“Are we looking at ourselves in the same way the world is looking at us today? Are we cognizant of the job destiny has given us?” – these were the opening lines of Meenakshi Lekhi’s speech at IIM Ahmedabad (IIM A). Lekhi, a Member of Parliament, Govt. of India and a noted Supreme Court lawyer, was speaking at the PGPX Seminar Series at IIM A. A 200 strong audience, comprising of Masters in Business Administration (PGPX) students, Masters in Business Management (PGP) students and faculty responded to the question with a resounding “yes!”
Lekhi delved into the steps the administration is taking to spark economic development and how growing the startup ecosystem is a key focus area for this government as she shared her ‘Perspectives on Indian economic development and policy making’.
Addressing the management students, Lekhi quipped that she feels at home with the audience – politicians appreciate the power of management as they are used to working under immense resource constraints she said.
Lekhi spoke of how the present government is not only taking big strides forward in the development of the country but also sidestepping the usual path to find innovative ways to tackle the challenges facing the Indian economy.
“Whether it is through the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign, the Make in India campaign, through improving the health of Indians by going back to our heritage and ancient systems such as yoga, or through creation of smart cities and the Clean Railways campaign – the present government is leaving no stone unturned to spark the economic power of India. She stressed on the issue of improving the health and education of Indians which can go a long way in growing the quality of life in the nation.
She said that the focus of the present government is to be a welfare state, albeit with one major difference – the idea is not only to distribute resources to the population but also give equal importance to augment the resources in order to keep growth going.
The government also wants to focus on stimulating the start-up ecosystem in India, whether organised or unorganised, and create policies to support them.
Also, to take care of the diverse challenges faced by the nation, the government wants to create a quasi-federal structure where the policies are centralised but the implementation is local.
Lekhi interacted with the PGPX students and urged them to work for the government and sought support from the IIM fraternity to generate implementable ideas for the economic development of the nation.
PGPX is a one-year full-time residential program offered by IIM Ahmedabad for professionals with substantial work experience, leading to a Post Graduate Diploma in Management for Executives and is the first and only programme at IIM A to meet global norms for an MBA course as specified by Association of MBAs.