Special Report

Manmohan Singh's 10-point social charter for India Inc

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presented a 10-point charter to make the country's growth process inclusive and invited the corporate sector to become the government's partner in creating a 'culture of caring, sharing and belonging'.

Addressing the annual general meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here, the prime minister asked India Inc to look closely at affirmative action, desist from non-competitive practices and fight the 'cancer' of corruption.

'I invite corporate India to be a partner in making ours a more humane and just society. We need a new partnership for inclusive growth based on a 10-Point social charter,' the prime minister, who completed three years in office May 22, said in a passionate speech.

'These are 10 areas in which industry leadership can go a long way to ensure our growth process is inclusive and broad-based. This is not an exhaustive list. You may wish to add to it and adopt your own charter for inclusive growth.'

Following are the 10 points spelt out by Manmohan Singh, during his talk on 'Inclusive Growth - Challenges for Corporate India':

  1. Have healthy respect for workers and invest in their welfare such as health, children's education, pension and provident fund;
  2. Corporate social responsibility is part of India's heritage must not be defined by tax planning alone;
  3. Industry must be proactive in offering jobs to the less privileged at all levels of the job ladder;
  4. Resist excessive remuneration to promoters and senior executives and discourage conspicuous consumption;
  5. Invest in people and in their skills, offer scholarships and fill young people with hope in their future;
  6. Desist from non-competitive behaviour and operation of cartels by groups of companies to keep prices high must end;
  7. Invest in environment-friendly technologies since India's growth must be enhanced and its ecology and environment protected for future generations;
  8. Promote enterprise and innovation so that Indian industry can make the leap to the next stage of development;
  9. Fight corruption at all levels since the cancer of corruption is eating into the vitals of our body politic;
  10. Promote and finance socially responsible media, advertising and causes.

'The objective of such a social charter would also be to encourage a culture of saving and investment - a culture of caring, sharing and belonging,' the prime minister said. 'We must end forever the debate whether our country's march of progress has benefited India and not Bharat,' he said, adding: 'The time has come for us to ask ourselves what can we give her (India) back.'

What remains to be seen is the level of implementation adopted…

Source: India PRwire/Indo Asian News Service,New Delhi, 2007-05-24 12:45:02