A social enterprise, by definition, is a business created to espouse, support and further a social purpose and cause, and is typically aimed at a specific group of people who are socially disadvantaged. A sustainable enterprise aims to achieve this in a financially sustainable and scalable manner.
A primary duty and responsibility of any government is to look after and help uplift the socially and economically disadvantaged. That is the reason it exists. Governments in several Scandinavian countries have been able to do this for their people through efficient governance, systems and processes. But emerging economies such as India have fallen way behind in this respect. Social enterprises in India have recognised the gaps in the system and have come up to address this need in diverse development areas and sectors.
In a country like India, where the social equation is still very skewed despite an ever burgeoning middle class, the government’s primary responsibility should lie in correcting that equation. Which is why it very clearly needs to re-evaluate its priorities and ascertain whether it should at all have anything to do with businesses other than infrastructure–airlines and hospitality, for instance. There is very little reason for government to exist in these two sectors, when ideally its focus should be on uplifting the socially and economically challenged sections.
The government has to support the social enterprises much more actively, and play a clearly defined supporting role in nurturing them. This can be done in two ways. One, by supporting them. The support does not necessarily have to be financial. It can come in various other ways and one possible way is by formulating a fair and transparent system of rewarding and recognising the value being created by the social entrepreneurs.
The second way is stepping in when scale-up is needed.
At a very basic level, the governments, both central and state, can help make social endeavours widespread and scalable. The media too can play a role in spreading awareness about these enterprises.
The author is Founder CEO and MD, mjunction services limited