From L to R: Sameer Kochhar Chief Editor & CEO, Skoch;Dr Deepak B Phatak, Skoch Development Foundation & Chair Professor, IIT-B, Mumbai; Rajan Swaroop, Executive Director, Enterprise Services, Bharti Airtel Ltd; M Ramachandran, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development; Nandan Nilekani, Hon’ble Chairman, UIDAI; Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman, Microsoft Corporation (India); Hari Sankaran, Managing Director & CEO, IL&FS; Below - G K Pillai, Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs.

Curtain Raiser -The India Decade

The inaugural session for the 22st Skoch Summit had eminent personalities from various backgrounds who gave their invaluable inputs and provided it with a momentum which was carried forward in

The Panelists in the session were Mr G K Pillai, Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Mr Nandan Nilekani, Hon’ble Chairman, UIDAI, Dr M Ramachandran, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, Mr Hari Sankaran, Managing Director & CEO, IL&FS, Mr Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman, Microsoft Corporation (India), Mr Rajan Swaroop, Executive Director, Enterprise Services, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Dr Deepak B Phatak, Skoch Development Foundation & Chair Professor, IIT-B, Mumbai.

Panelists shared their vision on ‘The India Decade’. Importance of dealing proactively with security issues is a foremost challenge. Security challenges are multifaceted, there are security challenges from cross border terrorism, insurgency, particularly from NE India, and there is Maoist movement which is mainly a clash of ideologies as they are opposed to parliamentary democracy.

Fundamental problem to all these challenges is that the entire police system needs to be revamped; there has not been any significant improvement over the last 50 – 60 years. Approximately 2000 crores that has been outlaid by 13th Finance Commission recommendation that is to be utilised towards police modernisation, re-skilling, re-training and capacity building measures is a welcome sign towards creating a more secure environment. Need is for consistent and sustained policies as much as to build newer institutions and modern IT based systems.

Panel expressed that UID project is going to have positive impact on the inclusive growth and financial deepening. Every Indian would be having a unique number though this would be a daunting task in itself but it will have many positives in terms of Reach, Mobility, Efficiency, Choice, Levelling of Opportunity, and Accountability. UID is must for the section of the Indian society which is largely rural in nature and finds it challenging to prove their identity to access services. It assists KYC norms of the banks; lack of identity is a part of the divide.

Urbanisation is set to grow further and will contribute significantly to country’s growth. Moving into the next decade, for sustainable urbanization there is a need to empower our cities, enabling them to generate and manage their funds. Improvement in Services – setting up of service level bench mark, reform process like JNNURM is also critical. Technology is going to play a vital role in urbanisation in terms of leveraging service management and delivery. Issue of housing needs to be comprehensively addressed and also it should be recognised that slums are integral feature of our cities. Thus, slum welfare should be taken seriously. Transport sector needs reform; public transport has to be encouraged and MRTS (Mass Rapid Transit Systems) is must for every Indian city. Also, for the holistic growth Urban Planning is vital to all the above and Master Plans should address all components.

Infrastructural development should maximise socio-economic contributions, and Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) has capability to bring in this contribution. They should be designed to seek maximum output. Focus on the outcomes of a project has to be much wider and government should see benefits beyond the direct impact. Processes in government have to be more vibrant, need of having stable leadership and greater institutional arrangements.

To reap benefits of the demographic dividend which India has to today, focus has to be on benefits of education which can be earned by leveraging education system in the country. Technological intervention is must in this regard and every Indian should have an access to it. For eg. Microsoft has come up with innovative solutions like Multi Point, this enables every student in the classroom to have hands on with the computer. Multi Point enables operating with more than one mouse and each module finishes only after each student has performed his click. Solutions like these and many are solving the accessibility problem, making technology reach everyone. Panel agreed that there is a need is to empower the teachers in this regard. They should  be able to reach using computer.