Major-General (Retd) D N Khurana, director-general of the association, believes the time has come for the corporate sector to take up responsibilities in the social sector.

``In the past, the government was perceived to be the sole controlling authority for bringing about socio-economic changes in the country. Profit-making happened to be the only preoccupation with the corporate bodies. But that's changing now. Management strategists now believes that business development has close linkages with the socio-economic profile of the place and people that surround individual organisations. This has sparked off high interest in what we call corporate citizenship,'' avers Khurana.

The concept of corporate citizenship emanates from the needfor building national wealth. Khurana believes the liberalisation process has provided the corporate world with a much wider choice of market, technology and capital.

``If the government has liberalised and given corporates an opportunity to create as much wealth as they can, it is for the corporates to return that compliment and do their bit for the nation,'' he says.

The AIMA chief believes that corporate citizenship has two main objectives: one is the national aim, and the other is the self-serving goal.

``Development of the social sector will improve the quality of the manpower pool and corporate organisations will be direct beneficiaries of this,'' he says.

In the realm of social development, AIMA is looking at four key areas: health, education, ecological environment and population control.

``Corporate organisations are in a good position to identify the key issues that impinge on the health sector, by virtue of their geographical spread,'' says Khurana.

``Perhaps business houses could lookat augmenting the facilities of the primary health centres at the district and block levels. Many of the centres, as we know, are woefully short of supply of medicines. There are not enough doctors and specialists working in these areas,'' he adds.

AIMA will also look into the common health problems that come up in specific industrial clusters. ``Take the Tirupur textiles cluster, for example. People living in this area are known to suffer from respiratory problems because of the kind of particles that are released into the environment by the textile factories there. Our study will explore the remedies to such problems and in what way the business groups in these areas can solve this problem,'' says Khurana.

There are other industrial-cluster specific problems that need to be addressed, such as the health problems of coal miners, eye related problems of software professionals, and so on. ``It is for the corporate organisations to identify and provide specialised treatment for people in these sectors,''says Khurana.

``Gradually, community living will become the focal point of the business environment,'' he adds.

``We are also looking into the mental well-being of workers. It is not enough to give away Diwali and New Year gifts to employees. Managers must work towards creating a sense of belonging amongst all employees of their respective organisations. This can happen if the organisation cares for its people,'' says the AIMA chief.

``At Infosys, Bangalore, the management has found an innovative means of meeting the psychological needs of their employees. This kind of a framework can be extended to a much wider corporate circle,'' he says.

However, in the pursuit of social development and HR, organisations must not turn patriarchal, cautions Khurana. Every input in the social sector must be quantified and seen from the standpoint of long-term business goals. Social obligation must figure in the vision statement of companies. This will benefit both the provider and receiver of the social developmentprogrammes, he adds.

What about philanthropy? Khurana feels that ``philanthropy is a negative concept. It is very different from social obligation or responsibility. Philanthropy is meant to meet mere self-centred goals.''

``Our aim is to develop a paper on the management of health issues and to get the optimum out of every rupee spent on the sector. Health, being in the government sector, suffers from lack of professional management. We hope to build corporate interface with the health sector,'' he says.

``We recommend the setting up of corporate hospitals, not inaccessible places like Apollo Hospital, but the type that are non-profit organisations that cater to the less-privileged people,'' he says.

Khurana feels that ``corporate organisations can subsidise the cost of medicines in the rural sector, pay for doctors working in these areas. Business houses can chip in in so many ways.''

The `health study' will be complete by the year-end. ``The research paper will throw up studied options fornational debate and policy making,'' Khurana states.

``AIMA has no vested interest in taking up the subject. We are a group of professional managers, not a pressure group. We will provide studied options, not a baked solution and expect the acceptance level to be quite high,'' he adds.

``AIMA has the right credentials to conduct this study. Our membership runs right across the country,'' claims Khurana.

The apex body is all set to create a healthy tomorrow.