SPEECH OF HON’BLE GOVERNOR PUNJAB AND ADMINISTRATOR, UT CHANDIGARH, SHRI BANWARIL PUROHIT ON THE OCCASION OF LUDHIANA MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION AT LUDHIANA ON DECEMBER 20, 2022.

On the occasion of 44th Anniversary Celebrations and awards function of Ludhiana Management Association (LMA), I congratulate all the award winners. I also congratulate the office bearers and members of LMA for organising the function.

Ludhiana being an industrial hub of India is sitting on a great opportunity of industrial revolution. Award winners have done great job within the society and in their businesses and I once again congratulate all of you.

I am pleased to visit the city of Ludhiana. It holds a unique position of having a large concentration of small scale industries and has the distinction of producing some of the brightest minds in the areas of business and commerce.

I call upon the younger generation to emulate the hard work done by these entrepreneurs.

The dedication and exemplary management skills shown by these Entrepreneurs have led them to attain recognition not only in India but all over the world.

As you all know that we are celebrating 75 years of India's independence. This is an important stage in the development journey of our country where we not only have to remember our forefathers and freedom fighters with pride, who sacrificed everything to get us freedom, but we also have to work with honesty and integrity for our country . We have to work with integrity, so that when our country is celebrating the centenary year of independence, it is a major world power and our future generations can be proud of all of us.

Friends,

Government of India has initiated various programs. Here I would like to mention four major programmes Make in India, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Aathma Nirbhar Bharat and Digital India . All these programs individually throw open huge opportunities for innovative entrepreneurs to tap.

Let us take the example of opportunities thrown open by Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. This scheme encourages the entrepreneurs to explore the areas such as Cleaner environment, management of solid waste both at the city as well as at the rural level, cleaner air and water resources.

We cannot take the mother Earth for granted for our business means. Sustainable organisations are likely to be preferred by the customer as well. The need, therefore is that a sustainable ecosystem should be developed where air, water and soil resources are free from any kind of pollutants .

Government of India has announced that by the year 2030, India will reduce its carbon emissions by one billion tonnes and by the year 2070, it will try to become a net zero emission economy.

The cooperation of the industry is very important in achieving this goal. Many companies around the world are contributing to the zero carbon economy. Therefore, I would expect all the representatives of the business world present here that they will not only work towards reducing pollution in the currently running industries, but will also cooperate in setting up such new industries which are environment-friendly.

Government of India has made several policy reforms to promote SMEs under 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' and 'Make in India' campaign.

There are many such small, cottage and medium industries in Punjab which can take advantage of these initiatives of the government.

The state government is taking several steps to increase investment in the state, generate employment and for the sustainable development of the state. An 'Investors' Summit' is going to be organized soon in Punjab (Feb 2023). This is the first Investors Summit to be organized by the state government after the Corona pandemic. It is expected from all of you that taking advantage of the schemes of the state government, you will contribute in the development of the state.

Similarly, other initiatives taken by the Government of India offer substantial opportunities to be tapped.

This can be made possible only if we shift towards knowledge driven economy.

We need to create an ecosystem that encourages development of knowledge based entrepreneurship. We also need to encourage the younger population to become job providers rather than jobseekers, primarily by creating knowledge based organisations.

This is possible if two conditions are met. The first condition is that there should be a strong section that encourages entrepreneurship among students and faculty at the college or the university level. The second condition is that financial support is available along with mentorship for these entrepreneurs .

Various initiatives have been undertaken to facilitate knowledge based entrepreneurship in the country. But, it is often observed that, in most cases, there exist two silos, one called the educational institutions and the others called the business or the commercial organisations. These silos have a great pool of highly talented and knowledgeable people. But they rarely exchange views or get an opportunity to sit together and discuss.

In this regard, I would like to appreciate the work done by Ludhiana Management Association in breaking these silos. I am happy to note that this Association has good mix of entrepreneurs, academicians, practicing managers and students . We need to create more such associations so that we can break the silos of knowledge and create a more robust mechanism to support learning and entrepreneurship.

The commercial organisations need to come up with support to educational institutions in creating and disseminating knowledge. This support by the business houses will go a long way in creating an ecosystem that will encourage knowledge creation in universities/ institutions of higher learning.

I call upon all the industrialists/ businessmen sitting in this hall to contribute towards strengthening the research and development efforts of the state/ central universities through contract research, donations and by participating in creating platforms to exchange ideas and knowledge.

My dear friends,

We have sufficient pool of skilled manpower along with necessary infrastructure and institutional support in the areas of agriculture, textile and light engineering industry. All we need is to collectively develop an action plan to help Punjab to attract global research and development organisations to set up their facilities here . This will lead to making Punjab a global hub of R & D activities in these areas.

We all know that education and skilled labour are pre-requisites for development of a sound knowledge economy . With about 65% of its population under the age of 35 years, India is destined to progress rapidly and be globally competitive. This augurs well for both short term and long term growth. At least ten million Indian youth enter the country’s workforce each year . The only requirement to achieve this goal is to make the population adequately skilled and impart high standard of education to them .

It pains me to see that the youth from Punjab is ready to work in countries with adverse conditions like Iraq, doing odd jobs and risking lives. This trend needs to be reversed. This can be done by imparting skills required in knowledge based organisations. Both central and state governments have taken steps to impart quality knowledge/ skills to the youth so that they become skilful and employable.

I call upon all of you through LMA to vigorously take part in designing curriculum, participate in training youth and come forward for helping the youth, particularly from the rural areas, to attain the skills required by the industry .

I wish to stress here that knowledge without values and ethics is meaningless. We need to inculcate values and ethics in our youngsters to ensure that we all get the benefit as a nation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As Dr. R. A. Mashelkar, a known scientist said “I” in India must stand for innovation. New knowledge cannot be created without innovative thinking and the process has to begin from a very young age. Students need to be trained to think creatively and to strive for improvement by finding new solutions.

Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi Ji has promised to give ‘absolute support’ to make enterprise and innovation easier so that India emerges as an innovation hub and keeps pace with the fast changing world. He had said “The world is changing quicker than ever before and we cannot remain oblivious to that. If we don’t innovate, if we don’t come up with cutting edge products, there will be stagnation.”

Similarly, a report of Niti Aayog’s expert’s committee headed by Dr. Tarun Khanna, for determining the contours of the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), notes that “Bringing about innovation has never been as important as today, as the global economy shifts away from the industrial economy towards the innovation economy.”

Yet, innovation does not happen in a vacuum, or just because it is desired. The critical question was posed by Shri N.R. Narayana Murthy some time ago was: ‘ Why has there been no earth-shaking invention or technology from India over the last 60 years?’

The honest truth is that we lag behind many. India’s rank in the Global Innovation Index 2022 has risen considerably from 81 st rank we are now at 40th. But, India still lags behind China at 11, Malaysia at 36 & UAE at 31.

The Government offers several incentives, including tax-breaks, to Indian companies willing to invest in R & D, yet not many Indian companies filed for such benefits.

Merely offering incentives to industries may not be enough to spur innovative growth. But, I reiterate that our corporate sector has to invest, and that too heavily, in R&D and innovation. We need comprehensive efforts to correct imbalances in education, provide the relevant skills to our people not only for the jobs of today but for the jobs of tomorrow , even as we invest more in creating infrastructure and conducive business environment. We need to eventually work towards inculcating the ‘culture and attitudes’ needed to foster innovation and entrepreneurship.


We need to “Keep the idea factory open” and “foster competition in the market place for ideas ”.

It is heartening to see that recently a lot of dynamism has been seen in the Startup businesses throughout the country. Innovative approaches and new ways of handling problems, have led to the success of these entrepreneurs. I am happy to note that one such award is also instituted by LMA for the young innovative entrepreneur , which recognises the innovative practices followed by young entrepreneurs.

Friends,

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) play a vital role in creating and sustaining knowledge based economies . On the one hand, these technologies help in creating new knowledge, and on the other, these are helpful in disseminating the same to the public at large.

The cost of disseminating new knowledge has come down drastically, thanks to these technologies. To shift towards knowledge based economy and to get higher rank in the Knowledge Economy Index, vast population of India will need to be imparted knowledge at affordable cost .

Let us all join the efforts of our Prime Minister towards making the programme of 'Digital India' a success , so as to eliminate the digital divide in India and make ICT available to the masses at lowest possible cost.

Globally, India has made its presence in ICT sector; our techies are known for their skills in this area.

But, we still need a strong shift to move upwards in the value chain of ICTs. We still do not have strong brand of a product at the global level in this knowledge intensive industry. We all need to put efforts in this direction.

I often say & I reiterate that the economic history of India is remarkable. India had the largest and most advanced economy for most of the period between the 1st century and 18th century . We remained economically integrated with the world, with high levels of trade and investment.

Even during the Mughal Empire, our nation was the world leader in manufacturing, producing 25% of the world’s industrial output.

But, the advent of British rule changed all. The British economic policies gave them a monopoly over India’s large market and resources. For example, protectionist policies such as high tariffs on Indian textile goods, restricted our sales. Raw cotton was imported without tariffs to British factories which manufactured textiles and sold them back to India.

This kind of economic drain that was practiced resulted in India’s share of the world economy declining from 24.4% in 1700 to 4.2% at the time of independence in 1947.

The decades after Independence have witnessed the transformation of India into an economic power.

These days the definition of competition has undergone a sea change. Today, entrepreneurs from Ludhiana do not compete with their counterparts from India; they compete with entrepreneurs from all over the world . The distinction between domestic and export market is becoming blurred.

In a complex and dynamic global competitive environment, I believe adaptive capability is the key to survival and growth and that our businesses will find themselves on the road to rapid growth when they learned to think and act adaptively.

The challenge before the Indian corporate sector today is the rapid changes in technology of production and preferences of the end-consumers .

It is a matter of concern that many our companies are finding it progressively harder to adapt to this competitive scenario .

Allow me to mention some harsh truths. For many Indian firms, competition per se is a new phenomenon. Indian businesses have traditionally been risk averse. Most Indian firms, barring a few notable examples, lack sufficient grounding and experience in global competition because of the absence of intense inter-firm rivalry in the domestic business environment. Additionally, prolonged government protection has left them feeling complacent and ill-prepared to wage competitive battles at global level.

There is a genuine need for change in the internal environment of Indian firms so that they can foster competitive thinking and behaviour .

We are globally recognized for our services sector that contributes more than 60% to India’s GDP. It, however, does not account for as many jobs –contributing only 15% of employment . A large and populous nation like India needs manufacturing to be a significant part of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to ensure higher employment and prosperity.

Currently, most Indian companies operate at the bottom of the global value chain by selling components or unbranded products . This is true even of our firms in the Services sector. The test before our companies is to develop business capabilities that equip them to compete at the top of the value chain .


The “Make in India” vision seeks to correct this. However, our much-vaunted cost advantage may not be adequate to compete with other large producers on the world stage. Given the relative size of domestic markets, it is unlikely in the near term that our firms will be able to achieve the scale that their competitors in East Asia have established for several products. In addition, the changing nature of manufacturing- with the advent of new manufacturing techniques like 3-D printing, robotics and automation creates newer challenges for Indian firms.

Overcoming these challenges and the future growth of our companies will be in being able to create futuristic business scenarios and engineering disruptions rather than coping with its aftermath . In short, our firms will have to be more innovative.

सम् - गच्छ - ध्वम् ,
सम् - व - दद्वम् ,
सम् वो मानसि जानताम्।

सम्-गच्छ-ध्वम् - That is, let's move together सम्-व-दद्वम् - Let’s all interact together and सम् वो मनानसि जानताम् - Everyone's minds should also be one.

Today in the 21st century, this mantra has become all the more important and relevant.

Ladies and gentlemen, before I conclude I want to say that the objective of any business organization should not be to work only for the benefit of its members, but it should also become a partner in the all-round development of the society.

I remember some such villages from where some enlightened citizens, showing their sensitivity and hard work, rejuvenated those villages. I am mentioning this here because most of you must have had a connection with one village or the other & you are all well-off. So, it is the responsibility of all of you to do something for those who have been left behind in the journey of development.

I would expect you to go to the villages and contribute to their social and economic development. You can adopt villages individually or by forming groups and contribute to their all-round development.

Although the term CSR that is Corporate Social Responsibility is a gift of modern civilization, but we have an old tradition of doing social welfare work by business groups. There are many such descriptions where traders used to set aside some part of their earned money for the works of public welfare. It has been a part of Indian tradition to use the money earned, for the welfare purposes.

Sri Guru Nank Dev Ji gave the motto of “Kirat Karo ( किरत करो ) , Naam Japo ( नाम जपो ) and Vand Chhako ( वंड छको ) ” (work, worship and share). In the concept of Vand Chhako he advocated the concept of ‘Dasvandh (दसवन्ध )” or donating one-tenth of one’s earning in the form of seva.

I am sure all of you must also be following this tradition.

In Kabir Amrit Vani it is said:


धन रहै ना जोबन रहै , रहै ना गाम ना धाम

कबीर जग में जश रहै , कर दे किसी का काम।

धन, यौवन, संपत्ति, जमीन कुछ भी नहीं रहता। सभी क्षणिक एंव नाशवान हैं। केवल यश रह जाता है, यदि आपने किसी की भलाई की हो। Wealth and youthfulness will not remain, nor the land and property. Kabir says, only the reputation remains in the world which comes by helping others.


Bear this in mind and continue working to the best of your abilities.

Thank you,

Jai Hind.