New Delhi, Jan 21, 2012:India
is in a unique position to solve the problems of the poor as it has the
largest number of poor and huge amount of talent to address challenges
faced by them, said Sam Pitroda, advisor to Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on public information infrastructure and innovations and
Honorary Chairman of Action For India.
“There is a lot of talent solving the problem of the rich. Innovations are needed to solve the problem of the poor,”
Pitroda added addressing a meet of 100 young social innovators at the
first ever ‘Action For India’ Forum 2012 focussing on how technology can
make social enterprises scale their operations more effectively.
These
social innovations will be driven by the young innovators from the
bottom (of the pyramid) as the top is not in tune with the requirements.
The government – state as well as central – is doing a number of things
to help this change and make the delivery of public service different,
Pitroda added.
India’s
most celebrated social innovators – Chanchalapathi Dasa, Trustee of
Akshaya Patra Foundation that feeds 1.3 million mid day meals everyday;
Prableen Sabhhaney from Fabindia, the unique venture that made 15,000+ mini entrepreneurs out of weavers and artisans, Self-Help Group pioneer Anish Pradhan from Pradan, pioneers
in the promotion of Self-Help Groups that covers nearly 200,000 rural
poor women in eight states who have mobilized a total savings of Rs. 50
crore; Sushmita Ghosh, President Emeritus, Ashoka, the world’s working community of nearly 3000 leading social entrepreneurs, K Thiagarajan from Agastya, the largest science education program in schools; bureaucrats from Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana which
has over 90 million active smart cards and more than 1.5 million people
already availed treatment at various hospitals shared their challenges
and lessons in scaling up to galvanize
100 Young Social Innovators to discover how technology can help social
enterprises get more pervasive in coverage and impact.
Enthused
by the work done by social entrepreneurs and changes in public delivery
system at least five African countries are looking at Indian models of
development to solve the problems at the bottom of the pyramid, said Sam
Pitroda, as western models aren’t scalable.
An
in-depth report highlighting barriers to scale and how technology and
government can play a role in overcoming these challenges, specially
developed by Dasra team led by Neera Nundi, a strategic philanthropy
foundation, was unveiled by Mr Pitroda.
The
forum discussed technological and other challenges faced by social
innovators in sectors like agriculture represented by eFarm and
Logistimo, Education by Butterfly Fields and Gram Vaani, Healthcare by
Biosense and iKure, Energy by Simpa Networks and Onergy and Livelihood
by Amrita University and Jaldoot.
To
support social entrepreneurs set up new business models to bring about
change, efforts are underway to increase the corpus of National
Innovation Fund, as soon as it collects Rs 500 crore, including Rs 100
crore announced by the finance minister Pranab Mukerjee, said Sam
Pitroda. This fund is expected to be operational by June-July this year
About Action For India
Action For India (AFI) is a social start-up enterprise dedicated to helping social organizations scale their impact by leveraging Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). They offer training and guidance to social entrepreneurs to sustainably scale their organizations through the use of technology.
Action For India (AFI) is a social start-up enterprise dedicated to helping social organizations scale their impact by leveraging Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). They offer training and guidance to social entrepreneurs to sustainably scale their organizations through the use of technology.
AFI
recruits Young Social Innovators, people who lead organizations that are
able and willing to scale by leveraging technology, and provides them:
- Skills and Knowledge: Training and exposure to technology experts and social entrepreneurs
- Networks: AFI Mentors providing advice on selecting and implementing technology solutions, and an enabling ecosystem of youth networks, universities, and volunteers available to help implement scale up strategies
- Partnerships: AFI Partners consisting of technology companies and networks that can offer free or subsidized technology products and services
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