PM Modi launched the website and app Self4Society-Mai Nahi Hum which aims to make Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) more collaborative and responsible. The corporate of the country spends good amount of human and monetary resources as the part of social responsibility but these efforts remain scattered and therefore results are not that productive. The Self4Society app, built by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, was launched in an event organized by Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. “It is important to create an India where everyone has equal opportunities,” said PM Modi at the launch event. PM repeatedly emphasized at the need for social startups to build an inclusive society and he also praised the youth of the country for taking steps in the direction of innovation. He further shared his own experience of interaction with bureaucrats’ children and said, “Earlier bureaucrats’ children wanted to be bureaucrat but now they are more inclined towards startups than civil services.”
PM also interacted with CSR team of IT companies like Infosys Ltd, Tech Mahindra Ltd, Cisco Systems and Cognizant who were connected to him from different parts of the country through video conferencing. The CSR teams shared initiatives of their employees and asked PM Modi about how they could take their efforts at bigger scale and what else could be done for social welfare. Lauding the efforts of youngsters in startups of social sector PM used the tagline “More power to youngsters doing such wonderful things.” As per the official website of Self4Society, there are already 117 initiatives from 87 IT and financial technology organizations for social welfare. These organizations have taken steps to improve and enhance government’s initiatives in social sector like doubling farmer’s income, digital India, and wildlife conservation.
The IT and electronics industry professionals would be able to take various initiatives through the app and website. The professionals working on similar projects could collaborate to work on bigger scale and in an integrated manner. During the launch event, PM Modi said “India’s future lies in the hands of technology.” Extolling the efforts of the corporate leaders, the PM said, “The inner voice among corporate leaders forces them to do something for society”. PM Modi also pointed out the number of people paying taxes is increasing gradually because people do believe that their taxes are being used for welfare of people and not a single penny is being wasted due to corruption.
As per the Income Tax data, corporate tax collection registered a 55 percent jump while individual tax collection witnessed 26 percent rise in last three fiscals. Corporate tax collection rose from Rs 32.28 lakh crore to Rs 49.95 lakh crore and individual tax jumped to Rs 58,576 lakh crore from the previous Rs 46,377 lakh crore. Modi government has tried to rationalize the taxation in the country and lessen the burden on the salaried class. The government took various steps to make the country ‘a tax compliant’ society including the monumental step of demonetization. Tax to GDP ratio of the country touched a 10 year high at 5.98 percent. A tax compliant society is a vital pillar, upon which a welfare state may be built.
