Big philanthropic announcements in India have pleasantly been coming ever so frequently in recent years. To me, however, as important as the increasing size of the contributions is the change in attitude towards philanthropy in the country. Starting from the very rich to the middle class, everyone has found a way to contribute. Rising individual prosperity propelled by rapid economic growth has made this possible.

Though big-ticket philanthropic announcements are a recent affair, India is not new to the concept of giving. In fact, it has had a long tradition of giving. Wealthy families across the country contributed generously to build schools, hospitals and community centres as their contribution towards building a more equitable society. An encouraging trend today is that many philanthropists are moving beyond donations and making a sincere endeavour to become an agent of change by getting actively involved in execution of philanthropic projects. There is a clear change in the level of commitment towards philanthropy in the country.

Another important dimension of philanthropy today is its increasing professionalisation. Though we still have some way to go in this regard when compared to developed societies like the US, we are making good progress. The example of my own organisation Bharti Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Bharti Enterprises, will be quite apt here. Today, it is running 242 primary schools and one senior secondary school in rural areas across five states and reaching out to more than 30,000 under privileged children, 48% of whom happen to be girls.

To run a programme of this scale and geographic diversity, the foundation has put in place a strong team of professionals to manage its programmes and day-to-day operations. It aims to set up 50 senior secondary schools and 500 primary schools in a phased manner.

Based on its competence at running schools, the foundation has already started several initiatives to help execute school education programmes in rural India in collaboration with other donors, besides a very successful public private partnership programme under which it has adopted 49 government schools in Rajasthan. One important initiative in this space is the foundation's collaboration with Google Inc to scale up and run 50 elementary schools in India.

After watching these schools grow since their inception from close quarters, I tend to see them not just as schools but also as part of the larger socioeconomic ecosystem in the rural hinterland. They have had a transformative impact on the lives of the students, their families, and the host villages. It does not surprise me when I hear that students from these schools prevented 16 child marriages in Jodhpur, Rajasthan or for that matter led a campaign against alcoholism in Haryana. These schools have managed to develop a symbiotic relationship with the communities around them. These schools have also given a boost to the local economy of the villages due to their regular requirements of consumables besides providing employment to hundreds of young men and women as teachers, mid-day meal suppliers, school didis and school guardians.

I am a firm believer that philanthropy cannot be merely or exclusively limited to financial contributions. Sometimes a more powerful impact can be created by giving one time, talent and skills to a cause. A lot of work is happening in our country to encourage people to volunteer with grassroots projects. At Bharti, we encourage our employees to volunteer for a day in a year with either the Satya Bharti Schools being run by the Bharti Foundation or any local NGO to ensure that employees feel the same passion for our country's development and aim to bring about a positive change by personal intervention.

Given India's rising status as a global economic power, comparison with developed societies is but natural. According to a 2010 study, philanthropic donations in India amount to 0.6% of its GDP, whereas in the US, it stands at about 2.2%. The fact that individual and corporate donations make only 10% of the charitable giving in India, whereas in the US, three­ fourths of all philanthropy is led by these segments does not really come as a surprise. Indians, being family oriented tend to bequeath personal wealth to their next generation. Therefore donating a large share of the wealth for social causes is still not a trend. But things are changing and changing rapidly. I clearly see a transformation in attitudes shaping up with regard to philanthropic giving. Though it is going to be largely led by the corporates and the rich, I am sure the middle class is also going to pitch in enthusiastically and play an important role in driving this change.