Indian Companies have spent more than Rs. 1 trillion on CSR, says Anurag Thakur at 13th Social Entrepreneurship Awards

New Delhi, 17th September, 2022: The Jubilant Bhartiya Foundation, in collaboration with the Schwab Foundation, hosted the 13th social entrepreneurship awards 2022-India on September 15th to celebrate the advancement of social innovation worldwide. Lok Sabha MP Anurag Thakur graced the event as chief guest.

The awards recognize the individuals and organizations who implement innovative, sustainable and large-scale solutions to address poverty, indignity and the lack of basic services and resources in bottom of the pyramid and ultra-poor communities.

Anurag Thakur in his speech mentioned that social entrepreneurship is an effort to bring existing and exciting ideas to the economic, environmental, and healthcare sectors. Since its establishment in March 2022, Indian companies have spent more than 1 trillion rupees on corporate social responsibility.

“Investments in the environment and sustainability will be critical not just in attaining our common objective of a $5 trillion economy, but also in meeting sustainable development targets by 2030. It’s a tremendous work that we’ve done; 20,000 to 30,000 individuals were given jobs in rural areas,” he said.

Highlighting the steps taken by government to promote Entrepreneurship in India, MP Anurag Thakur stated, “To foster innovation and entrepreneurship in schools, colleges, and society at large, as well as to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country, Atal Innovation mission has taken a holistic approach to ensure the creation of a problem-solving mindset in schools and colleges, as well as to create an ecosystem of entrepreneurship in universities, private, and MSME sectors.”

“In India, over 9500 Atal Tinkering labs have been created across 722 districts and Entrepreneurs have made significant contributions to the government’s vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” he added.

He also emphasized the Digital India campaign, stating that the government is on a mission to bring Internet, Cable, and optical fibres to every village and currently, 1.5 lakh panchayats have access to it.

Aniket Deogar of Haqdarshak was declared as the winner of the 13th Social Entrepreneurship Awards 2022. Haqdarshak provides every citizen and small and medium-sized business with access to government social and financial services.

Speaking to Ten News Network, Aniket Deogar of Haqdarshak stated, “The goal of Haqdarshak is to strengthen the socioeconomic conditions of communities and elevate their standard of living by assuring ‘last-mile’ service delivery of government social and financial services.”

Aniket also underlined the challenges he encountered, adding that it was all about the resources and the work of place, but the recognition was still fairly good. Lastly, he concluded with a message to entrepreneurs, saying, “India is a large country with many problems that require varied solutions, so simply get on the ground and begin.”