Wealth for welfare

High taxation on wealth and income has a negative impact on philanthropy and also generates black money which is seldom used constructively. The views of the patriarch of the Forbes Marshall Group (the Poona-based steam engineering and process control instrumentation firm), Darius Forbes, were expressed in an inter­view with Noshir Dadrawala in Philanthropy (November-December 2004). The government shou­ld adopt policies to encourage indus­tries to generate more wealth which in turn could be channeled for welfare and development, he recommended. He also believed that the government should consider enhancing tax deductions for charitable donations from the present 50 percent to a full hundred percent.

Wary of giving that could cause dependency either in an individual or institution, Forbes noted that philanthropy ‘cannot be taught but it can be caught’ by observing role models. A firm proponent of ‘personal involvement’ and ‘commitment beyond cheque writing’ Forbes conveyed that "personal involvement is missing when one gives to an institution.” However this does not detract from the fact that the Forbes Marshall Group partners with a number of non-governmental organizations to implement programs for education, health, micro-credit, etc.

D. Forbes: role model

In July 2004 was set up the Forbes-DRF (Dr Reddy’s Foun­dation) training center in Poona to offer courses in hospitality as well as customer relations and sales to young adults from economically weak backgrounds and then help them secure placements. Impressed with the functioning of the Livelihood Advancement Business School (LABS) run by Dr Reddy’s Foundation in Hyderabad, Forbes’ daugh­ter-in-law Rati sought to introduce the project in Poona "confi­dent that this program will grow in our city, reaching out to more and more youth from underprivileged backgrounds, ensuring them employability,” as mentioned an article in Business India, January 3-16, 2005.

R. Forbes: social res-ponsibility

Over the years Rati has initiated various community develop­ment programs like a hospital on the plant premises, providing nursing care at home for the elderly, adult literacy classes, vocational training and income generation projects for women to improve the quality of life of people living in the company’s neighborhood. She has been in charge of the company’s social responsibility initiative for which it spends between two to four percent of its Rs 150-crore turnover, states Business India. For over two years she was in charge of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s western region social development cell when she met the decision-makers of 25 or 30 companies and learnt of their willingness to do something but scant knowledge of where to start. Beginning with just nine youngsters off the street in 2000, the LABS program is now operational across 41 centers in five states, having trained 15,500 young adults of whom nearly 13,000 are employed, with the rest opting for higher education or self-employment, as conveyed Business India.