Divine innovation

Cow-lending, sewing and aerobics classes are just some of the ways Indian religious organisations across all the major faiths are diversifying their 'business model' to maintain the loyalty of their followers and attract new devotees. A University of Cambridge team from the Faculty of Economics and the Cambridge Judge Business School, has spent two years surveying 568 Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Jain religious organisations across seven Indian states to examine their innovations in offering religious and non-religious service provision. Their findings are detailed in the latest edition of Research Horizons. The survey is believed to be one of the first of its kind in India with researchers finding that although India is becoming more powerful and wealthy, rising social inequality - especially in the poorer states - means religious groups often fill the breach left by the lack of social welfare, especially in the fields of education and healthcare. Dr Sriya Iyer, of the University's Faculty of Economics and St. Catharine's College, was one of the lead researchers on the project. She said: "We have found that the resilience of religion draws from the ability of groups to undertake innovation and innovative behaviour, similar to the behaviour observed in business firms.