Social Entrepreneurship: Social Entrepreneurs in India

India is the fastest-growing and fifth-largest economy in the world, with a nominal GDP of $2.94 trillion.   However, being a nation of 1.3 billion people, it is not astonishing that there exists an evident class division with a majority of the population suffering from poverty, corruption, illiteracy, and lack of basic amenities, etc. To eradicate these challenges and improve lives, many NGO's have risen to the challenge with well-structured volunteerprograms in India working in many sectors such as teaching, medicine and nursing, women empowerment, animal welfare, sustainability, etc. Such volunteering programs admit people from various demographics and backgrounds possessing diverse skillsets. Functioning together, they act as social catalysts that enable the community's progress towards a brighter future. Lakshyam, initially founded by the young social entrepreneur Rashi Anand, started as a small group of individuals motivated to work towards child developme

‘There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way it treats its children’- - - - - Nelson Mandela 40% of India's population is below 18 years of age, which means that at 400 million our country has the world’s largest child population. However, it is heartbreaking that less than half of India’s children between the ages of 6 to 14 do not go to school especially in rural areas. The concept of organized child welfare in India began after independence itself, as certain formal commitments were made and strategies were legalized to provide children with basic rights. These exist in the form of clauses in the Indian constitution, national policies and legislations. In spite of these constitutional safeguards, children of our society, especially the poor and underprivileged are being denied their basic rights and dignity as human beings. We all have a duty towards our society and our children. ‘Lakshyam’ an NGO based in Delhi, comes as a ray of hope to

Constructing the definition of social entrepreneurs, these are the individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are persistent and ambitious, tackle major social issues and offer new ideas for a wide- scale change. These social enterprises act as fertility ground for developing relations of trust between business, government and the civil society. In today’s era, social entrepreneurship revolves around creating and implementing effective, innovative and sustainable solutions to battle social and environmental challenges that are bound to bring about a productive change in the society. As the Swiss Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum put it out in an interview with the Hindustan times: “India has some of the most advanced and innovative social entrepreneurs. We believe and already see that many of the models developed in India” With more than 57% enterprises being 5 years old or younger, 24% having female leadership a