BLENDING GANDHIAN CONCEPTS INTO CSR STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE RURAL DEVELOPMENT 
TISS Mumbai
Proposed MPhil-PhD Dissertation
Title of Proposed Study:
BLENDING GANDHIAN CONCEPTS INTO CSR STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Rationale for Study:
The three major concepts which the thesis revolves around are:
i) Gandhian Socio-economic Analytical Framework ii) Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) and Strategies iii) Integral and Sustainable Rural Development
All of these strands are powerful enough in their individual spheres but if these are blended into a concept for sustainable rural development, a new paradigm for social change in rural India is possible, where there is endemic poverty which can be rooted out with the help of all stakeholders (the Government, corporates, NGOs and the rural people themselves). All of these are major areas for research and have attracted the attention of many scholars and academicians. But to my knowledge there is no blending of all these concepts to bring about sustainable rural development and poverty alleviation in India.
1. Gandhian Concepts and their Relevance Today
In Indian society, families and communities are important contexts for relationships and there is more emphasis on duties than rights. The reason is that Indian culture tends to be more holistic rather than analytical and wisdom-oriented rather than science-oriented. The driving forces of this wisdom-oriented learning are rooted in age-old norms which Gandhiji espoused in his economic principles as under:
i) The Humanism of the Bhakti (devotion) Movement ii) Swarajya (Self-rule) and Lokneeti (people’s policy) Precepts iii) Sarvodaya (well-being of all) Movement iv) Socialism meaning Antodaya (poorest of the poor, first and always)
These guiding principles have been the corner-stone of Gandhian Economics and are achievable despite the Indian traditions which mention the irrelevance of material gains in the absence of a backdrop of spirituality, decency, societal consciousness and the appreciation of one’s duties to Society and to
Proposed MPhil-PhD Dissertation
Title of Proposed Study:
BLENDING GANDHIAN CONCEPTS INTO CSR STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Rationale for Study:
The three major concepts which the thesis revolves around are:
i) Gandhian Socio-economic Analytical Framework ii) Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) and Strategies iii) Integral and Sustainable Rural Development
All of these strands are powerful enough in their individual spheres but if these are blended into a concept for sustainable rural development, a new paradigm for social change in rural India is possible, where there is endemic poverty which can be rooted out with the help of all stakeholders (the Government, corporates, NGOs and the rural people themselves). All of these are major areas for research and have attracted the attention of many scholars and academicians. But to my knowledge there is no blending of all these concepts to bring about sustainable rural development and poverty alleviation in India.
1. Gandhian Concepts and their Relevance Today
In Indian society, families and communities are important contexts for relationships and there is more emphasis on duties than rights. The reason is that Indian culture tends to be more holistic rather than analytical and wisdom-oriented rather than science-oriented. The driving forces of this wisdom-oriented learning are rooted in age-old norms which Gandhiji espoused in his economic principles as under:
i) The Humanism of the Bhakti (devotion) Movement ii) Swarajya (Self-rule) and Lokneeti (people’s policy) Precepts iii) Sarvodaya (well-being of all) Movement iv) Socialism meaning Antodaya (poorest of the poor, first and always)
These guiding principles have been the corner-stone of Gandhian Economics and are achievable despite the Indian traditions which mention the irrelevance of material gains in the absence of a backdrop of spirituality, decency, societal consciousness and the appreciation of one’s duties to Society and to
References: 1. Arora, B. and Puranik, R. (2004). A Review of Corporate Social Responsibility in India. Development, 47(3), 93-100. 2. Bernholz, L (1999). Foundations for the Future: Emerging Trends in Foundation Philanthropy, USA. Retrieved from www.blueprintrd.com/text/futurefound.pdf 3 5. Chambers, R. (1990). Rural development: putting the last first. CTA, Netherlands. 6. Chatterji, M (2011). Corporate Social Responsibility. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 7. Eakin, E. (2003). How to Save the World? Treat It Like a Business. The New York Times, December 20th 2003. Retrieved May 30th 2011, from http://www.collegesummit.org/images/uploads/PP-How_to_Save_The_World-Treat_it_Like_a_Business.pdf. 8. Goel, M. M. (2013). Gandhian Model of Inclusive Growth. Public Affairs And Governance, 1(2), 78-96. 9. Karmakar, KG. and Karmakar A (2013). Unpublished article CSR in Rural India: Need for NGO Tie-ups (Written as a chapter for a book on CSR in India edited by Dr. D P Yadav and being published by Cambridge University Press) 10 11. Wadekar, B. S. (2011). Relevance of Gandhian Thoughts for Practicing Corporate Social Responsibilities. Indian Streams Research Journal, Vol.1, Issue IX (pp.1-4).