HVK Archives: 'We need forward looking politicians'; and a comment
'We need forward looking politicians'; and a comment - The Observer
Press Trust of India
()
3 March 1997
Title : 'We need forward looking politicians'; and a comment
Author : Press Trust of India
Publication : The Observer
Date : March 3, 1997
Former Finance Minister and Congress leader, Dr Manmohan Singh on
Sunday said there was a need for strong and purposeful Governments
both at the Centre and the States to sustain the momentum of
economic reform.
Delivering the convocation day address at the Indian Institute of
Management here, the former Finance Minister said: "We need
politicians, who are forward looking and who recognise the creative
role of politics as a powerful instrument of social change. "
He said professionals can play a vital role in the social and
economic transformation.
"Liberalisation and deregulation have greatly expanded the degrees
of freedom available to our enterprises in managing their affairs",
he said.
"Do not put blame for the low productivity and uncompetitiveness of
Indian industry on the shoulders of the Government", he said.
He said: "We need a new vision and a new mind set on the part of
our entrepreneurs, managers and other professionals. " '
Recalling the entrepreneurial talents of industrial giants like
Jamshedji Tata, G D Birla, J R D Tata and Sir Sriram, who build up
sizeable industrial empires under highly unfavourable conditions
during the colonial rule, Dr Singh said: "We have to recapture
their spirit of idealism, adventure and enterprise: by undertaking
strategic planning.
Indian industry must learn to face up to the challenge on global
competition as any attempt to resurrect an unsustainable past
characterised by infinite protection was bound to be counter
productive', he said.
Dr Singh stressed on the need for creating an environment id which
businessmen considered that it was not enough to make profit but
also to comply with the legal regulations and society's moral
values.
One needs emphasis on maximum possible commitment to
self-regulation, efficient and fair corporate governance, utmost
transparency in the functioning of an enterprise and strict regard
for professional standards, he said.
If all professional workers follow a healthy and vigorous work
ethics, it will lead to both improved efficiency and greater equity
in the functioning of our economic system, he said.
Earlier, IIM chairman, Hari Shanker Singhania and the HM director,
Dr J L Batra, also spoke on the occasion.
Altogether 116 students of the 1997' batch passed out from the IIM
and there had been a cent per cent placement for them. Referring to
the placement, Dr Batra said the average salary for the batch was
close to Rs 2.33 lakh, excluding those with international postings.
______________________________________________________________
Comment
Ashok V Chowgule
Kanchanjunga
72, Dr G Deshmukh Marg,
Mumbai 400 026
March 3, 1997.
Sir
Delivering the convocation address at the Indian Institute of
Management, Lucknow, (March 3), Dr Manmohan Singh recalled the
'entrepreneurial talents of industrials giants' like the Tatas and
the Birlas, 'who build up sizeable industrial empires under highly
unfavourable conditions during the colonial rule'. What Dr Singh
does not recall in the history prior to the end of the colonial
rule, when the same entrepreneurial talents were suppressed in a
free India, and instead of allowing these industrial empires to
have their natural growth were inhibited from all sides, under the
specious argument of social justice, etc.
It is this unwillingness to understand why things are in such a
sorry state that makes Dr Singh absolve the government for low
productivity and uncompetitiveness of the Indian industry. When he
asks for a new vision on part of industry, he forgets that such a
thing does not happen overnight. When the Indian industry has had
to work under a stifling environment for more than forty years, it
is difficult to change in five. It is not only the top man who has
to change, but the whole organisation.
Your sincerely,
Ashok V. Chowgule
To:
The Editor,
The Observer of Business and Politics,
Court Chambers, Fourth Floor,
Lokmanya Tilak Marg,
Mumbai 400 002.
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