The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) has been hosting some very

special guests the last couple of days. No, Dalai Lama has not come a month early; it is ninety
members of IIMAs batch of 1983 who are back to for its silver jubilee reunion.
On the final day of the reunion celebration, the batch comprising of senior corporate
managers, CEOs, public administrators, founders of NGOs and entrepreneurs, brainstormed on
their responsibilities towards this society.
Panelists and audience, all of them friends from the same class of 1983, discussed the
topic, Giving back to the society. Ruing the great disparity between socio-economic classes and
the differences on the basis of religion, caste, sex and poverty, the alumni felt a need to develop a
system of accountability in the public sector and deliverance of work at every individuals level.
Giving back to the society is everybodys business, said MP Vasimalai, founder-
director of the NGO Dhan Foundation. For over ten years, DHAN has been working in areas of
micro-finance, renovating water bodies and rain-fed agriculture.
The discussion kicked off with the question that though India is the largest democracy in
the world, there are serious doubts about whether it is a working democracy! While most in the
audience were convinced that the government has not delivered, Salil Shetty, the director of
Millenium Campaign of the United Nations, said that the government should not be made the
punching bag for all follies.
Since we get who we elect, it is only fair to suppose that the government, just like the
media, business houses and public enterprises, is a microcosm of the society and reflects its
malaise. Though there is no doubt that a system of accountability must be developed in the public
sector, there is a need for a balanced and informed appraisal of the government, said Shetty.
Varun Arya, director of Aravali Institute of Management, told of his experiences in
villages of Rajasthan where there is neither electricity nor drinking water. When talking of
ground realities, the elite gathering should not forget to address the underlying issues of caste and
minority communities, said Arya.
The alumni unanimously agreed that the process of giving back to the society must begin
at the individual level instead of waiting for the government to spruce its infrastructure. It is not
charity; empowering society is a mutual process. As a civil society organization, we realize that
more and more people want to participate in the civil society not as volunteers, not as
professionals, but adopting it as a way of life at their individual levels.

02. Trilochan Sastry

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Former faculty of IIMA and currently on IIMB faculty

04. Mr. Varun Arya,

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Director, Aravali Institute of Management, Jodhpur

All the panelists are alumni of 1983 batch.