President Ram Nath Kovind today graced the 90th year celebrations of the Merchants Chamber of Uttar Pradesh at Kanpur.
Speaking on the occasion, he said since its inception, as a representative body of industry, trade, and commerce, the Merchants Chamber of Uttar Pradesh, has been promoting industrialization, trade, and entrepreneurship in the State.
This organization has been providing a platform for mutual coordination between the business and industry and policymakers, he said.
The President said that the objective of any business organization should not only be to work for the benefit of its members, but it should also become a participant in the all-around development of society and the country.
He was happy to note that the Merchants Chamber of Uttar Pradesh is working towards women’s empowerment and the promotion of start-ups.
The President said that though the term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a product of modern civilization, “we have an old tradition of doing public welfare work by business communities.”
There are many such descriptions where merchants used to set aside some part of their earned money for public welfare. He expressed confidence that members of the Merchants Chamber of Uttar Pradesh are also following this tradition.
“It is our responsibility to do something for the people who have been left behind us in the developmental journey. He urged them to go to the villages and contribute to the social and economic development of villagers,” he said.
The President said that they can adopt villages individually or in a group and contribute to the all-around development of the adopted villages.
Speaking about climate change, the President said that today, it has become a formidable problem. India has announced at the CoP-26 Summit that by 2030, it will reduce its carbon emissions by one billion tonnes and try to become a net-zero emission economy by 2070.
“But the cooperation of the industries is very important in achieving this goal,” he said. Many companies around the world are contributing to the zero-carbon economy.
Therefore, it would be expected from the representatives of the industry and business that they would not only work towards reducing pollution in the existing industries but would also contribute to establishing new environment-friendly industries, he said.