate 2006 for peace has been widely recognised as the father of the 'microcredit' business ecosystem he originally developed in Bangladesh under the aegis of the Grameen Bank and spread across the world. His fundamental tenet in the microcredit movement has been to ‘use business principles to solve social issues’. The compelling thought also is ‘social problems’ are not for ‘others’ to solve but for every individual to roll up their sleeves and do their bit. Prof Yunus spoke at the recent social business lecture series hosted by ESAF Bank and came out with several thought-provoking ideas.