There are dedicated university research centres and teaching programs for future social entrepreneurs established at universities including Harvard (the Social Enterprise Initiative at the Harvard Business School) and Oxford (the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Said Business School), special issues on social entrepreneurship have also appeared in scholarly journals.
While social entrepreneurship has various similarities to commercial entrepreneurship, one of the primary differences is in the type of value generated. While commercial entrepreneurs are mostly interested in the creation of economic value, social entrepreneurs are driven by the creation of social value .Thus, for social entrepreneurs what is central and unique is the social mission.
The label “social entrepreneur” has a short history, but the practice of social entrepreneurship (SE) has a long past. Social entrepreneurship practitioners have always existed, around the world including in India. Florence Nightingale, who had transformed the theory of hospital conditions in the late 1800s , and John Durand, who had worked with mentally retarded people in the early 1960s are examples of extraordinary individuals who brought about social change and whom we could label today as social entrepreneurs. To understand the status of social entrepreneurship in India, it is imperative to take into consideration the socio cultural and historical context in which it exists. Studies have highlighted that in the Indian psyche one’s place in the society has a moral perspective. Thus, the value of ‘giving’ and the need to fulfill one’s duty towards the society (as opposed to fulfilling individual needs) is deep rooted in Indian social values and identity.
Mahatma Gandhi had an idea of “Social transformation” entrenched in the very concept of freedom. For Gandhi, it was not just the struggle for political freedom against the British Empire but also promoting and developing an empowered grass-root society. Inspired by Gandhi Vinoba Bhave had redistributed more than 7,000,000 acres of land to support India's untouchables and landless people through the “Land Gift Movement” .The Gandhian doctrine of “trusteeship” that focused on the economic equality and empowerment of the society had also influenced several industrialists of that time including G D Birla and Jamunalal Bajaj . Consequently, it also became the guiding principle for large social ventures such as SEWA and LIJJAT. Other leading examples of socially sensitive individuals who have applied innovative business models to deal with social problems are the founders of Aravind Eye Hospital , Jaipur foot , the rainwater harvesting for schools pioneered by Barefoot College and Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital of Cardiac Care.
While the economy has been witnessing rapid growth since the onset of liberalization in 1991, the social and environmental problems of the country are constantly increasing, requiring an extensive application of multidisciplinary approaches and entrepreneurial energy in the social and environmental sectors. It is essential to constantly encourage social innovation as a tool in the social field to deal with the most urgent contemporary problems that we are facing. And in order to achieve the Millennium development goals such as eradication of hunger and poverty, promoting gender equality and empowerment of women etc., we need several young social entrepreneurs who can transform the society through their innovative approaches and make it their ‘business’ to not only change India but to make the world a better place.
E CELL, FMS DELHI
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