The worst thing you can do is give a sense of dependency

[Rituu B. Nanda]

Sir Ratan Tata, shares his insights on the way forward with communities in India. Hearing him I could not help feel that this is what the world needs, not only India. I took some notes. Watch the video from 4:02 mins- 3 mins of your time!

1. The worst thing you can do to a country is to give everyone a sense of dependency on an outside force. You have to create sustainability that is self-generated.

He gives an example. If we have to create an environmental innovation but that innovation comes not only in nutritive things but also a more holistic approach in how to create prosperity in the village, and local livelihoods like fish ponds. We are not addressing these issues adequately in the country, many things can done. if the nutritive value of what we eat has diminished because we have allowed it to diminish.

2. When the foundation pulls out, the NGO collapses, the community collapses you have created a complacency factor...that money flows from the government, from the trust. The external agency has failed in not providing something that makes the community stronger, makes it more productive, gives it a sense of wanting to do something for itself, and creates pride in what it stands for; perhaps we have to change what we have been doing, be idea givers rather than money givers. 

Thanks, Sir Ratan Tata for reiterating a lesson we have been advocating in the Constellation- we move from being providers to facilitators. 

[Dr. E. Mohamed Rafique]

Hi Rituu, 

So nice to see a great man like Ratan Tata resonating with the principle or Theory of Change, or raison d'etre  of CLCP!

For, we all know that giving a faciliatory hand which mostly later on becomes a free hand to communities so that they are able to come up with their own dream and and own that dream as well, and consequently own the response, is the seed of sustainability.

Good to see you, Rituu, got Ratan on our side or on to the CLCP side. Accordingly, if we have a good proposal we can put it up to him. For, I did put up one, to him successfully, in the year 2000, a CSR one for all the Tata Companies in India, to implement their women empowerment, sexual health, and Gender policies, and his okay saw it through. :-)