Businesses should contribute to country's all-round development: Kovind

Noting that the Merchants Chamber of Uttar Pradesh is working towards women empowerment and the promotion of start-ups, President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday said that the objective of any business organisation should be to become a "participant in the all-round development of the country".

The remarks of the President came while addressing the 90th year celebrations of the Merchants Chamber of Uttar Pradesh at Kanpur.

"Since its inception, as a representative body of industry, trade and commerce, the Merchants Chamber of Uttar Pradesh, has been promoting industrialization, trade and entrepreneurship in the state. This organization has been providing a platform for mutual coordination between the business and industry and policymakers," President Kovind said.

"The objective of any business organization should not only be to work for the benefit of its members but it should also become a participant in the all-around development of the society and country," he added.

The President further said that although the term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a product of modern civilization, "we have an old tradition of doing public welfare work by business communities".

"It is our responsibility to do something for the people who have been left behind us in the developmental journey," he said.

President Kovind urged them to go to the villages and contribute to the social and economic development of villagers.

He said that they can adopt villages individually or in a group and contribute to the all-around development of adopted villages.

Speaking about the issue of climate change, the President called it a "formidable problem" that is lying ahead.

"Keeping these challenges in mind, the Government of India has announced in the CoP-26 Summit that by the year 2030, India will reduce its carbon emissions by one billion tonnes and try to become a net zero emission economy by the year 2070. But the cooperation of the industries is very important in achieving this goal. Many companies around the world are contributing to the zero-carbon economy," he said.

"Therefore, it would be expected from the representatives of the industry and business that they would not only work towards reducing pollution in the existing industries but would also contribute to establishing new environment-friendly industries," President Kovind added.