ITC Chairman, YC Deveshwar inaugurates IAJBS 15th World Forum @XLRI

Jamshedpur, June 8 (The Telegraph): Proper business education is a necessity for better sustainability, said ITC chairman Y.C. Deveshwar today.

Stressing on sustainable development, he cited examples from the company’s rural initiatives under corporate social responsibility while delivering the keynote address at the 15th World Forum of the International Jesuits Business Schools. About 80 delegates from the Jesuits Business Schools across the globe - USA, Europe, Asian countries - are participating in the forum held at the XLRI campus.

“Sustainable development is about the triple bottomline across three dimensions — economic, social and ecological, which means creating social and ecological wealth. However, there are some challenges of development that arise from growing income inequities and secondly there’s a threat from global and climate change,” said Deveshwar.

Stressing on the role of management institutions, he said that the institutions needed to spread awareness and education. He suggested areas in which institutes could carry out meaningful research in collaboration with the industry to find solutions.

Citing e-Choupal — a model designed by the ITC to tackle the challenges posed by the unique features of Indian agriculture — as an example, Deveshwar said that the common man has to be involved in order to achieve the sustainability. “People are not society’s burden. If they are utilised in a proper way, they can be created as resources. Education helps in innovation. With creative business models we can convert threats into opportunities. This begins with a realisation of compelling challenges.”