Infinite Vision

If anyone says that they are joining politics with the aim of serving the society and people, no one will appreciate and believe them simply because politics has been made in such a way that well-meaning and honest people cannot be associated with it. It is true that politics has been made not to attract an honest and sincere person to serve society. Yet people's aspiration to serve has not been diminished. Many are looking for ways and means to serve the poor and society. Many are doing such services silently without getting noticed. Recently, I came across a new model which we call social entrepreneurship or social business to serve the poor. It is anchored in the market mode but serves humanity in an exemplary manner. The best example of this model is the Aravind Eye care system, a leading community eye care system in the world. It started at Madurai and spread across Tamil Nadu, and is now moving towards other states and countries. It made a history of sorts. The speciality, the uniqueness and how it is being organised and run is amazing and unbelievable, yet it is the reality. It has been made possible in most corruption-ridden politics, governance, administration and society. But it is being carried out in the most honest way.

Health care problems are huge in the world and more specifically in third world countries. It requires much attention from the state and the market. But to solve the health care problems of the poor, neither the market nor the state has solutions as every issue requires huge resource. Currently barring a few countries, both the state and the market failed the poor in attending to their basic needs. Where is the solution to these problems? The state has to do the service without cost and the market has to do the same with profit. The context requires a new model of service to help the poor. The Aravind Eye Care system has demonstrated a model where they deliver services professionally while earning profit and help the poor by delivering the same free of cost. Get money from those who can afford, and from that, do free service to the poor with the same quality.

It is not so simple. It needs a system, strategy, culture, and values to sustain this model. Aravind Eye care system has developed all the above in its journey in the last four decades since its inception. It is a business model but it is a social business where service gets primacy and not profit. The profit comes not for any individual but to the hospital for service. It works on the deeper spiritual values of the founder and the staff. The trusteeship and generosity of the rich and affordable who contribute to the service played a greater role. Those who can afford need not pay a huge sum for eye treatment in Aravind Eye care as they use to pay in private hospitals. They have to pay only less compared to other hospitals. Hence, it is profitable for the rich as well. People who are paying for the treatment they get from Aravind Eye care without knowing, are also part of the service to the poor. They are both beneficiaries and contributors. For the success of the model, volume plays a crucial role. The volume fetches huge money and the same is responsible for fixing affordable cost.

Recently, I went to Aravind Eye care for a minor surgery. When I thanked the doctor for his service, he responded to me that Aravind Eye care hospital has to thank you for paying the amount for the treatment. "Because from the amount the hospital collects from patients, the expenditure for the poor is met. Hence, every patient who paid for his or her treatment is also contributing to the service of the poor", observed the doctor. There was a man behind the success of the model and its sustainability. It is the divine Man, as Sri Aurobindo put it, Dr. G Venkatasamy—a visionary leader in social business. The vision evolved for this model by the founder Dr. G Venkatasamy has been firmly rooted in the spiritual values of Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo and Gandhi. He was deeply influenced by all these spiritual Gurus. The family members who are responsible for running the system have thoroughly internalised the value system evolved by the founder. In the same way, the staff have also been oriented. The uniqueness lies in drawing the support staff from the rural areas, that too from the poor socio-economic background, and orient them in the culture and values of the Aravind Eye care system to suit the requirement of the new framework of service and more specifically to maintain a culture of service while serving two kinds of patients namely the paid and cost-free. It is just like the McDonalds model of business with a character of social business. When needless blindness has been eradicated through this model why not other issues like sanitation, diabetics, dental care can be tackled by perfecting the same model. This model has been studied by various business schools and a case study has been conducted by the Harvard School of Business. It needs public discourse. In India, every state can organise three on four such hospitals by following the Aravind model.

(The author is a former Professor and Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies, Gandhigram Rural Institute. The views expressed are strictly personal)