Impact of Change in Social Structure in India on NRI Parents

Consider this: There are more than 20 million NRI as per a release from Morgan Stanley. Of these more than 50% have moved out of India in the last 20 years when globalization became an important driving force for the world economy and Indian talent started getting recognized world over. First it was the engineers and doctors, then MBAs and software professionals. Now even Indian teachers, lawyers, nurses, practically everybody has career options outside India.

In this globalized world, the societal structures have changed so rapidly that it has left a lot to be desired in terms of creating services that meet the challenges for the globalized Indian and the parents of NRI.

Good Old Days!

Just to give you an example of this change, three decades back when I was a child, we had one family in the whole of the neighborhood who had their son working abroad. In fact that was how even today we refer to them whenever such discussions happen. Also, there was only a single Ambassador car in the whole neighborhood and it was a matter of pride for the whole neighborhood's children to push it on every Sunday for it to start and get a free ride on it for a few minutes. Each neighbor was known by name and everyone had time for everybody, I guess as they did not have 125 channels and no remote to flip through all of them at least once a day. Chitrahar on Wednesdays and Sunday movie were perhaps the only occasions when you could find everyone inside their homes unless someone was particularly interested in Krishi Darshan too! Those were the days...

Current Situation

Now, we hardly know our neighbours, have so many cars that the most neighbourhoods resemble car parking lots, multiple TV sets to cater to the everyday increasing channels with their own "Breaking News" story and what not. Although the younger generation has rapidly adapted to the new India that is striving to become a world power, this change has not been so kind for the elderly in the country. Our parents and elders in our society had actually never imagined in their wildest dreams to see such a situation. Although most are proud that their wards are doing so well in their careers, but their inadequate preparation both mental as well as financial to cater to a situation where they would be required to fend for themselves at an age where traditionally all the worries especially of their health were left to their sons has left them struggling to find solutions. Gone are the days when the only responsibility they had as grandparents was to narrate a new story everyday for their grandchildren.

Career or Parents?

So what can be done? Do we compromise our careers and become caretakers of our elders? Or do we turn a blind eye on their problems and be happy to send a financial allowance to take care of their problems. Actually the problems of the elders are more to do with loneliness and assurance than only being financial.

To my mind, the best solution is to develop services that cater to the needs of the elderly in our country. Services that are reliable, trustworthy and meeting the needs of the elderly.

For example, medical care is one of the key areas of concern for both the elderly as well as their NRI children living abroad. However, till date there are not many healthcare organizations that cater to the medical needs of the elderly. It is not that the NRI parent need a super specialized doctor every time, but wouldn't it be great to have a healthcare managers who takes care of the medical needs of the elderly by organizing doctor visits at home, basic investigations as well as provide emergency assistance if required.

NRI Parents Healthcare

Healthcare firms have recently started to recognize this growing problem. There are now firms that are exclusively dedicated to providing medical services at home for family members of NRI. An interesting model that is being followed is by providing avenues for the NRI children to directly opt for medical plans for their parents through e-payment models. This not only provides the adult children an avenue to contribute their bit for providing medical support for their parents back in the country but also provides a sense of relief for the parents who are happy that their children take care of them, a notion that they have grown up with.

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Comfort of GDP Against Social Insecurity

In 2006, the GDP per capita of USA was 8, China stood at 131 and India was at 160 just one rank above Pakistan. In 2009, the highest GDP was USA, China occupied third position and India stood at 11position. In 2010, USA retains its first position, China moved up to to second and India remained at 11 position.

China and India jointly account for 2.4 billion people, which is roughly 40 percent of the total population of the world. It has been reported that India's GDP (PPP) is four trillion whereas China's GDP (PPP) is ten trillion. It is also predicted that GDP India and GDP China will witness an overwhelming growth that will transcend the G7 countries, that includes United States of America, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and United Kingdom. It is assumed that by the year 2050, both India GDP and China GDP will witness a gigantic growth. The current GDP of China is USD two trillion which is predicted to reach USD 48.6 trillion by 2050. On the other hand, India's current GDP is USD one trillion, which will become USD 27 trillion by that time.
The rapid growth is attributed to the reforms in these two countries, China since 1970's and India since 1990s. China's growth has resulted from the rapid rise in the manufacturing of high-tech goods in the country under the large-scale high-tech manufacturing foreign firms. The infrastructural development in China has also been higher than that of India. In general, China spends much more in its infrastructural facilities than India. India's strength is identified in its robust public sector financial institutions. Both countries benefitted from export earnings in IT and FDI mainly from overseas non residents.
The extraordinary upscale of GDP China and GDP India attracted attention and admiration of the world and it provided a strong boost for their respective national self esteem and confidence. But the picture of overall national health indicator is sadly dimmed by the social sector poor delivery in both countries. China's education program, health policy, wage structure and civil service reforms in a big way have provided the desired support base for a focus planning and implementation. India's social sector policy and implementation strategy is however weakened terribly by the stark absence of civil service reforms which can assist in public policy for a much better focus approach. This has resulted in inadequate budget planning and outcome manifested in poor delivery of services leaving India a home of the most illiterate, poorest, and largest number of unemployment in the world.

Placing the two countries on a race is quite irrelevant when PPP as an economic indicator is not a measurement of social impact from the economic growth. Higher GDP growth does not lead to automatic growth in social sector. It needs resource transfer to social sector with planning for mobilisation, allocation and spending. The exercise from micro to macro planning covering the entire social sector for efficient and effective public service delivery requires expert support of public and social policy. Who will bell the cat for capacity building through civil service reforms to perform in social sector? So far, there is pin drop silence on the issue.

If a race is to be conjectured between the two Asian Giants, the winner will go to the sharper mind to identify the problem and innovate ideas to give solution. The loser could be the complacent one who thinks will win despite all the odds.

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Corporate Social Responsibility in India

India has become one of fast growing economies of the world. It is growing at the rate of 9 per cent p.a. As an emerging market all are looking at India from an international perspective. At the stage when India is set to acquire a global position, it is essential to gauge whether the economic growth is due to successful business operations. Organizations must realize that government alone will not be able to get success in its endeavor to uplift the downtrodden of society. The present societal marketing concept of companies is constantly evolving and has given rise to a new concept-Corporate Social Responsibility. Many of the leading corporations across the world had realized the importance of being associated with socially relevant causes as a means of promoting their brands. Cause-related marketing and corporate social responsibility has provided companies with a new tool to compete in the market. CSR refers to the corporation's obligation to all the stakeholders. It stems from the desire to do good and get self satisfaction in return as well as societal obligation of business. This could be a strategic marketing activity a way for a company to do well by doing good-distinct from sales promotion, corporate philanthropy, corporate sponsorship, corporate Samaritan acts and public relations. Now, it is assumed to be responsibility of the business houses too.

Nothing builds brand loyalty among today's increasingly hard to please consumers, like a company's proven commitment to a worthy cause. Other things being equal many consumers would do business with a company that stands for something beyond profits. In nutshell, CSR and cause related marketing results in increased sales, visibility, and consumer loyalty and enhanced company image along with positive media coverage.

Rural India has a population of 700 million people spread across 6,38,000 villages. Thus more than 60 per cent of India's total population is rural by nature. A report by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) shows that rural consumers comprise more than 50% of consumers and are a prime market for consumer goods and essential services. Culture is the pillar of our country and if the pillar has strength, then it can raise our country to a top level. Organizations are helping to sustain as well as revive the rich culture of the country through their programs. Today, India's literacy rate stands around 65 per cent, up from 52 per cent in 1991. (NSSO Survey) Considering the rate of increase, it would take some 20 to 25 years to clear this problem. Hence, the CSR agenda of corporate consider rural development as one of the important dimension.

On the other hand, a nonprofit organization is an organization, which exists for providing some benefit or assistance or a sort of self-help group. Like the name suggests, the organization will have all the properties of a profit-making organization, i.e. a mission statement, a vision, offices, infrastructure etc., but the objective will not include making a profit out of its operations. However, to run any organization, funds are needed, and this has to come in to the non-profit in terms of financial i.e. grants, subsidies, donations etc or services in terms of staff support or infrastructure support.. The sources for these funds could be individuals, the government or other charitable institutions and finally companies. These business houses through their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiatives contribute to the mission of social progress and growth of India.

Defining Corporate social responsibility

Definitional issues regarding "corporate social responsibility" (CSR) have been debated since many years. Early CSR models was initiated in the early 1960s.It showed the "social" aspect of CSR as referring directly to those responsibilities above and beyond economic and legal obligations (Carroll, 1979; Waddock, 2004; Matten and Crane, 2005). Many considered corporate social responsibility synonymous with voluntary and philanthropic acts by business organizations which are designed to alleviate social ills or in order to benefit a disadvantaged group chosen by the corporation's managers.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development in its publication "Making Good Business Sense" by Lord Holme and Richard Watts, used the following definition. "Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large"

"CSR is about capacity building for sustainable livelihoods. It respects cultural differences and finds the business opportunities in building the skills of employees, the community and the government" "CSR is about business giving back to society.

Traditionally, CSR has been defined much more in terms of a philanthropic model. Companies make profits, unhindered except by fulfilling their duty to pay taxes. Then they donate a certain share of the profits to charitable causes. It is seen as tainting the act for the company to receive any benefit from the giving.

According to Philip Kotler, "Corporate Social Responsibility: Doing the Most Good for your Company and Cause" does a terrific job of describing the range of corporate social initiatives and suggests best practices for choosing, implementing and evaluating them.

Thus, corporate social responsibility has been a topic that has received a lot of attention in recent years (Sethi, 1995).

Need for study:

The basic aim of the study is to gain familiarity or formulating a problem or to achieve new insights into it. In this particular study, an attempt has been made to comprehend and gain insight into behavior or attitude of companies towards various aspects of social contribution. This study deals with the behavior of the corporates. It tries to identify complex behavior and set patterns in it. The present study relates to the attitude of 50 companies in India so as to predict the behavior. Why will any company give funds or services to a non-profit? The government will provide for funds and or services as it is responsible for the social welfare of the people. Similarly a charitable institution will do the same as it is their objective to help the social cause. An individual may donate to a nonprofit due to reasons of philanthropy, or in memory of some person etc, but why does a commercial organization contribute for a social cause? The basic objective of a commercial organization is to make profits.

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Opportunities in Social Services

An old proverb says: "Progress, not perfection." Despite advances in technology and government, social problems persist - poverty, addiction, and limited access to health care continue to dog our civilization. It's easy to feel overwhelmed, but you needn't let it paralyze you. Every day, social service workers fight the good fight. If you've ever wanted to take some of the small steps that add up to big change, a career in social services may be right for you.

Broadly speaking, social service is an umbrella term encompassing various careers. The common goal of social service work is to provide aid--legal, medical, financial, etc. - to those in need. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), community and social service occupations employed over 1.7 million as of May 2007. That number included occupations ranging from probation officers and correctional treatment specialists to social workers, school counselors--even marriage and family therapists.

Growing Opportunity

One of the strongest incentives to enter a social service career is the rapid expansion of the employment opportunity. Over the next ten years, employment in many social service careers is expected to increase. Social workers, for example, should see employment increase 22 percent during between 2006 and 2016. Over the same period, marriage and family therapists, as well as substance abuse counselors should see a jump of 30 percent in employment.

One social service career experiencing particularly rapid growth is geriatric care. Geriatric care may provide many career opportunities in the near future. According to Larry Minnix, CEO of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, in the next ten years, "geriatric care managers will be one of the most important roles in the whole health services delivery system."

The data on America's rapidly expanding senior population seem to agree. By 2030, the number of Americans older than 65 is expected to reach 71 million. The Freedonia Group, a research firm, estimates revenue for elder care services should grow 6.6 percent annually through 2011.

Education for Social Service Careers

If you're interested in pursuing a social service career, education is an important first step. Most social service careers require you to have some form of postsecondary training, and many require advanced degrees and state licensure. For example, social workers typically need a bachelor's degree in social work (BSW) for entry-level positions. However, if you major in psychology, sociology, or a related field, you can also lay the academic groundwork for further career development--and college degrees, in social work. Social workers in clinical and healthcare settings (five in ten, according to the BLS) typically need master's degrees. Similarly, if you're interested in practicing as a counselor, a master's degree is traditionally a must. If you wish to practice in the public employ, you may also need state licensure.

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