Bill Gates is often made a target for many jokes and snide remarks. But if there is one thing that has silenced the most vociferous of his critics, it is his act of giving back to society.

In fact the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funds several projects in the areas of healthcare and education globally. Other IT biggies too have set aside a part of their earnings for charity. Closer home, Azim Premji of Wipro and Narayan Murthy have foundations working for social upliftment at large.

"Is the rich world aware of how four billion of the six billion live? If we were aware, we would want to help out, we'd want to get involved" Bill Gates Founder, Microsoft

Not to be left behind, there are channel partners as well who devote their time and money to improve the living conditions of those less privileged than them. DQ Channels salutes these soldiers of humanity, highlighting the efforts of a few in the next few pages.

There is a difference between a good person and a great person. A good person works hard for himself and his family, providing opportunities for his circle of friends. However, a great person, while working towards supporting his family and friends, also strives to make the world a better place to live in.

Often referred to as the 'triple bottom line', due to its three core elements, accepting social responsibility is in essence the willingness of individuals to look beyond the traditionally perceived capitalist mandate of purely making a return on investment for the company's owners or shareholders, to managing its social, environmental and economic impact. In most cases, the objective is to make the world, or the local community in many cases, a better place.
While many come forward to openly take credit for their charity, there are others in this channel community who are engaged in several social activities and yet do not want to highlight their bit for social benefit. However, their effort is admirable and should be encouraged.

Focus towards education
JP Modi of New Delhi-based Modi Peripherals has been involved in philanthropy for quite sometime now. As part of this initiative, he constructed a school for girls in Jhunjhunu in 1994 and donated the entire edifice to government of Rajasthan.

"The school was the brainchild of my father, Jagdish, who motivated me to take up other philanthropic activities. He once saw girl students of the school close to his house in Jhunjhunu bustling for space, as the perimeter of that school was too small to accommodate all the students. It is that we decided to lay the foundation stone of a full-fledged senior secondary school for girls in Jhunjhunu," Modi remembers.

JP Modi also gives regular donations to Teerath Vikas Trust, a dharamshala situated in Govardhan, Uttar Pradesh. He has provided monetary contribution for the construction of rooms in this facility and for the making of pucca roads in the areas adjoining the dharamshala.

Modi is an active member of numerous charitable institutions that work towards for the underprivileged. He is the vice president of Bharat Lok Shiksha Parishad - an institution involved in the initiation of elementary education schools in tribal and hilly areas of India. The institution already has 2000 schools running at upcountry towns of India.

Even Kolkata-based Arun Kumar Jalan of Jalan Infotech is involved towards imparting education for those below the poverty line. "My family is active in a trust that runs a co-ed school and a women's college in our native village of Nawalgarh in Rajasthan. The name of the school is Nawalgarh Vidyalaya and that of the college is Nawalgarh Mahila College. The trust has been formed generations ago by the native Marwari families who are now settled elsewhere in the country and mostly in Kolkata," he informs.

Empowering women: JP Modi of New Delhi's Modi Peripherals is all for female education. This is precisely why he runs a school for girls in the village of Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan. Here he is seen distributing a trophy during a sports event at the school

RETICENT GIVER: Suresh Pansari of Mumbai's Rashi Peripherals has fond memories of his childhood in the village of Ramgarh in Rajasthan. This is why he has started a goshala which houses cows, considered sacred in his community. He also arranges for employment of the youth in his village besides sponsoring a girls school to further their education. But he does not like to talk about these acts, feeling that charity is done best without talking about it. Here he is seen attending an annual meet of an association which works for the upliftment of Ramgarh, of which he is also a committee member

TEACHING THEM YOUNG: Gaurav Goel of Eastern Logica is part of the Calcutta South Round Table 17, which is involved in imparting education to underprivileged children. Currently the body is setting up a school in Kolkata and here Gaurav (in striped t-shirt) is handing over the cheque to a local caretaker for the project.

MEDICAL MESSIAH: Prashant Behl (second from left) of Chennai-based Infonet Solutions makes it a point to orchestrate a free medical camp for orphans and the underprivileged every month. He even draws his friends and acquaintances into this activity. He is seen in this pic with his wife and son, Prithvi.

CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME

Ramalinga Raju's Satyam Computer Services contributed Rs 2.5 crore to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund for taking up relief and rehabilitation operations for tsunami hit areas in the state of Tamil Nadu Vinod Khosla, a venture capitalist, gifted about Rs 25 crore to IIT Delhi to encourage fresh talent Narayana Murthy of Infosys has done the same with IIT Kanpur Wipro Chairman Azim Premji transferred shares worth Rs 370 crore to the Azim Premji Foundation Infosys Technologies' CEO Nandan Nilekani's wife Rohini Nilekani is a major shareholder of the company. She has transferred Rs 100 crore of her personal money to the Argyam Trust, which she chairs

The school has a curriculum from the 1st to 12th standard, with 800 students while the college that runs BA and MA courses have 600 students. While these institutes are partially government aided, the trust plays a pivotal role in providing other amenities. The government aid ensure that the fees are subsidized, which will foster better education among the conservative Marwari community in the village.

Moving on, the Jalans are now working towards opening an engineering college. "My father and uncles have also created another family Trust which is probing into the possibilities of opening an engineering college near Nawalgarh. The total project is estimated to cost Rs 3 crore. We hope the government will give us some help in getting a place at cheaper rates as well as aiding the education imparted there," he explains.

Doing their bit
Today, nobody can say that channel community in the country is not sharing its success with the less privileged of the society. Most partners go out of their way to provide free computers in small towns and villages. There are others who are involved in providing free computer training as well.

L Ashok, MD at Chennai based Futurenet Technologies India provides computers to the poor and orphans for their education. "I strongly believe that philanthropy is very important to be a successful human being. It is the responsibility of every organization to give something back to society and share the wealth. We try to keep it integrated in our system and ensure that even our employees are part of it," he adds.

Last year, when the devastating tsunami wiped out entire villages in southern India, several companies like Visesh Infotecnics, Syntech Infomatics, Frontier Business Systems, Softcell Information Technologists, PC Solutions etc, contributed monies ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh to non-government agencies who were actively involved in helping people get back on their feet. This shows that whenever calamity strikes, partners go all out to help out those in need.

Rather than working on ad hoc basis, there are some partners who have affiliated themselves with some agencies and help out as and when they can. Harish Kumar Shetty of Bangalore-based Binary Systems is one such example. He has associated himself with the Karnataka Welfare For The Blind.

"I am a life member of this association welfare board and am actively involved in all its activities. As member and secretary of the 'Bunts Sanga' in Bangalore, I work along with other members to provide scholarships to poor children, ensure health safety measures for them and also contribute my bit financially for the programs," he adds.

Creating equal opportunities
In today's scenario different technology solution providers and IT distribution players are viewing those on the other side of the digital divide not just as beneficiaries of their charity, but as the people who will propel the country's growth in the future. By focusing on social activities around education and other basic infrastructure, they are now trying to create equal opportunities for people who are away from bustling metros.

At an industry level, there is a perspective change happening on the approach to this activity. There are a lot of companies that are bracing themselves up towards accepting their social responsibility in terms of helping towards bridging the digital divide or educating the rural community.

There are many in the channel community who provide employment to needy youth within their own organization. Often, these employee transcend boundaries of caste, creed and even the nativity of the partner. Instead, it is just the act of human being extending an helping hand.

And when prominent from a certain community take the step to elevate their brethren, others follow suit. Prashant Behl of Chennai's Infonet Solutions has made it a monthly practice to organize medical camps for orphans and needy people. He has even managed to get several of his friends involved in this activity as well.

Another advantage of successful people getting into philanthropy is that the beneficiaries are more willing to grasp that helping hand, without fear of being taken for a ride. "People are coming forward now to get their children, including girls, to get highest possible education in the educational institutions we are funding," exclaims Jalan.

Round table of education
Illiteracy is the biggest impediment in the economic growth of any nation. India is one of the many countries with the largest population of uneducated children, almost touching 60% of the total population. The state of primary education in our country is far from adequate. And unless education reaches every nook and cranny of the nation, progress is a distant goal.

Realizing this, Round Table India, a Global Young Men's organization between the age group of 18 and 40, has taken up the cause of 'Freedom through Education', to provide educational facilities to 1 million children by the year 2008. This project is an initiative to bring primary literacy to underprivileged children in India by assisting in the construction of over 2,000 schools by the year 2008 across the
country.

Round Table was born in Britain 74 years back. Louis Marchesi, a Rotarian, formed the first Round Table in Norwich in England in 1927. From a small group of 8 members, today Round Table has grown to 43,000 members across 52 countries representing every corner of the world. Round Tabling came to India in 1957 with the formation of Madras Round Table No 1.

Round Table India, the association, was formed on November 14, 1962 with just a membership of 100. It has, over the last 4 decades, grown to become a 2500 member strong association today with 160 Tables located in 72 cities and towns, comprising of businessmen, entrepreneurs, technocrats and professionals.

The association has as well 7 Tables in Kolkata. The Calcutta South Round Table 17 (CSRT) is part of Round Table India and was inaugurated in the year 1970 with like-minded members. Today it is one of the most active Tables in India and one of the most active members in the group is Gaurav Goel, a young entrepreneur from the Kolkata IT channel community.

Joining the Calcutta South Round Table 17 in 1996, Gaurav Goel has been working for over a decade to provide education to the underprivileged children. The association is also associated with raising funds to serve the poor through conducting various social and cultural activities. "We
organize parties, like New Year bashes, Antakshari, Musical Nites, Treasure Hunts, Greeting Cards sales and various such activities to raise funds," he adds.

For Gaurav these ten years of association has helped him to grow as a human being in addition to shaping up his personal and professional life. "Till date we have constructed four schools in the interior villages across West Bengal and will continuing doing so", he added.

Inner peace
A lot of people are doing involved in philanthropy not just for the betterment of society, but also for tranquility of their souls. This could be the reason why several people that DQ Channels spoke to were reluctant to have their activities highlighted. The founder of a leading Mumbai-based distribution house said that he did these acts for his own satisfaction and would not like to boast about it.

JP Modi admits that the greatest return on investment in charity is the amount of self-satisfaction it provides. "I achieve a kind of self-satisfaction by working towards social causes. As a businessman I often have to compromise on the charitable turf. But I try to make up for this loss by attending offsite events like conference calls of the trusts I am member with as often as is possible," he says.

Shetty feels that any service effort is a multi-dimensional commitment to give back to society what we have got from there. "The satisfaction of having done something for society and your effort in being part of putting a smile to other people faces is the biggest win," he
explains.

Gaurav Goel of Kolkata agrees with him. "It is altogether a different experience. It also gives you the pleasure of giving something back to the society, from which you are getting so much," he accedes.

Kudos to these people who are willing to devote a part of themselves in making the world a better place. Whether they get any personal gratification from such acts is immaterial. What matters is that they are able to help some other people in the world, while they are at it.

ZIA ASKARI in New Delhi with inputs from S Gopikrishna in Chennai and Piyali Guha in Kolkata

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