Where does India donate? Jhunjhunwala goes past cheque book

India has always had a rich heritage of philanthropy. We are a culture that venerates giving and for a long time giving has been a private act, intimate more individualistic. However, we are now seeing a rising trend of corporate philanthropy in recent times.

But, how much does India Inc give? Is the giving more in the form of cheque book giving or is there a greater focus today on understanding the impact and measuring outcomes. According to investment guru Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, there are three aspects to philanthropy. One is the standards we set for others, the empathy we feel and thirdly the meaning behind and the implementation of the charity done.

"I have progressed somewhere in selecting stocks, but very little in the charity I do or in the manner in which I do," he said.

Vidya Shah, executive director and head of the EdlGive Foundation talks about India Inc's attitude towards philanthropy with Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Amit Chandra, MD of Bain Capital; Rashesh Shah, chairman and CEO of Edelweiss Group and Anu Aga, ex-chairperson of Thermax.

Below is an edited transcript of the interview. Also watch the accompanying video.

Q: I have heard you say before that when are selecting a stock you look at the strategy, look at the company, you look at the management and then you leave the rest to god. Do you have a similar approach in philanthropy?

Jhunjhunwala: I am 52, and I am still young. As time progresses, people mature and see life at its truest levels and that's when one starts thinking about the meaning of things. I am still evolving as a human about what I should do with my wealth. I have decided to donate a minimum amount it, but what I would like to say is that I don't think my thoughts are very mature still, about how I am going to achieve the social or the charitable ends in my life.

I would like to point out one important thing which is that I don't look at charity as financial charity. I think there are three aspects to charity. I think the first and most important aspect is the standards that we set for society. I think that is the greatest charity that we can contribute. We say India today is nation which is harassed by corruption, but we got to look at ourselves and understand what social standard I am setting for others. I think that is most important and most lasting contribution of charity an individual can make.

Second I think is the empathy we that towards others who are not as well-off as we are. For example, the help at home have children who are of the same age as of my children. They play with my children and I see the enjoyment they get, but then I wonder if they don't miss htier children. I can take an attitude and say that I am Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, I have the wealth and he is some poor boy from Bihar, so what right does he have to stay with children. Instead of that, my conscious feels pricked looking at the way he plays with my children, because I know he will be missing his own children. So instead of trying to condemn that man, I should try and empathise with him. I think that's the second more important form of charity.

Third point is I feel that for corporate India the financial amounts are important, but the idea and the manner of implementation is what is very important. I still have the quest to learn, it's a journey and not destination. I have progressed somewhere in selecting stocks, but very little in the charity I do or in the manner in which I do.

Q: We have the market to evaluate company performance, strategies for everybody to see and analyse. Do we need somewhat similar approach to the way we start looking at what investments we should be making in the social sector?

Chandra: Yes and no, because when you make investments you are often thinking of what financial return you can make from this. I think the moment you start looking at the social sector, there is a whole dimension which is added to it which can only be explained by compassion. If you want to give to an NGO that serves the mentally challenged segment and you donate money to them, the impact at the end of the day is the fact that the child is taken care of; you are not going to be able to measure impact the way you can for a company.

So I think there is a whole aspect of empathy and compassion that you need to layer on to normal performance criteria that you use in the corporate world. I think without that, it becomes tough and in fact it becomes an excuse for most people not to give. They will say that we don't know whether our money is being used well. I know lots of companies we invest in are not using the money well, but that's not an excuse not to invest. So while we should definitely be very focused on performance of the not for profit sector like we would for the corporate world, I think we do need to also combine performance with this whole aspect of compassion when looking at the segment.