Social Entrepreneurship in India

A strategy used by people, groups, start-up businesses, or entrepreneurs to develop, finance, and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental challenges is known as social entrepreneurship. A social entrepreneur is someone who works to turn fresh ideas into solutions for issues that affect entire communities. These individuals are prepared to assume the risk and make the effort necessary to alter society for the better through their projects.  Many different types of organisations, each with its own size, objectives, and beliefs, can use this principle. By addressing gaps and unmet needs, social entrepreneurs create dramatic transformations in society and the economy. They increase output, add value, and generate wealth. Social firms prioritize both financial success and positive social and environmental effect. Instead of focusing on maximizing profits, wealth creation should be done to help target populations become self-sufficient. The target communities are not wealthy customers and are under-served, ignored, or underprivileged. 

Importance of the Social Entrepreneurship in India:

• Most of the time, social entrepreneurs are focused on solving societal problems. They begin innovation by forming social structures in response to societal problems using the resources at hand. 
• Social entrepreneurs influence others to develop humanity by acting as change agents in society. They act as social change agents and strong social catalysts.
• They take on the responsibility of creating and upholding societal value, actively seeking out new chances and persistently innovating, adapting, and learning.
• They take risks without being bound by money and demonstrate enhanced accountability to their constituents.
• Additionally, they are essential to the local community’s inclusive rehabilitation and reconstruction, which is fostering an inclusive society.

Types of Social Entrepreneurship:

• Community initiative:  A community project is a modestly sized endeavor to address a problem within a particular community. The development of marginal and underprivileged communities that are cut off from the mainstream economy is seen to benefit greatly from community-based entrepreneurship. It also plays a significant role in promoting social uplift. Close personal relationships are cultivated for the community’s ideals, links, and mutual trust, which are necessary for the operation of economic operations. 
• Non-profit organization: A non-profit organisation is a group that was established with the intention of making a profit, and in which no part of the organization’s revenue is given to its directors, officials, or members.
• Social enterprise: An organisation that uses commercial tactics to optimize advances in monetary, social, and environmental well-being is referred to as a social enterprise. This can entail increasing both social impact and profits for co-owners.
• Co-operative: A co-operative is a free-standing group of people who come together voluntarily to work for the same economic, social, and cultural goals through a democratically run, collectively owned business.
• Social conscious business: Social consciousness is regarded as having a sensitive to and sense of responsibility for injustice and social issues. The awareness of individuals within society is related to consciousness. Being aware entails caring about societal concerns and acting accordingly. 

Achievements of the Social Entrepreneurship in India:

• Social entrepreneurs of today are fundamental innovators and creative problem-solvers who help India develop. These businesses are seeking cross-border and domestic strategic partnerships to creatively address particular issues. The government’s rapid digitization efforts and extensive use of technology have aided in their innovative spirit.
• The development sector in India has experienced a rapid shift, leading to the emergence of social enterprises that are wholly for-profit businesses and are no longer limited to “no-profit” or “low-profit” endeavors. Without donations or subsidies, these for-profit social companies can make enough money to support their operations.
• It offers exposure, skill development, and access to a supportive network of social change leaders inside the World Economic Forum. It currently represents 384 late-stage social innovators working across more than 190 nations.
• The nation’s social entrepreneurs are being supported, praised, and cultivated for their capacity to satisfy India’s most difficult developmental requirements. According to Impact Investors Council (IIC), over USD 9 billion has been invested in over 600 impact firms in India that have a positive impact on 500 million lives.
• Additionally to improving education for more than 226 million children and teenagers, these social entrepreneurs have helped reduce more than 192 million tonnes of CO2. They have promoted social inclusion for over 25 million individuals and assisted more than 100 million people gain access to electricity.
• Social Entrepreneurship in India has given more than $6.7 billion to initiatives and goods that have improved livelihoods, such as expanding access to healthcare, supplying clean energy options, and raising educational standards.
• With 46 of these social entrepreneurs, India leads the pack, followed by the US with 40, Kenya with 34, Brazil with 29, South Africa with 26, and Uganda with 26. 

Opportunities for the Social Entrepreneurship in India:

• Instead of developed countries, developing countries provide the greatest potential for social entrepreneurship since there are more differences in wealth, level of education, and other factors that social entrepreneurs can take advantage of for long-term economic growth.
• They can improve society by using innovative ideas and a special product or service that addresses societal problems and fosters both social and economic value among the nation’s citizens.
• Generating jobs for people and opening up work chances for them will contribute to the country’s overall development.
• Since social entrepreneurship seeks to meet societal needs, it primarily serves the low-income segment of the community. As a result, social entrepreneurs have another opportunity because this market has a large population. They may take advantage of the volume by offering their goods and services at low costs so that the greatest number of people can benefit from them.
• By offering the populace distinctive and cutting-edge goods and services at reasonable costs, social entrepreneurs can bring about the visible changes in society that are portrayed in the success stories listed above.

Challenges of the Social Entrepreneurship in India:

• There are numerous difficulties for people who enter the field of social entrepreneurship because it is yet relatively undeveloped. First, social entrepreneurs aim to anticipate, handle, and imaginatively respond to future issues. Social entrepreneurs take on hypothetical, unresearched concerns like overpopulation, unsustainable energy sources, and food shortages as opposed to business entrepreneurs, who typically solve current market shortcomings. Since investors are significantly less eager to finance risky projects, starting profitable social businesses on the basis of only potential answers might be practically difficult.
• High rates of dropout:  Children nationwide leave school before completing five years of primary school, and 43% do so before completing upper primary. Only 42% of high school graduates graduate. In India, 1.4 million children between the ages of 6 and 11 do not even attend school.
• Inadequate school facilities: Just 74% of schools have access to drinking water, and only 53% of schools have functioning girls’ restrooms.
• The disparity between schools: English-language schools with affiliations to the prestigious CISCE (Council for the Indian Schools Certificates Examination), IB (International Baccalaureate), and CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) examination boards are at the top end of the spectrum and offer globally recognized curricula and syllabuses. Those who cannot afford private education attend English-language government-aided schools that are connected to state-level examination boards that struggle to uphold quality standards and don’t put much of an emphasis on the child’s overall development.
• Business Strategy: Social entrepreneurs require the support of attorneys, chartered accountants, and veteran entrepreneurs to help them construct a strong business plan because the rigor of creating and adhering to a strategy that is based on market realities and customer knowledge is crucial.
• Learning effectiveness: Another significant difficulty is the caliber of classroom instruction. Numerous studies indicate that kids aren’t learning at levels that are acceptable for their classes. Nearly 78% of third-graders and about 50% of fifth-graders, respectively, are unable to read books from grades 2 as of 2013, according to Pratham’s Annual Status of Education report.

Government support to Social Entrepreneurship in India:

• The announcement and upcoming establishment of the Social Stock Exchange, together with government backing for companies, have created a more favorable environment for social entrepreneurship in India. Social entrepreneurs will be able to raise more money and significantly broaden their influence and reach according to the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s recent unveiling of the framework for a social stock exchange. 
• Gramin Vikas Trust (GVT) is a national organisation founded in 1999 by Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited, to better the lives of the poor and underprivileged, particularly the tribal population and women, in a long-lasting way. According to GVT, social entrepreneurship is the process of enacting significant social change.
• One of the amazing programs to dramatically spread the wings of rural regions is “Model Gaon.” This bottom-up concept has already been effectively validated after being tried and tested in a few areas of Uttar Pradesh. The impressive model has made sure that the villagers effectively contribute to the growth of their own settlements. The approach is created with the concepts of Mahatma Gandhi’s “Gram Swaraj” and Dr. Abdul Kalam’s PURA (Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas). Technology, people, skills, traditions, and an entrepreneurial spirit are brought together to promote the villages’ sustainable development by helping them become socially just, economically viable, and environmentally benign.

Conclusion:

In the social sector, social entrepreneurs act as change agents. The social entrepreneurship ecosystem in India is among the most developed in the world. It provide numerous opportunities to collaborate with local partners, learn from their experiences, and pursue creative solutions to some of the country’s many social problems in the areas of education, agriculture, healthcare, renewable energy, manufacturing, and skill development. It takes time to become immersed in and comprehend the Indian way of thinking because India is a very diverse and complicated country. India need a robust network of domestic and international partners for business success.