National Conference on Social Entrepreneurship begins

It is organised as part of XLRI's mission to promote management education with a social conscience

A three-day National Conference on Social Entrepreneurship, organized as part of XLRI's mission to promote management education with a social conscience and to propagate dialogue on social development, was inaugurated on Friday.

Organized under the aegis of Fr Arrupe Centre for Ecology and Sustainability and SIGMA, a society of a group of budding future corporate managers, the theme of the conference is Social Innovations: Changing Lives and Society.

Delivering the keynote address, Padmashree Prof Anil Gupta, executive vice-chairman, National Innovation Foundation & Founder Honey Bee Network, stressed on the need for grass root innovators, the need to empower them, recognize social entrepreneurs and reward them by safeguarding their interests.

A globally renowned scholar Gupta, who is also a professor in the Centre of Management in Agriculture, IIM Ahmedabad, highlighted about his idea on social entrepreneurship and what qualities an ideal social entrepreneur should have: daring, innovatve and focusing on the grass root levels.

Gupta also dwelt on the frameworks and challenges that the social entrepreneur will face and how to tackle it.

Welcoming the delegates, the Director of XLRI, Fr. E Abraham said despite remarkable increase in resources and GDP growth, the benefit of development have not yet reached the large section of the society.