Uncommon Ground: Dialogues Between Business And Social Leaders

About the Book: Uncommon Ground: Dialogues Between Business And Social Leaders

Uncommon Ground brings together titans of industry and leaders of civil society to explore eight themes that are highly relevant for our future development. Based on Rohini Nilekani's 2008 show on NDTV, the conversations explore the middle ground between the ideological divisions that often polarize the business and voluntary sectors. Why, despite two decades of liberalization, does economic prosperity with social inclusion remain a distant goal? Sustained GDP growth has led to the dramatic improvement in the quality of life for many. Yet millions remain untouched and are being pushed back further because of their shrinking access to the natural resources on which they now depend and because access to alternative opportunities have been denied to them. In course of these rare dialogues between leaders who have sometimes been adversaries, a number of common concerns emerge. Among others, Anand Mahindra and Medha Patkar discuss land acquisition and use; Mukesh Ambani and R.K. Pachauri debate decentralized energy options; Sunil Mittal and Aruna Roy imagine an Indian model to enhance the employability of our labour force and Yogi Deveshwar and Sunita Narain explore how industry can become more environmentally sustainable.

About the Author: Rohini Nilekani

Rohini Nilekani is the Chairperson and founder of Arghyam, which she setup with a private endowment in 2001. An ex-journalist, a writer and a philanthropist, Rohini has been deeply involved in development issues for many years now. She has co-founded Pratham Books, a non-profit publishing enterprise to produce high quality, low cost books for children in several Indian languages.