Guest Hiten. Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 BANGALORE: In the largest act of philanthropy by an Indian, Wipro chairman Azim Premji will give about Rs 8,846 crore ($2 billion) to improve school education in India. Other donations to charitable institutions by any person or corporation in India pale in comparison to this massive endowment. It effectively silences critics who say Indian billionaires are measly donors compared to foreign counterparts, and that they focus on big-name western universities rather than addressing India's problems. Premji, India's third richest man with a net worth of $18 billion, will transfer 213 million equity shares of Wipro Ltd, held by a few entities controlled by him, to the Azim Premji Trust. It will fund educational activities of the Azim Premji Foundation (APF) which works mainly with schools in rural India. He had previously transferred over Rs 700 crore to the APF. Premji said more may come in future. ``I'm completely committed to supporting the larger ambition of creating the required social change.'' The money will be transferred to the trust by next Tuesday and Wipro's former strategy chief K R Lakshminarayana will be its chief endowment officer. A $2-billion endowment even at a conservative return of 8%-12% should generate annual returns of $160-250 million (Rs 750-1,150 crore), which will be used to run APF initiatives, including the Bangalore-based Azim Premji University. ``We believe that good education is crucial to building a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society. We want to contribute significantly towards improvement of education in India, and through that towards building a better society,'' he said. ``All our efforts, including the university we are setting up, are focused on the under-privileged and disadvantaged sections of our society. Our experience of the past 10 years has motivated us to significantly scale up our initiatives, across multiple relevant dimensions.'' So far, the nine-year-old APF has worked extensively in six districts -- two in Uttarakhand, two in Rajasthan and two in Karnataka. Dileep Ranjekar, co-CEO of APF called this the beginning of APF's second life. ``The current phase we're launching is based on 10 years of experience wherein we realized what needs to be done to scale this in a concrete manner.'' His co-CEO Anurag Behar said, ``The aim is to increase the deep focus to 50 more districts across India.'' Such a huge financial commitment has been made mainly because a university cannot be run without a large endowment. For example, if AP University were to follow the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) model which meets just 14%-15% of its costs from student fees, the AP University will need to meet 85% of costs from non-fee based resources. ``The foundation's significant increase in scale and its clear focus on social purposes will require a substantial long-term financial commitment, which is the purpose this endowment will serve,'' Premji said. The university, offering post-graduate courses in education and development, will start with 200 students in 2011 and scale to 2,000 in 4-5 years. The foundation will also create district-level institutions with 50-70 people in each and these state and district resource centres will support improvement in education, especially in disadvantaged areas. The APF said it will continue to partner state governments (including continuing with its existing programmes), institutions, NGOs and individuals. Will others follow suit? Will Premji inspire rich Indians to part with their wealth? That's a billion-dollar question but the American example may have the answer. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathway are persuading wealthy Americans to give at least 50% of their wealth to charity. They're even asking people to take a pledge they will do so, and with considerable success. In India, the tech sector has led the way in giving away some of its wealth. All Infosys co-founders have charitable arms mainly in education but also in water management, health, etc. Terrific gesture and a brilliant sector to be injecting your wealth. Kudos to Azimji !
bihutoli Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 Hats off. Foundations of this nature should be open to public donations too. The private sector has the capability to bring about some level of social change, and the capital to do so too. Long to see the day when we see improvements in the way of life for our rural sectors (similar to what our urban areas have seen) inspite of the government.
ravishingravi Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 Azim Premji - "My Lessons in Life" http://www.indiastudychannel.com/resources/16919-Azim-Premji-My-Lessons-Life.aspx
Sachinism Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 Education is the way forward. Good going :two_thumbs_up:
jf1gp_1 Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 Isnt it refreshing to see such things specially when every new day brings a new scam. Besides he has been investing on education for over a decade now and his foundation ensures money is rightly used.
Ram Posted December 2, 2010 Posted December 2, 2010 $2 bn and an Indian billionaire.. Where else have I heard these terms before recently? :hmmm: :D
ViruRulez Posted December 3, 2010 Posted December 3, 2010 Always respected Tata, Premji and Subroto Roy amongst Indian business leaders. And they are proving every day why they deserve the respect. Ambanis surely need to introspect. I have never heard anything being done by Ambanis for India or for any human causes. Their only trial was a publicity stint by Nita Ambani during the IPL and nothing more was seen or heard after that too. Perhaps they are too high above the ground on the 27 storey fugly house to notice other humans or even the nation. :hatsoff: Premji
ravishingravi Posted December 3, 2010 Posted December 3, 2010 This is a letter from Azim Premji to =ll employees at Wipro. Dear Wiproite, My own successes and =etbacks along the way have taught me some lessons. I wish to share them with you and =ope you will find them useful. Lesson #1: Be careful to ask what you want. =ou may get it. What this means is that do =ot ask too little either of yourself or the others around you. What you ask is =hat you get. When I look back at the time when I joined Wipro, I was 21. If you =sk me whether I thought that Wipro would grow so by someday, the honest answer =s that I did not. But neither did I think it would not. We constantly stretched =ourselves to higher and higher targets. Sometimes, it seemed possible, =ometimes fanciful and sometimes plain insane. But we never stopped raising =imits. And we got a lot more than what we bargained for. Lesson # 2: Respond, don’t react Always be aware of your =motions and learn to manage them. There is a huge difference between people who =eact impulsively and those who can disengage themselves and then respond at =ill. By choosing to respond differently, we can prevent another person from =ontrolling our behaviour. I remember a small story that illustrates this well. =here was once a newspaper vendor who had a rude Customer. Every morning, the =ustomer would walk by, refuse to return the greeting, grab the paper off the =helf and throw the money at the vendor. The vendor would pick up the money, smile =politely and say, “Thank you, Sir.” One day, the =endor’s assistant asked him, “Why are you always so polite with him when he is so rude to you? =hy don’t you throw the newspaper at him when he comes back tomorrow?” The =endor smiled and replied, “He can’t help being rude and I can’t help =eing polite. Why should I let his rude behaviour dictate mine? Lesson # 3: Intuitions are important for =aking decisions It is important to realize =hat our intuition is a very important part of decision making. Many things are =ecorded by our subconscious. Use both sides of the brain. Even that is not =nough. Some decisions need the use of the heart as well. When you use your mind and =eart together, you may get a completely new and creative answer . Lesson # 4: Learn to work in =eams The challenges ahead are so =omplex that no individual will be able to face them alone. While most of our =ducation is focused in individual strength, teaming with others is equally =mportant. You cannot fire a missile from a canoe. Unless you build a strong network of =eople with complimentary skills, you will be restricted by your own =imitations. Globalisation has brought people of different origins, different upbringing and different cultures together. Ability to become an =ntegral part of a cross-cultural team will be a must for your success. Lesson #5: Never lose your zest and =uriosity All the available knowledge in =he world is accelerating at a phenomenal rate. The whole world's codified =nowledge base (all documented information in library books and electronic files) =oubled every 30 years in the early 20th century. By the 1970s, the world's knowledge =ase doubled every seven years. Information researchers predict that by the =ear 2010, the world's codified knowledge will double every 11 hours. =emaining on top of what you need to know will become one of the greatest challenges =or you. The natural zest and curiosity for learning is one of the greatest =rivers for keeping updated on knowledge. A child’s curiosity is =nsatiable because every new object is a thing of wonder and mystery. The same zest is =eeded to keep learning new things. I personally spend at least 10 hours every =eek on reading. If I do not do that, I will find myself quickly outdated. Lesson # 6: Put yourself first This does not mean being =elfish. Nor does it mean that you must become so full of yourself that that you =ecome vain or arrogant. It means developing your self confidence. It means, =eveloping an inner faith in yourself that is not shaken by external events. It =equires perseverance. It shows up in the ability to rebound from a setback with =ouble enthusiasm and energy. I came across a recent Harvard Business review =hich describes this very effectively : “No =ne can truly define success and failure for us- only we can define that for =urselves. No one can take away our dignity unless we surrender it. No one can take away =ur hope and pride unless we relinquish them. No one can steal our creativity, imagination and skills unless we stop thinking. No one can stop us from rebounding unless we give up.” And there is no way we can take care of =thers, unless we take care of ourselves. Lesson # 7: Have a broader social vision While there is every reason to =e excited about the future, we must not forget that we will face many =hallenges as well. By 2015, we will have 829 million strong workforce. That will =ake India home to 18% of global working-age =opulation. The key challenge is to transform that into a globally competitive =ork-force. This will not be an easy task. Despite all the rapid economic expansion seen =n recent years, job growth in India still trails the =ise in working-age population. It is important that gains are spread across =his spectrum, so that the divide between the employed and the =nder-employed, is minimised. Education is a crucial enabler that can make this growth as =quitable as possible. Lesson # 8: Play to win Playing to win is not the =ame as playing dirty. It is not about winning all the time or winning at any =ost. Playing to win is having the intensity to stretch to the maximum and =ringing our best foot forward. Winning means focusing on the game. The score =oard tells you where you are going, but don’t concentrate too much on it. If =ou can focus on the ball, the scores will move by themselves. I recently came across =his story that I thought I would share with you A group of alumni, highly =stablished in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. =ffering his guests coffee, the professor went into the kitchen. He returned with = large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, =rystal- some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – and asked =hem to help themselves to coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in =and, the professor said: "If you =oticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and =heap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, =ou were more concerned about comparing your cups but what you really wanted was =offee. Yet you spent all your time eyeing each other's cups. Now if life is =offee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just =ools to contain Life, but cannot really change the quality of Life. =ometimes, by over concentrating on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee." I wish you all every success =n your career and your life. Azim Premji PS. there was a problem with the format. Hence the "="
kabira Posted December 3, 2010 Posted December 3, 2010 Always respected Tata, Premji and Subroto Roy amongst Indian business leaders. And they are proving every day why they deserve the respect. Ambanis surely need to introspect. I have never heard anything being done by Ambanis for India or for any human causes. Their only trial was a publicity stint by Nita Ambani during the IPL and nothing more was seen or heard after that too. Perhaps they are too high above the ground on the 27 storey fugly house to notice other humans or even the nation. :hatsoff: Premji And our Anil Ambani's plan for Vedanta University is in the dumps. He was planning to put $1 billion on it.
coffee_rules Posted December 3, 2010 Posted December 3, 2010 $2 bn and an Indian billionaire.. Where else have I heard these terms before recently? :hmmm: :D Well, You spend $2 bn, if the wife demands. Does Azim have a beautiful wife?
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