CSR should include overall education
Attending a recent media event prompted me to go through the CSR sections of the country’s latest Companies Act 2013. I found out that “education” of our citizens is a prominent option, among many others, on which our public corporations must spend some money to fulfill their social responsibility, popularly known as CSR. The event was attended by many New Delhi stalwarts who are active in organizing events to promote art and culture, like writers, poets, folk and classical singers, musicians and people who make documentaries on social issues. Their common complaint was that big corporations are not giving enough attention towards spending their CSR money on art and culture. I also spoke about it, and I strongly believe that our grievances were justified. Although art and culture have an important role in shaping the civilization of societies, this does not necessarily mean that they have the value and support they need. Today, every investment expects to be fully returned. It’s no wonder that under these circumstances, most art forms are struggling to survive, not because of lack of artists or an art audience, but because of financial constraints. Cultural intelligence can only be built with continuous and creative education of the society. Some art forms are also having difficulties in transferring the experience and knowledge to upcoming artists. I believe spending on spreading awareness about our rich heritage is as important today as opening new schools and helping the existing ones be better funded so that they can have better facilities and teachers for their students. The reason is the gradual erosion of our cultural heritage by the onslaught of a recent trend in which average Indians are blindly following the West and forgetting their own culture. In my opinion, our society’s survival depends on the survival of our cultural heritage. The need for supporting arts and culture in today’s consumer-driven economic environment has become more urgent because the change, in reality, is coming much faster than it appears to be. That is the reason why major players of economy and society must interject and do more to slow down the change and provide a crucial balance between the old and new. Just as one of the inspirations behind modern India, the late former PM Rajiv Gandhi, told me months after he took power, “Yes, we want to modernize, but not at the cost of the smiles our people have on their innocent faces.” With the world becoming a global village, the corporate mantra now is not to ignore its responsibility towards the society while making profits. And the slogan in India is, “It is okay to make profits as long as you are also contributing to society.” Harvard faculty member Michael E Porter is a leading authority on competitive strategy and economic development. He, at a recent event organized by the New elhibased Institute of Competitiveness, also emphasized the need for applying competitive principles to social problems of India, which includes a slow erosion of our cultural values. There is another institute that has come up with a new term, ‘Corporate Cultural Diplomacy’ or (CCD). The CCD activities cover a wide spectrum of fields, including intercultural exchange programmes and activities in education, art, music, film, sports and academic and scientific research. Its motto is that it is beneficial for the enterprise as well as the society when corporations engage in cultural activities. According to this institute, “as corporations become bigger and cross national borders as well as cultural frontiers, it is essential for them to understand and be able to reach out to its clients, partners and investors, in a way that fosters mutual understanding and trust”. It emphasizes that by simply facilitating access to different cultures, “CCD indirectly takes care of what is important for the company’s business”. One of CCD’s ardent followers is Deutsche Bank, a leading global investment bank with a substantial private client franchise, and has more than 100,000 employees in about 70 countries. The bank has chosen, very carefully, a policy that facilitates both development and innovation in the society. The bank notes that unlike science, which looks for objective facts, art triggers intellect and emotions, and also fosters viewers’ creativity. The bank says it is committed to contemporary art and to encouraging and engaging people. Artistic inspiration gives the bank new perspectives, and encourages it to take unique and innovative approaches, which is not only good for the economy but also for the society at large. I believe that in India too, large media outfits should not only promote art and culture to influence TRPs with quality programmes such as Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma, but should also help in our drive to make big corporations understand that when the Companies Act 2013 talks about education, it is not only about literacy, but about overall education. And if that is not the tacit spirit of that clause, the government must make it a point to widen the scope. And I remain hopeful, because the India I know, not only prides itself on its decades-old economic reforms, but also on its centuries-old cultural heritage. (Author/news analyst Ravi M Khanna is currently freelancing after a 24-year stint with Voice Of America in Washington DC, as South Asia bureau chief) Feedback: ravimohankhanna@gmail.com
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