Hurun India and EdelGive has recently released the 8th annual EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021. The rankings, which are released every year, charts the most generous individuals in the country. This year, the Nilekani family of Infosys maintained its track record, with co-founder Nandan Nilekani donating Rs 183 crore to social thinking in Financial Year 2021, ranking fifth on the list. Apart from him, Rohini Nilekani, Chris Gopalakrishnan and SD Shibulal — all from the Infosys Group — donated Rs 69 crore, Rs 50 crore and Rs 35 crore respectively. Billionaires Nandan Nilekani and Rohini Nilekani had in 2017 signed the ‘Giving Pledge’, a network of the wealthiest individuals committing their wealth to philanthropy.
“With a donation of Rs 183 crore, Infosys’s Nandan Nilekani, 66, ranks 5th on the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021. Nandan Nilekani donated INR 138 Cr for Societal Thinking in FY 2021,” a press release by EdelGive and Hurun India said.
Rohini Nilekani, the chairperson of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and co-founder of EkStep, a non-profit education platform, donated Rs 69 crore in her personal capacity, as per the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy list. She has topped the list of the nine women featuring in the chart. Rohini Nilekani has thereby earned the title of India’s most generous woman. She was followed by Leena Gandhi Tewari of USV who donated Rs 24 crore, and Anu Aga of Thermax who donated Rs 20 crore.
In 2017, when Nandan and Rohini Nilekani signed The Giving Pledge, created by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett, they wrote in a letter that they were inspired by the ideals of the Bhagwad Gita. ”
“We thank Bill and Melinda for creating this unique opportunity to realise a moral aspiration inspired by the Bhagwad Gita – ‘Karmanye Va dhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana, Ma karma phalaheturbhurma Te Sangostvakarmani.’ “We have a right to do our duty, but no automatic right to the fruits from the doing. It is critical that we do not slip into inaction fearing that we may not be able to reap direct reward. It is to this ideal that we pledge.”
In a Forbes article published in May this year, Rohini Nilekani wrote, “Philanthropic organisations have to keep their budgets relatively flexible to be able to respond to temporary disasters that are going to come at us, wave upon wave. I’m not being pessimistic, but realistic.”
“We’ve had enough data over the past 10 years to see how droughts, public health emergencies or just market-related emergencies like the financial crisis hit us. Planning for what you cannot plan for is becoming critical for philanthropic organisations,” she added.
Azim Premji of Wipro retained the title of ‘India’s Most Generous’ with a donation of Rs 9,713 crore, for the second time in a row. According to the press release by EdelGive and Hurun India, the Wipro chairman and founder donated Rs 27 crore per day to social cause.
HCL Technologies’ Shiv Nadar came next abd retained thesecond spot. Nadar donated Rs 1,263 in Financial Year 2021, according to the EdulGive Hurun India list. The Big Bull, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala earned the title of the most generous new entrant. The ace stock market investor donated Rs 50 crore as per the list.
“This is our attempt to highlight India’s remarkable givers and to capture the growing importance of individual givers in India’s philanthropic landscape towards nation-building. Donations were measured by the value of their cash or cash equivalents from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. This is the eighth year of the list and it follows on from the Hurun India Rich List, a ranking of 1,007 richest individuals in India, released in September 2021 for the tenth year,” Hurun India and EdelGive said in a press release.
This year’s list featured individuals who donated Rs 5 crore or more during the period under review. “This year, the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021, provides us with yet another important opportunity to gain profound insights into the mind-sets and motivations that drive philanthropy in India as it emerges from a paradigm-shifting Covid-19 Pandemic.” said Vidya Shah, executive chairperson of EdelGive Foundation.
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