SSR a platform for creating Emotional and Ecological Intelligence
SSR a means for creating Emotional and ecological intelligence
SSR of SCIT is one of the most important initiatives in creating good corporate citizens of tomorrow. Corporate India today is faced with one of the worst crisis of conscience with so many allegations and revelations of political corporate nexus in the so many scams plaguing India. Whether it is the 2G or the Colgate scams the corporate houses are at the receiving end. Any amount of CSR activities do not cover for the scams they have committed. It is only a conscientized GenNext can create a change. SSR is a step towards creating this conscience/Social Intelligence. A few reflections on SCIT SSR and how are they contributing directly and indirectly to the students development.
1. It makes people emotionally intelligent: Daniel Golman famously coined the term emotional intelligence. Industry found it the need of the hour. There was a need for people to socially, culturally and psychologically fit with the organizations. It needed people to understand and appreciate the culture of the organization. It needed to create leadership that could vibe with the young workforce. On one hand propelled by the Friedman philosophy of corporate responsibility of making profit, companies started aggressive exploitation of people, animals and environment. The western societies outsourced their production to third world nations and then accuse them of polluting the world. The poor of the world became poorer and forums across the world began campaign against the mindless exploitation. Emotional intelligence immediately made a connection and organizations looked at it as a means to retain people. SSR activities on one hand equip the students with the necessary qualities to relate better with the external environment and on the other hand to become good leaders who can combine the task and people orientation.
2. It makes people more ecologically intelligent: In 1960s Lynn White critique the homocentric and instrumental approach of Christianity. In 1972 Stockholm conference on environment, popularly known as the ‘earth day’ was inaugurated. The world was awakened to the need for an a priori existence of the environment. Later in the late 1990s in the wake of the collapse of Soviet Union the Republican Party in US took global warming as their main election agenda. The agenda 21 of Rio declaration and the later Kyoto protocols furthered the discussion. Two famous documentaries, (the 2006 movie An inconvenient Truth by Al Gore and 2007 movie, The 11th Hour by Leonardo De Caprio) made the concept a dinner table discussion topic. Activists across the world led by WWF and Greenpeace began campaigning against big corporations and states to reduce pollution. It became a major theme across schools in every country. The small efforts by the students of our institute in planting trees on the nearby hillocks, or organizing campaigns on the Hinjewadi streets to spread the ecological awareness they are being part of a global initiative and in the process get conscientised themselves.
3. It leads to innovations in social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship is the recognition of a social problem and the uses of entrepreneurial principles to organize create and manage a social venture to achieve a desired social change. To recognize the social problems one need to be nearer to the society. The SSR members through their outreach programs like Prayatna, Prerna, and many such initiatives reach out to the people in need. The Emotional and ecological intelligence will better equip them with the social entrepreneurial spirit both within the organizations where they will be placed and also outside.
Prof.Shaji Joseph
