Released on = January 18, 2007, 3:28 am

Press Release Author = Ashoka

Industry = Non Profit

Press Release Summary = Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, the global organization
that pioneered the concept of social entrepreneurship 25 years ago, today formally
inducted 63 leading social entrepreneurs from across Asia as its fellows. Senior
fellows - Dr.Sudarshan and Ashok Rau among other senior fellows inducted the new
fellows in a function that had Ashoka Founder Bill Drayton, Sushmita Ghosh,
President Emeritus of Ashoka, N R Narayana Murthy, the country's leading
entrepreneur and leading NRI business leader Gururaj Deshpande in attendance.



Press Release Body = Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, the global organization that
pioneered the concept of social entrepreneurship 25 years ago, today formally
inducted 63 leading social entrepreneurs from across Asia as its fellows. Senior
fellows - Dr.Sudarshan and Ashok Rau among other senior fellows inducted the new
fellows in a function that had Ashoka Founder Bill Drayton, Sushmita Ghosh,
President Emeritus of Ashoka, N R Narayana Murthy, the country's leading
entrepreneur and leading NRI business leader Gururaj Deshpande in attendance. This
is the first time that India's leading business entrepreneurs have gathered to
recognize the role that Ashoka Fellows play in improving all fields of social
service. Magsaysay Awardee Arvind Kejriwal was felicitated by Narayana Murthy on the
occasion for his relentless campaign against corruption using the Right to
Information Act.

In his address, Narayana Murthy, said," While the progress made by the economy and
the business over the past decade is outstanding, we have taken our eyes off the
critical agriculture sector which is the only source of income for over 65% of
Indians. The fact that since 1995 agricultural production actually declined poses a
big concern which needs to be immediately addressed. He said India already has low
per capita income and with agricultural income declining, it leaves close to 650
million people in India with less than a dollar a day to live their lives. Even in
the area of fertilizers which the government subsidizes to the extent of US$8
billion a year, there needs to be a balance between right kind and mixture of
nutrients and soil conservation." On Ashoka Fellows, he said, they are people who
need to be saluted for what they are doing and both the business and political
leadership are mere bystanders who can offer them encouragement and support. He
acknowledged that their role is indeed crucial and admitted that having them over at
the campus gives him great pleasure and happiness.

Bill Drayton, global Founder of Ashoka in his address spoke of how there is going to
be no distinction between social and business entrepreneurs in the future and how
the real change or paradigm shift can only be made possible when everyone is a
change maker. He called social entrepreneurs mass recruiters of change makers and
said each Ashoka fellow is a true model who will inspire thousands more. He
highlighted the role of India in his life and how it has changed him and led to the
birth of Ashoka. He said Ashoka is currently working on 21 business-social bridge
programs in India which will catalyze change. He also observed that if Nehru would
have been alive today, he would have called the Infosys campus a modern temple.

In her address, Sushmita Ghosh, President Emeritus of Ashoka, recalled the
tremendous change that has occurred over the last sixteen years and recalled how
from holding the Asia meet under a tree in Kolkata to celebrating its 25th year
celebrations at the Infosys Campus, Ashoka has come a long way. She also said that
Ashoka will be partnering the Infosys Foundation and details of which will be shared
later.

In his brief remarks after accepting the felicitation, Arvind Kejriwal of Parivartan
said all the wards and accolades he has won so far belongs to many ordinary Indian
citizens who were part of the RTI campaign, few of whom even risked their lives to
make the revolutionary RTI act, a possibility. He said without Ashoka he could not
have continued the campaign as he had no support system and that he truly found the
Ashoka global network, a source of ideas, information, love, affection and
encouragement."
In his brief address, Gururaj Deshpande spoke of the Sandbox experiment carried out
by his foundation in Hubli in Karnataka and highlighted how they are bringing
numerous social innovations into a single framework and applying it in a defined
area to see what change is possible.
On the 17th evening, Ashoka held its Asia Entreprenuer-Entreprenuer meet at the
MindTree campus which was led by Subroto Bagchi, Co-founder & COO of MindTree
Consulting. In his remarks, Subroto Bagchi highlighted how entrepreneurs are
entrepreneurs irrespective of whether social or business. He said MindTree was happy
to host the interaction."
Since 1981, Ashoka has elected and supported over 1,800 leading social innovators as
Ashoka Fellows, providing them with over $40 million in stipends and professional
support, as well as access to a global network of peers. Working with this
Fellowship, as well as working with entrepreneurs such as Murthy and Deshpande, are
aspects of Ashoka's vision for a new global "citizen sector" that enables all people
to become meaningfully involved in improving society.

"Ashoka is a great global organization built on a brilliant idea." Muhammad Yunus -
2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Social Entrepreneur and Ashoka Global Academy Member



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