Infosys believes in putting public good before private good
|
COMMENTS 
The middle class founders of the mega-successful Infosys believe that wealth must be equitably distributed
"Unless you create wealth by legal means, you cannot distribute it. And without the two, you do not have progress," says N R Narayanamurthy of the celebrated and very successful Indian IT company Infosys. "Putting public good ahead of private good in every decision you make will, in fact, result in enriching the private good."
To distribute its substantial wealth and formalise its social support initiatives, Narayanamurthy and his wife Sudha set up the Infosys Foundation in March 1997, which receives 1 per cent of all the company's after-tax profits. All financial assistance to the needy is given in the form of a rule-based distribution of money.
The Infosys Foundation supports disadvantaged people directly or through organisations. The Foundation prefers to work through smaller organisations and donate in kind rather than cash. For instance, recently it gave books in Kannada worth Rs 10,000 to a village library, so that it could help strengthen the local language.
In the field of education the Foundation has instituted 26 scholarships for PhD scholars in 13 prestigious institutions. It has also anchored the Train the Trainee programme in which computer science students from engineering colleges are exposed to the latest IT trends. The Foundation has also played an important role in setting up science centres and libraries and to date 1001 libraries have been inaugurated with assistance from this Foundation.
Infosys Technologies has rationalised the Foundation's distribution of funds. Money is distributed according to the ratio of its employees in the four states where it has offices: Karnataka gets 70 per cent, Maharashtra 15 per cent, Orissa 5 per cent and Tamil Nadu 10 per cent.
The Infosys Foundation is committed to giving 30 per cent of its funds to old people, the destitute and the handicapped, 15 per cent for rural development, 30 per cent for the education of talented but poor children, 15 per cent for cultural activities and 10 per cent for healthcare, both in villages and cities.
Each applicant is selected after the Foundation has met the person or a company executive has visited the applying institution, so that the bona fides of the applicant are verified. Infosys also asks that the organisations it supports do not discriminate against people according to caste or creed.
The company's policies of transparent accounting and its socially-relevant HR policies are extended to the management of the Foundation.
Contact: Infosys Foundation,
Plot no: 44 97A, Electronic City
Hosur Road, Bangalore-561229
Karnatak,India
Tel:91-80-852 0261/852 0902
Website:www.infy.com/infosys.htm