Modi Puts 200 CEOs In Problem-Solving Mode

Two years to go before his government is up for re-election, Modi already has a new slogan in place – New India.

The 200 young entrepreneurs who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi were asked to come prepared with innovative ideas for solutions to India’s problems.

“The big principle given to us was, don’t come up with things that we all know,” said Sumant Sinha of solar and wind power producer ReNew Power. CEOs were given specific subjects and were asked to come up with presentations, said Sinha. The government is looking for “big implementable ideas that could be transformative in nature”.

Speaking to the young CEOs at the two-day event, ‘Champions of Change’, organised by the NITI Aayog, Modi asked them to turn “development into a mass movement” and to build a ‘New India’ by 2022.

The Prime Minister, Finance Minister and other Union Ministers listened to the ideas that the CEOs presented with “rapt attention”, said Deep Kalra of online travel company MakeMyTrip. “The government was genuinely seeking views on interesting and real topics.”

The subjects ranged from jobs creation to doubling farm income by 2022 and even poverty alleviation.

So how would young CEOs help the government solve India’s issues? “We were asked to solve the problem just as we would solve one for our own businesses,” said Kalra.

A New Slogan Before 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014 with the promise of “achhe din”. With two years to go before his government is up for re-election, he already has a new slogan in place – New India.

In his Independence Day speech this year, Modi referred to ‘New India’ no less than seven times.

In the speech, he described New India as a ‘”secure, prosperous, strong nation”, a nation which has “equal opportunity for all”, where “modern science and technology plays an important role” and a “democracy where people are not driven by the system, rather the system is driven by the people”.

His deadline to realise the idea of ‘New India’ is by 2022, when the nation turns 75. There are other ambitious goals too. Doubling farm incomes and electrifying all households by 2022, according to Minister of Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh also has his targets set by 2022. These include resolving the Kashmir Issue and ending the menace of terrorism, Naxalism and left-wing extremism.

But how new is the concept of ‘New India’?

It’s a “repackaged program” says AK Bhattacharya, editor of the Business Standard. It’s also key to note that the ‘New India’ promise is aimed at 2022, even though the Modi Government’s term ends in 2019.

He is really preparing ground for electoral assault in 2019, and the goals are to be achieved by 2022.

AK Bhattacharya, Editor, Business Standard

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