Aadhaar: The wonder card?

It promises to be the identity of every Indian, the identity which will make him/her belong to India, no matter which state (s)he is from, which bank account (s)he operates or which shop (s)he gets his groceries from. It is with this idea that UID (Unique Identification number) was created. It has been described as India's game-changer and the country's springboard to social and financial inclusion. 

Did you know that once enrolled, you can also print your own Aadhaar Card and in the near future, a bank can also use your UID to give you a personalised card which has your UID integrated into it? “The plan is to create an apps-based economy. We have made the card in such a way that various players can build on the UID.” When none other than Nandan Nilekani, chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), says this, you know there is vision in the mission. Nilekani was speaking at the MindMine Exchange, a key session at the MindMine Summit 2013. 

Speaking on ‘The Aadhaar project and the way forward’, Nilekani said that the UIDAI has set a target of enrolling 600 million people for Aadhaar numbers by the end of 2014, and so far it has already issued over 310 million Aadhaar numbers. He added that every direct benefit transfer scheme is based on the Aadhaar platform. The government has already started the Aadhaar-based direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme in 43 districts in the first three months of 2013, and its implementation will help in reducing irregularities, he said.

Q&A with Sunil Kant Munjal at Mindmine Summit 2013

Sudipto Dey:

‘It is possible for India to grow at over 10%’

The economic reforms are a journey for a better standard of living for all citizens of the country, says Sunil Kant Munjal, joint managing director, Hero MotoCorp and chairman, Hero Corporate Service. Edited excerpts from an interview:

Q. At a time when the government is gearing up for elections, and business sentiment just about seems to be entering positive territory, what are your biggest concerns as an industry thought leader?

The canvas of the MindMine Summit is not only about industry, but much larger. This year’s theme -- ‘Today’s India: Economics or Politics?’ -- ends with a question mark. We are posing a question to expert speakers and audiences -- where does the balance lie for us? Both are important -- economics for a nation with a very large number of people living in poverty, and politics for good quality of governance. The issue here is: how do you strike a balance, so that politics of the day recognises that economics is good and necessary to run social programmes. In a country with diversity like ours we need to do both things. We need to allow free enterprise and free markets. But there is certain section of society that that does not have access to opportunities. For them we need the support of the government and therefore strike a balance between the two.

We need higher revenue, higher taxes and higher liquidity in the system to create a virtuous cycle. As more people become prosperous they will consume more goods and services. Companies and businesses that produce more goods and services will create more jobs, thus creating a virtuous cycle. Our attempt has been to reach that Utopian situation, so that poverty continues to go down and we are able to eradicate it. So we need high growth for spreading prosperity and for a long period of time. Ideally, it is possible for India to grow above 10 per cent, if one looks at the fundamentals of savings, consumption and population demographics. But we also have weaknesses in our system which cannot be covered in a day.

So reform is a process -- a journey for a better standard of living for all citizens of our country. In this journey some people will do very well and some will not do well, which is a fact of life. When you open up to the free market not everyone will do well, and not everyone will do badly. The challenge for us is how do you create enough freedom and growth, and thereby revenue, for the government to use intelligently in creating infrastructure and a framework for law, managing the currency of the country, managing its foreign exchange reserves, ensuring free and fair quality of life for each of its citizen. I am not being Utopian. Other countries have done it. Some of them are small countries and some are large ones.

Take the example of Singapore. From a fishing village in a short period of time they became one of the most progressive states. They made good laws and very good regulation of laws. They have continued to improve on freedom and civil liberties. They have tried to balance the best of both worlds. We have a similar challenge for us but our scale is much larger than most countries. One of the largest populations of poor people live in India. We also have extreme diversities across the country in terms of culture, language, taste, preferences. We are like a continent. Our biggest weakness, the diversity, is also our biggest strength.

At the MindMine Summit we are addressing the subject of economics and politics from multiple dimensions in different sessions. In each session we have opinion leaders from different walks of life -- government, business, politics, civil society, performing artists, think tanks, academics who are addressing subsets of these big theme and create a dialogue. We discourage speeches and presentations. Each session is interactive and engaging. We are leaving it to the audience to find the question themselves. Questions are being raised and debate is enacted in each session. The final decision is not given out. We have a feed-back loop after the Summit for relevant government departments and industry associations.

Q. Do you see a realisation seeping in among the political class that sound economics is important for sound politics?

In the way the five-year government system in our democracy runs, politicians are naturally concerned about how I am influencing my constituency to ensure that I can come back next time around. When a new government gets set up, there is a period for them to settle in.  But towards the tail end of the government’s (tenure) their behaviour tends to change. Interestingly, in the last few state elections, a number of states have demonstrated that actual performance -- from the citizen’s point of view -- has started to become more important than it used to be.

If citizens have seen better infrastructure, better service, better law and order, more economic growth and job creation, they have started to re-elect the same governments. The earlier formula of caste background, etc has not completely gone away, but this is a new dimension that has got added. When they give (poll) tickets out there is lot of number crunching in terms of the population mix in that region, who will be a potential leader acceptable with that kind of background of caste or creed.

My own desire is that should become less important. Hopefully, at some point of time in India it should be based on merit and understanding of the needs of that constituency and the ability to address those needs -- not take short-term action on what you can do in two or three years, but also lay the foundation for long-term benefits to society, things which take 10-15-20 years to fructify. I am glad today we have started talking of a large backbone of road networks across the country, large knowledge management system, like the Aadhaar project or civilian use of nuclear power. These are all long term projects and have long term benefits.

But there are many long-term issues pending which have not been addressed, such as implementation of GST or reform in labour (laws), or full taxation reforms not only in rates but also in administration, land reforms, and agriculture reforms. A host of them are still pending and sometime we make them difficult with the understanding that it may not be seen well by our constituency. At the same time it is understood that it is in my constituency’s long-term interest. I think our leadership needs ways to communicate to the constituency, the opposition and the allies why some of the programmes that they want to implement are good for the system. And why they need to be supported in Parliament, including by the opposition.

Q. Given the general public disenchantment with politicians, do you think Indian industry is now likely to get more deeply involved with governance and politics?

Governance is certainly important but it is less about politics. Frankly, politics is a whole different field and best left to politicians. Industry only wants to concern itself with industrial activity. Increasingly, more and more a demand is being put on industry for societal support as well. The government in the last 50-60 years has not been able to provide quality healthcare, quality education, clean drinking water, and so it is asking industry to get involved.

Some industries are doing this willingly and some unwillingly. It is clear industry will get involved now. Some companies have been doing it for a very long time, as it is an “Indian” thing to do. Giving is very Indian, but large-scale giving has not been possible because of the system, the regulation, high taxation, and the inability of individuals and large corporations to accumulate wealth over the last few hundred years. But that is now starting to happen.

Industry as a responsible citizen feels the need for governance in the overall system to improve, so that there is a sense of fair play, a sense of freedom and justice in the system.

Bringing the best to the table

The MindMine Summit has evolved with the changing Indian political and economic scenario

Chuckles broke the silence in the quiet gathering when Mr Sunil Kant Munjal said, “I’m glad we didn’t have a seven-year itch and moved into the eighth year.” Munjal, joint managing director, Hero Motocorp Limited and Chairman, Hero Corporate Service Limited, was talking about The MindMine Summit, the eighth in the series, which recently concluded in New Delhi.

As in earlier years, the annual flagship event of Hero Corporate Service, a Hero Group company, featured eminent speakers from various fields. The summit seeks to generate intellectual discussions and build thought leadership on subjects of importance to Indian industry and to Indians as a whole.

Every year the summit sees policy makers, government and corporate leaders, artists, politicians and academics come together to discuss and debate key issues of national interest. A whole host of luminaries and distinguished leaders from every field of human endeavour have been a part of this iconic event since the first edition in 2006.

What sets the summit apart from the others, besides its prominent speakers, is its format. The summit opts for an interactive format for its plenary sessions and panel discussions. Instead of fixed delivery formats, panel speakers and session chairpersons, they have dialogue partners and interlocutors. To make discussions livelier, the summit has two ‘must attend’ sessions -- the MindMine Exchange and MindMine Debate about topics of business and national importance.

It was in its seventh edition last year that the group opted for a more interactive format for plenary sessions and panel discussions. This change went down very well with the audience, and the feedback was promptly acted upon.

The summit has also evolved with the rapidly changing face of the Indian economy. So, if the second summit focused on ‘The Global Indian Manager’, the 2009 summit focussed on ‘Challenges of Troubled Times: Opportunities and Threats’, and on how India was going to turn the recession into an opportunity for growth. In 2011, the focus was on ‘Thriving in Uncertainty: Is this the Real India?’

Cut to 2013. Thanks to the interplay of political and economic forces, this year the Summit’s focus was, ‘Today’s India: Economics or Politics?’ A diverse set of eminent speakers brainstormed on economic and political realities of today’s times and what they could mean for the country, through an eclectic mix of interactive plenary sessions, ‘exchanges’ and debates.

On the sidelines of the summit, the BML Munjal Awards for Excellence in Learning and Development were presented. The awards look at companies that have consistently leveraged training and learning for building competitive advantage. The winners were selected by an independent jury consisting of some of India's most respected corporate executives. The award is named after Hero Group Chairman and Padma Bhushan Awardee Brijmohan Lall Munjal -- a leader who has built the Hero Group from scratch.

Striking a balance - by Sudipto Dey

Both economics and politics are important for a nation -- economics for pulling people out of poverty, and politics for good governance

Sudipto Dey:

Sunil Kant Munjal, joint managing director, HeroMoto Corp, and chairman, Hero Corporate Service, set the tone at the eighth edition of the MindMine Summit in his inaugural address. The summit is a two-day, no-holds-barred interactive session among a group of 50-odd thought leaders, opinion makers, top bureaucrats, diplomats, chief ministers, corporate honchos, professionals from IT, media and medicine, academics, artists, civil society activists, sportsmen and sports administrators.  

Since its inception in 2006, the MindMine Summit has been the annual flagship event of the Hero Group-promoted MindMine Institute, an independent think-tank not connected to any media house or industry association, that generates intellectual discussions and builds thought leadership on contemporary issues concerning the country, economy, industry and global relations.

Explaining the significance of this year’s theme -- ‘Today’s India: Economics or Politics?’ -- Sunil Kant Munjal said it should be seen in the backdrop of questions raised over the government’s inaction on the policy-making front. “Is it not the government’s role to convince allies and the opposition as to what it wants to do and where it wants to take the country?” Munjal asked. “It seems they took the foot off the pedal, as things were going well,” he mused, on why the reform momentum lost pace. He observed that in the last 15-20 years some of the toughest decisions on economic reforms were taken by coalition governments. So the poser going forward is how to strike a balance between economics and politics.

Taking a cue from Munjal’s forthrightness, Praful Patel, minister of heavy industries and public enterprises, conceded that the current government in the last few years scored a few “self-goals”. While coalition politics is here to stay, it is important for the two principal political parties -- Congress and BJP -- to bite the bullet on economic issues, he said. “Unless we have sound economics, we will not have sound politics,” Patel said. He acknowledged that the state of affairs in sectors like power and roads, and an issue like the size of the current account deficit could have been better managed.

Striking an optimistic note, he assured industry leaders that the “worst is over” when it comes to the logjam in decision-making within the government. However, he stressed that the government would need to strike a balance between the interests of various sections of society when arriving at key economic decisions.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman, Planning Commission, acknowledged the reason for the slowdown in the reform momentum. “Government functionaries had become reluctant to take decisions,” he said. The business of implementing policies had become more complicated over the years, he added.

He emphasised the need for a culture change within government that would encourage participation of specialist professionals from the private sector in the running of the government.  “Private sector professionals should be ready to give up huge salaries to join the government,” he added. If the government is able to expedite its decision-making process, he expected the GDP growth rate to go up by another 1.5 per cent in the next one year.

Addressing a session on the Aadhaar project, Nandan Nilekani, chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India, allayed concerns that the project could fall prey to a change in the political scenario, with general elections looming in the near future. The Aadhaar team, he said, plans to roll out 600 million unique IDs by the end of 2014. With this number, the team believes, even a change in government at the Centre will not affect the implementation of the project. The project has gathered traction across states -- irrespective of their political affiliations -- with 350 million people enrolled and over 300 million unique IDs issued. Indeed, representatives from 15-odd countries have visited India to get a first-hand feel of the project.

In a session on India’s connect with the world, Salman Khurshid, minister for external affairs, refuted allegations that the Indian government has been soft when it comes to influencing its neighbours. Despite delays, Pakistan is committed to giving India MFN status, he said, adding that this is likely to gather steam after the formation of a new government in Islamabad. “There is a growing constituency for trade between the two countries,” he said. (Interestingly, former diplomat G Parthasarathy felt that India should not push for MFN status with Pakistan. “It is not a life and death situation for India,” he said.)

Speaking on China, the foreign minister said both countries have largely overcome suspicions about each other’s intentions. “This is the right time to ramp up people-to-people contacts,” Khurshid said. There is far greater scope for investments flowing from China to India, he said. The foreign minister is slated to visit China next month.

In a session on rising regionalism, when the moderator called for a show of hands, asking how many believed strong regions weakened the Centre, half of those present put up their hands. Interestingly, at the end of the session, when a show of hands was sought again, no hands were raised!

Perhaps what worked most to change the mind of the audience was a passionate plea by Omar Abdullah, chief minister, Jammu & Kashmir, to recognise that India is a conglomerate of states, and that it has historically never been a homogenous society. “We need to recognise this and embrace our diversity,” he said.

Even Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Member of Parliament, agreed that regional aspirations are good for the state. “But regional parties should not be allowed to set the national agenda,” he said. Meera Shankar, former Indian ambassador to the United States, was of the view that states should not play a role in deciding the foreign policy of the country.

The success of the 20-20 Indian Premier League cricket tournament generated a fair degree of heat among non-cricket sports federations and sportsmen. Randhir Singh, vice president, Association of National Olympic Committees, was of the view that most national federations have not been able to market themselves well. The reluctance of sportsmen to become part of national federations is affecting sports in India, he said.

Viren Rasquinha, former captain of the Indian hockey team, felt that IPL could teach sports federations a trick or two on how to market themselves well and focus on developing sustainable leagues.  However Neeraj Bhardwaj, managing director, The Carlyle Group, felt that IPL has set a bad precedent for sports in India. He felt long-term sports development should be the main criterion for sponsoring sports in India, rather than spending money on branding the sport.

The thought leaders were clearly divided in the middle when it came to the final debate on day two on whether the country needs strong leadership, not democratic leadership. Kanwal Sibal, former foreign secretary, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury and Surjeet Bhalla, chairman, Oxus Investments, spoke in favour of the motion; Bibek Debroy, professor, Centre for Policy Research, Debang Nanavati, senior advocate, Supreme Court, and Smriti Irani, Rajya Sabha member, were against the motion.

According to Prof Debroy: “Democracy is like oxygen; as long as we have it we don’t appreciate it, but like in the case of the Emergency, when it’s taken away we realise its worth.” If there was no democracy there wouldn’t have been the option of a debate, he added. Yechury was of the view that strong leadership implies decisiveness, and decisiveness is not anti-democratic. “It involves a certain vision and thinking, which should be purely democratic,” he added.

For Surjeet Bhalla the operative words were the effectiveness of a leader. “When there is no effective leadership, democracy or no democracy, the country suffers,” he said.

The moot point, according to Munjal, is that both economics and politics are important for the nation’s journey -- economics for a large number of people living in poverty, and politics for good quality of governance. The issue here is: are we ready to strike a balance?