Back to resources

Philanthropy in India Is Taking Its Own Route

Strategic Philanthropy | Mar 21, 2013

A debate was going on about a government proposal to make it compulsory for companies to spend 2% of their net pro?ts on corporate social responsibility (CSR). Rohini Nilekani, philanthropist and chairperson of Arghyam, a foundation she set up with a private endowment to work on water and sanitation issues in India, says she has been “against the 2% rule from the beginning” because “I don’t think government should outsource its governance. And, secondly, making it mandatory is going to straightjacket [CSR] in a way that may not necessarily yield the best results. But now that it’s been done, we just have to make the best of it.”

View PDF

More like this

Civil Society  |  Strategic Philanthropy

What India Inc can learn from non-profits | Livemint

Rohini Nilekani, who has stepped down as Arghyam Foundation chairperson, talks about how corporates can make social accountability part of their mission By Shalini Umachandran for Livemint  There’s no secret, quick fix formula to changing habits. It takes years, even decades, to break out of established patterns of behaviour, but philanthropist Rohini Nilekani believes the pandemic has shown […]
Jul 12, 2021 |

Strategic Philanthropy  |  Societal Thinking

The Interview: Rohini and Nandan Nilekani want to use Platforms to Fight Platforms

With “Societal Platform”, the billionaire couple are combining their ideas, experience, and wealth to effect change. Nandan Nilekani co-founded Infosys and architected Aadhaar, which now covers 1.26 billion Indian.s Rohini Nilekani isn’t just India’s most prolific woman philanthropist, but she’s also the sixth overall, While Nandan has mastered the art of building disruptive tech platforms, […]
Oct 30, 2020 |

Strategic Philanthropy

Special Feature : does philanthropy have too much influence?

Interview – Rohini Nilekani. Rohini Nilekani is one of India’s most prominent and outspoken philanthropists. She talks to Alliance editor Charles Keidan about how she gives and to whom; why, for someone whose philanthropy is very public, she sometimes gives anonymously; the social responsibility of the rich; the need for philanthropy, and, at the same […]
Nov 3, 2016 | Interview

Strategic Philanthropy

The City of Giving

Philanthropy is not just about donating money, it is about making an impact with your money, improving someone’s life, and Bangaloreans seem to understand this only too well. The Garden City aka Silicon Valley just earned itself a new sobriquet — the City of Giving. To be more precise, three of our citizens have earned […]
Mar 4, 2008 | Article