By Arun Kumar
New York, Sep 24 (IANS) India's LifeSprings Hospital has been recognized at the World Business and Development Awards (WBDA) for its role in offering affordable maternal health services in India.
The company is one of ten companies recognized for their efforts to improve the lives of the world's most disadvantaged communities. The winning companies prove that investing in low-income communities can also drive business innovation and growth.
Launched in 2005 LifeSpring Hospitals provides low cost, high quality maternal care to low income mothers across India.
Since then, eight more hospitals have been established. It is a social enterprise with a dual goal of fulfilling its social mission while achieving financial sustainability.
As of June 2010, Lifespring has delivered more than 7,000 babies and its doctors have treated over 100,000 outpatient cases at the hospitals chain's nine clinics.
The judges also commended three other Indian companies, Feedback Ventures, Mahindra and Mahindra and Tata Consultancy Services, for their contribution to inclusive business practices that help combat poverty.
The award ceremony is part of the special focus on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) during the opening week of the United Nations' General Assembly in New York.
The biennial WBDA showcase the best practices by businesses, from every region of the world, who apply their inclusive business expertise to the worldwide efforts to end poverty.
It is hosted by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
This year an unprecedented 172 nominations were received, representing a variety of business and commercial endeavours, and included business associations, NGOs and individual companies from more than 42 countries.
"Doing business with the poor has shown not only to be a potential boost to a company's competiveness, but also -with the right business model- to be a force in the fight against poverty," said UNDP Administrator Helen Clark.
"The true spirit of the Awards lies in the pursuit of productive and innovative business driven solutions, in partnership with government and other partners, as well as building greater awareness of the MDGs in the business community," explained ICC Chairman Rajat Gupta.
"At USAID, we believe in inclusive economic growth," said USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah. It's not only about supporting the establishment of small-and medium-sized businesses, we need to reshape attitudes about women in the mainstream workforce, and linking local communities with private enterprise in order to build a culture of entrepreneurship.