Tarun Kakani, CEO of city-based Glocal Technology Solutions, is brimming with vigour and ideas. The excitement of being part of a select group of start-up founders and young entrepreneurs who were invited to interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an interactive session organised by NITI Aayog, is still palpable on his face.
Modi government’s ‘Champions of Change for a New India by 2022’ initiative aims at engaging groups of highly motivated and dynamic entrepreneurs from the private sector who have been demonstrating passion to usher in a positive change.
“We all know the PPP mode of operation for implementation of projects. But what Prime Minister Modi is doing is PPPP (People Private Public Partnership), involving all sections in the development activity,” said Mr. Kakani, who recently attended a two-day interactive session with Mr. Modi in New Delhi.
The meeting was attended by over a dozen Union Ministers who explained to the young participants the government policies and a series of new initiatives. The participants made presentations; parts of which could form the government’s policy inputs.
Suggestions
“I suggested a new scheme called SkillDial on the lines of JustDial which was well taken. My suggestion is that people with multiple skills could enrol in a database so the problem of skill gap could be addressed,” he said.
Use of technology to improve farmers’ income, promotion of rural tourism involving farmers who could show tourists their farm lands and explain to them the nitty-gritty of farming, and training in foreign languages in a big way, were a few other things he pitched. “I also urged the need to bring in the concept of gap year, especially in the engineering courses. Students should be allowed a year-long gap from academics for a training or an internship that would get them the much-needed exposure and re-join the course with an enhanced level of understanding and knowledge,” he said.
Mr. Kakani said deliberations on key issues such as PM’s pet initiative ‘Make in India’, gender parity, poverty alleviation, smart cities, how to build world-class infrastructure, and reforms in banking and finance, were eye-openers.
Other entrepreneurs included Rajiv Bajaj of Bajaj Auto, Nikhil Nanda of Escorts, Avni Biyani of Future Retail, Sangeeta Reddy of Apollo Hospitals, Bunty Bohra of Goldman Sachs, Priya Nair of Hindustan Unilever and Sanjeev Bikhchandani of Naukri.com.
They were divided in groups which may be attached to the Ministries concerned, as part of the government’s reported decision to institutionalise the process. “The prospect of working closely with people at the helm and contribute our mite in making a positive difference is very exciting,” says Mr. Kakani.
