Dear Zeinab, in all geographical locations around the world for sustainable rural development it has become quite imperative that social enterprises promoted by the local stakeholders be encouraged. This will ultimately bring prosperity to the villages and prevent the migration to the cities which is a bane of the current model of economic development.

Sustainable Rural Development is about finding opportunities to Improve livelihoods of people without compromising there future stream of income. Same is true for Social Entrepreneurship. These are two different names of the same approach. In my view Social Entrepreneurs have five key characteristics;

1. When they look at a discomfort, problem, dispute, issue or complaint, they see it as an opportunity to fill a gap. They see it as something which needs to be done, an invitation to take an initiative to make a difference. It is both an inspiration and a call for finding an operationally sound solution.

2. Since Social Entrepreneurs are motivated by a strong desire to make social change they look at societal gaps as an opportunity to serve the un-serviced.

3. In most of the cases people are not being served not due to lack of resources but due to lack of performance, therefore, Social Entrepreneurs see social challenges as an opportunity to learn. This is the most important aspect of Social Entrepreneur’s work. Learning here means learning from the target population; combining local knowledge with professional’s knowledge.

4. Based on the knowledge gained from the poor, deprived sections of the society who need to be served, Social Entrepreneurs find innovative technical, social and financial solutions. Their innovation consists in finding solutions within the existing system and available means.

5. These solutions find a firm footing i.e. sustainability if they creating opportunity to earn for the entrepreneurs and their co-workers. Social Entrepreneurs should have the capability to make 2+2=5 i.e. add value and seek return for this value addition

It shows that Social Entrepreneurship is an excellent model for sustainable rural development. I have developed a course on this subject for Pakistani and US University and received very good feedback from the students and faculty.

Dear Sir,

Your efforts in developing a course on this subject are commendable! Our academic institutions (Schools and Universities) should reorient themselves to produce a new breed of social entrepreneurs and not just job seekers. The current trend in which the reputation of an institution is judged by the package its graduate commands has started a herd mentality among the students and institutions alike. This trend is disturbing and oblivious to the needs of the society and the nation. The developing nations like ours cannot achieve the goal of inclusive development unless our valuable human resource is properly trained. We have to develop and teach such courses and set up cell/labs in our institutions where a breed of social entrepreneurs can be mentored.