Philanthropy in India

Philanthropy or charitable donations involves donating money as a charity to institutions, directly or through an institution, foundation or an NGO. These donations come from a range of people like high net worth individuals, companies, corporate and common people as well, specifically directed towards the welfare of the society. Philanthropy works itself out in the form of voluntary donations and the CSR norms mandated by the government as per the clause 135 in Companies Act which now states that companies with turnover of over 1000 crore or net worth in excess of 500 crore or net profit in excess of 5 crore need to have a CSR program under which they need to give away 2 % of their net profits, explains Sachin Karpe.

Such a community service lends a helping hand to an otherwise underprivileged section. It is a step taken by businesses to improve their society in general by making monetary contribution for raising a fund for a social cause.

There are both clear advantages to corporate philanthropy, especially on a large scale, and disadvantages in spending time on the process.

However, Indians still lag behind their European counterparts when it comes to philanthropy. Inspite of government mandating every company to donate 2% of the revenue, as a part of Corporate Social Responsibility, challenges and wider gaps prevail. Only some sectors continue to garner philanthropic interest. Out of some 50 identified sectors, few are popular among donors with education being most popular, leaving the rest like health care, public sector, environment, maternal care, arts and culture behind, Sachin Karpe tells while elaborating on the sector.

Even when the need for philanthropy is utmost, the entire area seems to be gripped by some crucial issues that leave a gap of negligibility in certain areas.