CII hosts Indian "Big Society" conference in the UK
29th November 2010

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India's leading economic development agency, hosted a conference to explore the concepts of "Big Society" in India with leading members of its government, Indian and British businesses, NGOs and social entrepreneurs. Organised in conjunction with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and the UK India Business Council (UKIBC), the conference took place in London on Monday 29th November 2010 at the conference hall of legal firm Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP. The keynote address was given by Mihir Shah, Member of the Planning Commission of the Government of India and Rajesh Prasad, Deputy High Commissioner of India to the UK. The session was moderated by Anwar Hassan, Director of Tata Ltd and Chair of the CII-India Business Forum and included talks by Richard Heald, CEO of UKIBC and Jonathan Morris, Partner at Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP.

The Deputy High Commissioner of India, Mr Prasad, started by explaining that although India's economic growth had been great "it is not only how fast it grows, but also how it grows. We want to maintain the higher rates of growth but at the same time adopt more inclusiveness. Businesses are an integral constituent of civil society and creating livelihoods is the best act of corporate social responsibility. While the Indian industry's focus for the year has been on the four key enablers for sustainable enterprises: education, employability, innovation and entrepreneurship, the Government has been aggressively working on the implementation of various employment guarantee schemes, bringing the lowest of the society into the growth circle. It is the belief of Indian Industry that while education and employability help create a qualified and skilled workforce, innovation and entrepreneurship would drive growth and employment generation."

Mr Shah outlined the current employment guarantee schemes and the emphasis on rural development programs, ranging from technology and financial services, like micro finance initiatives, to path-breaking legislation. He spoke of replacing the "Contractor or Licence Raj" with the "Panchayat Raj", a decentralised form of Government where each village is responsible for its own affairs, as the foundation of India's political system. He ended by stating that "markets and finance in themselves are not enough to guarantee social inclusiveness; we must also have partnerships, reassertion of individuals' rights, governance reform and capacity building".

The second part of the CII Conference, entitled "Inclusive Growth: Imperative for Economic Development", debated the issues CSR (corporate and social responsibility), environmental sustainability and employment generation. Speakers included: Jim Cox International Development Officer at the Royal College of General Practitioners; Khem Aithani, Senior Vice President of Strategic Relations at ITC Infotech; Rahul Barkataky, CEO of SEWA Trade Facilitation Centre; Roy Newey, Group Board Director of A4e and B G Srinivas, Vice President of Infosys Technologies. The second session was moderated by Ms Sudeshna Sen, Foreign Editor of The Economic Times with closing remarks by Mihir Shah, Member of the Planning Commission of the Government of India and Jonathan Morris of Berwin Leighton Paisner.