Are India's rich charitable?

source: http://www.expressindia.com/story_print.php?storyId=594521




Are India's rich charitable?


Reuters Posted: Mar 23, 2010 at 1219 hrs


Mumbai The number of wealthy Indians has been rising fast over the last decade, but they're not ready yet to let go of their hard-earned cash, even for charity, according to a study by business consultancy Bain & Co.

The number of so-called high net worth individuals in India has grown at about 11 per cent every year since 2000, possibly the fastest pace in the world, to more than 115,000 now.

Two industrialists, Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani and Lakshmi Mittal, are among the five wealthiest individuals in the world, according to Forbes magazine.

But when it comes to giving away money, India's rich are not very keen on loosening their purse-strings.

Charitable giving in India probably totaled about $7.5 billion in 2009, according to the study by Bain & Co, equivalent to about 0.6 percent of the country's GDP.

That percentage is higher than Brazil's 0.3 percent and rival China's 0.1 percent, but it falls way short of the 2.2 percent in the United States, and 1.3 percent in Britain, the report said.

Most Indians have no qualms about giving cash to family, friends, household staff and religious institutions, but given the scale of poverty -- an estimated 40 percent of India's 1.1-billion population lives on less than $1.25 a day -- Indians need to become way more generous, said Bain partner Arpan Sheth.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/controversies/29635-are-indias-rich-charitable.html

Should individuals, particularly the well-off, be giving more? Can they afford to make larger donations? The answer to both these questions is absolutely yes, Sheth said at the first Indian Philanthropy Forum in Mumbai, the country's financial hub.

There are an estimated 2.5 million non-profit organisations in India, and about half of all donations in the country go to religious, sports and cultural organisations, the Bain study showed.

A huge 65 percent of donations comes from the central and state governments, with a focus on disaster relief. A large amount also comes from foreign organisations.

Only 10 percent comes from individuals and corporates, in sharp contrast to the United States, where 75 percent of charitable giving is from individuals and corporates, Sheth said.

And in India, its not about who has more money: in fact, the wealthiest social class has the lowest level of giving, just 1.6 percent of household income, which palls when compared to billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who has given away some 82 percent of his net worth.

Bain & Co's Sheth said Indians' reluctance to part with their cash stemmed from a variety of reasons including no tax breaks for charitable donations and a deep-seated suspicion of what charitable organisations really do with the money.

Accumulation of wealth is a fairly recent phenomenon in India -- it really began only with the opening of the markets, and we do have a history of scarcity, Sheth added.

So it may be harder for people to let go of their newly-earned wealth.

But change is coming: software czar Azim Premji and telecom tycoon Sunil Mittal have set up charitable foundations, and Vineet Nayyar, head of software firm Tech Mahindra recently gifted a third of his shares to another charity.

Such high-profile donations, private foundations, greater organisation in the NGO landscape and mass events that encourage fund raising, will encourage a greater culture of philanthropy in India, Sheth said.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=29635

What's also needed are conducive tax laws, he added.

NRI honoured in UK for charity work

However, there are others who do contribute to society in other ways.

Ajmar Singh Basra, an active member of Leicester's Sikh community who is involved in voluntary, social and charity work has been rewarded with an Honoured Citizen Award.

Basra is president of the Sikh Temple in Leicester and has been involved as a spokesman and sports organiser for the temple for many years.

He is also involved in local fundraising events, and organising free camps in Punjab, as well as being a leading member of Leicestershire's Vaisakhi festival committee.
Basra yesterday joined Leicester Lord Mayor Councillor Roger Blackmore for afternoon tea to receive the award.

 
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Giving money to religious institution is also a charity.Though many people will say that Religious institutions are corrupt but again the so called non profit organisations in India have little credit worthiness.Many of these organisations are just running so people can enjoy donations or convert Black money to White

Forget being Charitable. What you need to have a comprehensive welfare state in India.

• Free healthcare for all like the UK, Germany and France
• Welfare - help for unemployed, disabled etc
• Basics like clean water, sewerage, electricity and gas for all.
• Good Social Housing for all

Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=29635
I could make a massive list, but this is my measure of a civilised society and definitely along the lines of Nanakian Philosophy.

Oh come on India is developing country with 1.2 billion population.How could they Match the standard of countries Like UK France etc.These countries got developed after exploiting Other countries .You cannot expect India to reach their standard .

If India and china reached the standard of Living Like Europe then the resources of world will be wiped out very quickly

Now the mathematics involved in the problem is something to ponder. I never looked at it that way. Thanks for the shock therapy on that one.

narayanjot ji

We in India are already living with it.The price of many food items have sky rocketed in last 5 years.Many food items like fish are no longer in menu of middle class Indians not in coastal area because Fish is now very expensive.

George bush even blamed Indian for high food prices in world and He was partially right.as the consumption level goes up in India and china so does the price.


South Asia ,China are becoming regions where people are cramped up like sardines with very few natural resource's

Kanwardeep ji
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=29635

Well if the population rate were held steady in both countries - a zero growth - in theory the problem would not correct itself. Even if the population were to grow at 1 percent, the problem of consumption and high prices would continue to sky-rocket. Nutrition is a problem for both countries even though both are developing at a rapid pace. Famine was common before either country began its economic development path. This can't be allowed to become a catastrophe. The consequences are unimaginable, and even include war. Do we simply wait for the catastrophe, or have constructive plans been put forward?
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=29635

Historically socialist reforms have not been the answer, as the result tends to be that every one has less of everything. Incentives to create wealth through enterprise are dampened by regressive tax policies. So what to do?

So developing that they have a state of the art army and armed forces?

So developing that they can afford to launch rockets into space when even the UK can't?

Shall I go on?

Army is neccesity .Without Army India will fall like pack of cards.On 1 hand you have China on other Pakistan and then maoist rebels with this kind of situation You have to spend on Army.

As far development in other fields is concerned it very slow.Unlike UK India don't have any friends in world.UK is part of EU and There is hardly any difference between UK and usa.Racially ,religion wise culturally and even linguistically .If Uk has any problem then big Daddy USA will come while no one is going to come for India