What does it truly mean to give back? Is it a donation, a one-time project, or something deeper—something that sustains communities for generations? The film “Swades” offers a powerful metaphor. NASA scientist Mohan Bhargava returns to rural India, and instead of just helping momentarily, he leads a community-led hydroelectric project that brings long-term electricity—powered by local resources and collective action . This initiative brings sustainable energy, empowering the community and proving that self-reliance, community participation and local resources can drive sustainable development. 

Watching Mohan’s journey in Swades, I couldn’t help but reflect on my own experience when I got connected to Yuva Mitra, a social development organization, and saw firsthand the struggles of water scarcity in Aundhewadi a small village in Sinnar block of Nashik District Maharashtra. The villagers were struggling with water supply and the women had to walk miles to fetch water for their households. It all started as a dream to ensure 24 hours water supply for this village and took us one month to convert this dream into a reality. We decided to tap the perennial water flow from the nearby hill and bring water in the village through gravitational flow. Through Community participation, Local resources, Yuva Mitra’s support & donation from well-wishers we could bring water to this village just through gravitational flow and created a water storage at the village level of around 30000 litres. This not only created a sense of community participation within the villagers but also the sense of ownership to develop water resource management practices.

Philanthropy in Indian Culture: A Legacy of Giving – The concept of Dana (charitable giving) is deeply rooted in Indian traditions. Kings and Merchants often funded education, healthcare and infrastructural projects. Indian temples were not just places of worship but also centers of social welfare, providing food, healthcare, and education to communities. Later the British Raj introduced institutional charity, with hospitals, schools, and universities being established through royal patronage and public donations. Post-Independence, The Tata Trusts (1892), Birla Foundation, and Bajaj Foundation pioneered corporate philanthropy in India, which later evolved into structured CSR frameworks under government regulations (the Companies Act, 2013).

The Shift: Transactional Giving to Transformational Impact – For decades, corporate social responsibility (CSR) was synonymous with philanthropy. While these initiatives were well-intentioned, they often lacked long-term impact. Today, the paradigm is shifting: businesses are moving beyond one-time charity to sustainable impact models that create lasting value for both society and businesses.

For instance, rather than simply funding water supply projects, companies are now investing in water conservation, rainwater harvesting, and ecosystem restoration—ensuring that communities have water security for generations rather than just short-term access. Also the emphasize is on creating community driven institutional model like Water User Association at the grassroot level which can take the ownership & responsibility of ensuring water security in future.

Traditional Philanthropy : One-time donations, Relief-Oriented, No Community Ownership                                                                                            Sustainable Impact: Long term investment, Prevention focussed, Community driven solutions

Tata Trusts, in partnership with the Government of Maharashtra & with the focus on community participation (where their priority is on mobilizing at least 20% of the project cost through community contribution) has implemented watershed development projects that recharge groundwater, restore defunct water bodies, and promote efficient irrigation techniques. Instead of just providing water, these initiatives have enabled farmers to double their cropping cycles, reduce migration, and increase household incomes sustainably.