New Delhi, Oct 21 (IANS): As the Indian economy has been severely hit by the pandemic, Public Affairs Forum of India (PAFI) President Ishteyaque Amjad is of the view that the government, industry, and other stakeholders should should rework economic models, to make development more inclusive.
He emphasised on forward-looking labour policies, creating of an equilibrium between land, labour and capital.
"The moment is now for us to be vocal, but we need to expand the definition of local, rather than shrink it. We should rework our economic models, initiate forward-looking labour policies, create equilibrium between land, labour and capital, and make economic development more inclusive," he said.
Disproportionate urbanisation has resulted in just a few megacities getting the lion's share of migrant workers, he said.
"India has 50 cities with population of more than a million. It is time to create commercial opportunities and employment in all these cities," Amjad told IANS.
Noting that India benefitted immensely by providing information technology services to the West, the PAFI President said: "There's no reason why these cities cannot do that for both Indian and global businesses."
"Most of our industrial townships were created in the 1960s and 70s and, besides building industrial ecosystems, these towns produced some of the finest human resources thanks to their high-quality educational institutes. Now there is a need to re-purpose them," he said.
He was of the view that improving the per capita gross domestic product of Indians will also unbridle the advantage of a huge consumer base and improve the quality of consumption, which currently lags global standards.
India is one of the biggest consumption economies and needs proactive demand-generation, especially after Covid, Amjad added.
Regarding the upcoming PAFI 7th National Forum, he said that the theme for the forum this year is "Building Trust, Charting Growth".
"Despite the odds, the forum is geared to hold deliberations on how businesses can adapt to the new realities and navigate through the uncertain times. The focus this year is going to be laid on strategies that corporates need to adopt for an effective public affairs practice," he said.