India Today Conclave 2017: Key highlights of Aroon Purie's speech
- Left or Right is no longer the only binary. The divides are wide and widening - Open societies vs Closed ones; Rich vs Poor; Elites vs Masses; Nationalism vs Anti-nationalism; Freedom vs Censorship, Free Trade vs Protectionism.
- Our theme for the Conclave - The Great Disruption - is right on the button... fundamentally, there are five such forces at work. In many ways they are interconnected.
#Conclave17I believe JOBS is the biggest issue we are faced with in India today: @aroonpurie LIVE https://t.co/VHffbecDJh pic.twitter.com/POH4vSQ1M4
— India Today (@IndiaToday) March 17, 2017
- The first great disruption is the Backlash to Globalisation... it has benefited the world economy and pulled millions out of poverty but one of its unintended consequences has been that it helped the elites more than the masses.
- No wonder Trump's call for America First has resonated so well in his country. The whole outsourcing model of shipping jobs abroad is under threat with serious consequences for our $150 billion software industry which employs 10 million people. This would also seriously impact our export thrust and "Make in India" initiative.
- The architecture of global trade as it has existed for the past 70 years is being challenged... there is talk that a global slump may be on the horizon.
- The second great disruption is Technology... It has given rise to the sharing economy... makes us use our resources more efficiently but the result of all these changes is that it affects existing business models and most importantly JOBS.
- I believe JOBS is the biggest issue we are faced with in India today... The performance of this government so far is dismal on this front... And we are sitting on a time bomb of anger and frustration.
- The third most important disruption has been the Information Explosion... There are no more secrets anymore. It has meant that inequalities and inequities are now in the public domain... This raises aspirations but also aggravates resentment.
- On the flip side, there is greater transparency and accountability in public life.
- The fourth greatest disruption is the assertion of identities... We have seen this most acutely in India with the rise of caste quota agitations, the protests on campuses against assaults on freedoms, an increasingly polarised political discourse...
- Democracy is our most precious gift and our representatives should give it more respect.
- The Fifth Great Disruption is the rise of Maximum Leaders. Donald Trump as President has both houses of Congress on his side unlike President Barack Obama who was hamstrung for eight years.
- Our own Maximum Leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi... is as we have found The Disruptor-in-Chief. Since he's been in office from May 2014, he has been pushing change in every direction... We have kind of done well but still have a long way to go.
- My personal belief is that biggest obstacle to India's growth is its slothful, unresponsive, wasteful bureaucracy... Unless the bureaucracy is streamlined, I believe, not much will change. Grand announcements will remain only just that. And we will merely trundle along.
- We are a smart, creative, hardworking people... The government just needs to provide an enabling environment and let us do the rest.