Catch ‘em young: Kalam

Former President of India A P J Abdul Kalam exhorted the schools to teach children to become leaders at a young age as that would help in nation building. And while applauding CSR spend on worthy projects across the country, he also exhorted the corporate world to establish guidelines for fair business practice to safeguard consumer interest. He was speaking as chief guest at the 27th Council for Fair Business Practices awards for high ethics with ONGC, New Delhi. Former Supreme Court judge justice B N Srikrishna was the jury chief. Kalam said that Rs 12000 crore had been generated through the 2 percent corporate social responsibility contributions in the country from the corporates and he recalled a project in Orissa on education and eye centre for the underprivileged. He said global vision 2030 puts the focus on a plethora of problems plaguing the society. He said that primary among them was poverty. The others are education, safe drinking water, equitable distribution of resources, and affordable basic health care. The council should come out with suggestions on doing its bit to ensure that development comes with equal opportunities for all segments of society. Kalam also spoke about rural empowerment in the sense that education at the grassroots is the key for all round development of the nation. He said, “A leader thinks of “giving” hence schools ought to teach children to become leaders right from childhood by telling them not to “ask” but to “give”. Shyamni was Somani president of the Council told later that the awards were given to deserving business houses after a stringent check on their accomplishments in several categories including social responsibility and business ethics. Advocate Swapnil Kothari who was the executive planning member of the event said it was a success. -