CII Communique - December, 2010

india & the world
Panchayats in India
through broadband
by March 2012 and
biometric cards for
all the workers
under the Mahatma
Gandhi National
Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme.
The government
is also working
on creating rural
infrastructure through government funding, built and
serviced by the private sector, he said.
“India over the coming years will able to provide the
best possible healthcare at the cheapest possible price.
This calls for coordinated engagement of the government
and private sector in this price sensitive market”, said Mr
Sachin Pilot, Minister of State for Communication and
Information Technology, India, at the plenary session on
‘Shaping India’s Mobile Health Ecosystem’.
Mr Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and Chief Executive
Officer, Telenor Group, Norway, and Co-Chair of the
Summit, pointed to challenges of economic incentives,
as well as the nature and extent of dependency on
mobile services for provision of healthcare. Ms Sangeeta
Reddy, Executive Director, Operations, Apollo Hospitals
Enterprise, suggested enhancing the efficiency of
transactions and cost in healthcare service delivery.
Mr Malvinder Mohan Singh, Chairman, RHC Holding, India
and Young Global Leader, called for collective action of
all the relevant stakeholders involved in this process.
Improving the behaviour of human beings on the roads
is critical towards improving road safety, said panelists
at the session on ‘Sustainable and Safe Transportation’.
They felt that attitudes play a very important role in
improving road safety and inculcating the importance
of human life among motorists can significantly help
in reducing the number of road accidents. Mr. Amos
Muhinga Kimunya, Minister of Transport, Kenya, said
that as per estimates, almost 85% of the deaths on the
roads in Kenya have been a result of poor behaviour.
Speaking at the session on ‘Beyond Credit: Balancing
the Portfolios of the Poor’, Mr Vikram Akula, Founder and
Chairperson, SKS Microfinance, said that the RBI should
allow micro-finance institutions to serve as ‘Banking
Correspondents’ so that they can help in mobilizing
savings from the poor.
The discussion also covered the issue of ethical lending
by microfinance institutions. The interest rates paid by the
poor are still as high
as 24 per cent and
a further reduction
is necessary. Mr
Akula said that it
is possible to have
a business model
in which rising
profits co-exist with
declining interest
rates. He stressed
that a few rogue
players are tarnishing the name of the industry but
destroying an entire industry because of a few unethical
practices will affect the poor the most.
Sanjay Gupta, CEO, Star India; Jack Modzelewski, President, Client Relations & Sr.
Partner, Fleishman-Hillard, USA; Atul Singh, President & CEO, India & South West Asia,
Coca-Cola India; Arun Tadanki, MD, Yahoo! India, Niren Chaudhary, MD,
Yum! Restaurants, India; and Tarun Anand, Sr. Company Officer,
South Asia, Thomson Reuters
About 15-17 million people enter the job market every
year, said Mr Hari S. Bhartia, President, CII, and Co-
Chairman and Managing Director, Jubilant Bhartia Group,
India. With urbanization and the rapidly changing job
market, it is becoming increasingly important to link
education with employability, he said, at the session
on ‘Capitalising on India’s Human Capital.’ Mr Harsh
Manglik, Chairman and Geography Managing Director,
Accenture, India, said that technology can be used to
bridge the gap. “If we allow market forces mechanisms
to come into play, of course with checks and balances
in place, there will be advantages – for one, markets
drive efficiency,” he said.
Panelists debating ‘What kind of Super-power India will
be’ came to the conclusion that the future will not have
any dominant super-power, but would be a multi-polar
world with many great powers. Ms Sudha Pillai, Member
Secretary, Planning Commission of India, felt that India
should be a soft power, building on its cultural outreach
across the planet. Ms. Shoma Chaudhury, Managing
Editor, Tehelka, also felt that India should not aspire
to be a hegemonic power with little respect for other
nations’ sovereignty. Mr Shekhar Gupta, Editor in Chief,
Indian Express, disagreed, pointing out that being benign
can make you irrelevant. Mr. Rahul Bajaj, Chairman,
Bajaj Auto, felt that ‘super-power dreams cannot be
sustained on empty stomachs’. India has a long-way
to go to reach levels of income that would guarantee
all its citizens a prosperous lifestyle, he felt, and added
that corruption is the elephant in the room that needs
to be tackled.
The closing session, ‘From Delhi to Davos,’ stressed
that government alone cannot deliver inclusive growth.
The key issues to be tackled include agriculture,
infrastructure, and education.
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