Need to tap India's latent potential

From the Pandemic to Russia-Ukraine Conflict to Nuclear Warfare to the Sri Lanka crisis and now the Baluchistan attack, one thing that is constantly alarming and should be a matter of concern is how adversely it is affecting India and how potentially we can grow and develop.

The world order is changing and so a lot many changes are expected in the future. With China being the epicentre of most of these destructive shifts, during this time what is most important for India is to take on her own issues and dwell over them.

With the present change in the world order, the pressing issue for India is how to be future-ready to have sustainable growth and development. In the history of India, slavery and robbery by the West have been discontinued at a political level since 15 August 1947, yet the ill-effects of the same are still left over in the minds of people. Most of the research, and analysis, of corporate industry, are reflected in the models and analysis of the West and losing dynamics of sentiments and the economic state of India.

What are the real issues in India?

It is alarming and paradoxical that many times the problems of India are not given emphasis as per the socio-economic sentiments of the country, instead of taking issues of the west and trying to fit them into the Indian context – to count a few, models of DEI i.e., Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion. The real diversity of India is its underprivileged segment of society. This segment needs to get uplifted to step in the vision of a developed India, as this will give us the actual economic recovery of a common people. India ranks 66 out of 109 countries in the Global MPI 2021. Restricting DEI on gender-base in our country does not solve major issues; it only holds up the progress of the nation. At this hour, we need a mindset shift to understand the deep-rooted issues of India. It will not be wrong yet or very late to say and accept that an urban woman is empowered, what our India needs is to accept it and take it to next level and settle down this change in the mindsets of people.

The second dominating issue to make our country economically strong is to make the "Rupee" stronger. With the economic recovery taking a stall, after the pandemic, inflation after Ukraine-Russia dramatic escalation, and nuclear forces on high alert, there are a lot of trade-offs at our end also. At an industry level, we must target empowering our Indian companies and making them at par in culture with the private companies in attracting talent. Mostly talented and premier B-Schools are keen on placements in MNCs and making Indian companies deprived of having the cream in the talents.

Another challenge toward economic recovery in India is safeguarding the borders to avoid corruption and the drug mafia. The latest recovery of 50 kg heroin haul from mainland capital city Delhi is a self-explanatory incident of the prevalent drug mafia in the country. Burning cannabis and opium worth Rs 16 crore in Kullu by HP police gives us an insight into how big this racket is and detrimental to the development of India.

Of all these grave issues, which are significant and tune into the developmental hazard, is this not relevant for corporate/industries to focus on mindset shift and to - while thinking global for business - act locally, as we do owe towards the development of the country. With a dream to be in Developed India after being robbed and slaved, it does take everybody's efforts an inch extra to think differently while framing and following the same models based on the variables and sentiments of the west.

We as a nation cannot afford to still struggle with the challenges which we were struggling with years before. After physical independence, we need to cut the chords of slavery from the minds also and begin to think. To raise per capita income and GDP, the organizations do have the onus to extend the employability to underprivileged people and begin to consider gender equality as a normal norm of an educated society and ecosystem.

(The author is the founder of EvoluTioon Strategies and Leadership Coach. She is an IIM-Lucknow alumna, and a Thought Leader. She is an Ex-Army Officer)