In 1996, the national debt hit $5.2 trillion, while that's a drop in the bucket compared to the $21 trillion it's at now. Back then, it was serious stuff. The Republican Congress was battling President Clinton over his proposed budget and shut the government down twice. Well, fortunately for America, help was on the way from Taco Bell. Pledging to do its part to help the national debt, the fast food chain that brought us the chalupa, the quesarito, and the cheesy gordita announced in national newspapers that it had purchased the Liberty Bell.  Not only had the company purchased the cherished American icon, it was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell, and moving it to its corporate headquarters in Irvine, California. Fast food chains rarely say anything that gets national attention, but this story did. If we had known the Liberty Bell had been for sale, we would have bought it. Americans, including two U.S. senators, jammed the switchboards of both Taco Bell and the National Park Service, demanding to know if the story was true. At first, the Park Service didn't seem to know. We were shocked, a spokesperson said. We had no idea this was happening, except that it wasn't. And few of the incredulous callers had noticed that Taco Bell's ad had appeared on April Fool's Day. This is a joke, right? April Fool's, I hope. Shifting into damage control mode, the Park Service called a press conference and assured the media that the Liberty Bell was safe and not for sale. Anything to reduce the country's debt, right? So Taco Bell never did buy the Liberty Bell, but it stunt bought something more desirable, national attention. And with that attention, the chain announced it would donate $50,000 to help with the Liberty Bell's conservation. Not to miss out on the moment, the White House announced that the Ford Motor Company would be restoring the Lincoln Memorial, which would be named the Lincoln Mercury Memorial. Yeah, they were just kidding about that, too. Once everyone stopped laughing, the Taco Bell story disappeared from the news, but the company had learned a valuable lesson about using iconic objects for marketing. In 2001, as the mere space station re-entered the atmosphere, Taco Bell set up a floating bullseye off the coast of Australia, figuring a piece of the ship might hit it. If mere rings our bell, said VP of Brand Communications, Chris Becker, we will offer a free taco to everybody in the United States. It didn't happen. And that ding-dong idea, like the Taco Liberty Bell, is a footnote in fast food history.


The World Economic Forum is very proud to count amongst its communities its young global leaders who are Extending outstanding individuals and under the age of 40 and its global shapers who are outstanding individuals between the age of 20 and 30 And did you know in India? 50% of the population is under the age of 25 and 65% of the population is under the age of 35 Well, and if there's one thing that the world needs today, that's hope and young people bring hope So let's I hope that all of you enjoy the afternoon with us with a bunch of global shapers and young global leaders Enjoy the session. Okay. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. It's always hard to do a post lunch session So we're gonna try and stir things up here at the lila We've got a bunch of very exciting young people as you can see on this panel and we're here to discuss something that very often doesn't get enough Thought or attention at forums like this one. We're here to talk about actually something which should be very simple We're going to try and attempt to bring solutions to the table as opposed to only talking about and articulating the problems that India's faced with The overarching theme for our panel here this afternoon with the young global leaders and the young shapers is the vision for India I'm hoping that all of our panelists here are not just going to give you what they think is their vision for India They're also going to talk about what they see are the key challenges of the problems that India is grappling with But they are also going to bring to the table as I said solutions So we are hoping to keep this as our organizers here have been telling us because this is a young panel It's got to be Facebook and tweet style. So everybody gets just about one minute. So no long-winding speeches here This afternoon everybody's going to get one minute to talk about their vision for India What they see as being the big challenges and problems that India is facing their solutions and also the one thing That they are personally doing to bring about the change that they would like to see and perhaps what they're being inspired To do as well. So let me start things off and let me get one of our youngest Global shapers here and let me start by asking you Roini because you've got a very very interesting mix and a very interesting background You're involved with sports. You're also involved with medicine Take us through your story and through that story. What to your mind should be the vision for India? Your time starts now So hi, I'm I represent India in the sport of sailing and not only miss qualifying for the Olympic Games this year Unfortunately, I blame the federation for lots of lots of sports federations have issues and lots of sports people have these issues But I also study medicine and I'm doing my final year of medicine I think young people especially girls in our country need to take up sport But at the same time, I think we shouldn't let go of our medic of our education because I don't want to Finish my sports and then decide, okay I don't really know what else I can do and blame the government blame everyone else for to help me So I really think it's important that women and girls focus on education and Sport and I hope to be a role model for people for young women all over India So you you said Roini that you almost missed out on getting to the Olympics this year And that was because of what you saw is problems within the federations in India So is it politics federation politics and sports organizations that you believe is the biggest problem to your mind? I think so. I think a lot of sports people would say that I don't want to get into the You know the details of that But I was I was the only woman civilian and I was in the middle of you know a male-dominated Society with the army and the Navy men. So it was a female Civilian versus the army and the Navy men. So I think there are no guesses who got the support there Okay, so What to your mind would then be the vision for India? What would you like to see as your vision for India a more equal society where women? irrespective of you know gender Irrespective of where they come from meritocracy a more meritocracy based societies what you would like to see I think we need a lot of support and I'd like to thank mostly my parents for letting me take three years longer to finish my course and be okay with it and Certain individuals even though I'm studying in a government University I even though so many people said that I shouldn't be doing my sport and concentrate only on medicine There were a few people who supported me and I'd like to acknowledge that so I think there is a good Vision for the future and I hope a lot more girls and women in India could take it up Okay, so that lal do we really have an idea for India or a vision for India? Because you know when we when you talk about in forums like this You'll have an idea for what best Bengal should be like what Gujarat should be like what Bihar should be like We very rarely talk about an idea for India. It's almost become this nebulous thing that nobody talks about Yeah, sure, and of course everyone knows the potential of the country and we don't need to talk about that Everyone knows like you said the issues and where the government should focus on, you know, whether it's health education safety that kind of stuff but I think the catalyst is Transparency and that's the catalyst which is really going to drive this country into a totally different spectrum as it were and and And that's really where you know a lot of the discussion today has been about and I think that's that's what's going to empower all of us.  We're not going to be around because you know We've inherited necessarily or because you know, we have you know We have the connections or the cronies and all of that is because you know It'll be entrepreneurs who can really make a difference and who have Ideas which become big. So it's it's really the meritocracy. I think that's you know, that's that's really there And you look at role models because you know, we we make I guess we play up and we you know Roll models were really not the right people. So now I think like today for example, we had You know wonderful person like we know the right who's really a role model for this country And so we need more such positive role models. Can I ask you does corporate India need a Vinod, right? We need lots of you know guys and and and there was a start I mean we talked about it today. There was there five corporates who signed up. It's it's a gesture I mean to talk about anti-corruption from corporate India is the first time a gesture like that's been made brilliant Let's do a lot more of that. Let's make the right gestures. Let's do the right things just so that we have that transparency and and Things will sort itself out. I mean the country will sort itself out for sure, okay? So transparency meritocracy two ideas there as far as India is concerned Ashini Let me come to you add a third one to that depending on on on on your story and and where you'd like to actually see in Sure I think the vision for India has to include the idea of self-actualization and self expression I think that's just there's a vision for any country or a happy prosperous country One of the sessions we were talking about the idea of human capital and Gross national happiness and I think that people being able to be self expressed and self actualized and I think what what I mean by That is having access to critical goods and services without the barriers to access and that definitely defines my work. I work on developing innovative financial models innovative financing models for education particularly in vocational training right now and part of that is because one of the big barriers to education in India is Financing not being able to invest in your own education in your own training Yeah, and I think what I feel I can best do right now is help remove that barrier as as much as I can and There are similar barriers to health care some of the barriers of sanitation that I think Do you see a future for yourself? Partnering with the government or do you believe that entrepreneurs like yourself can exist minus the government? I think we can exist but Why not partner with the government? the government especially around skill development is a Many different schemes right now credit guarantees a lot of money from the NSDC It would make a lot of sense to partner with the government since the vision is aligned with what the government wants the country Okay, what has been your biggest problem in being able to actualize the dream that you actually have education? well the the model I'm looking at brings different partners to the table and and a bank and vocational Institute Us is a third party and when we do when we bring different partners to the table. It slows the process down I think it's also the model we're coming up with is actually having different partners take risk and not having the student Take the entire risk for their own education. It's very hard to get people to take risk for the greater good Okay, so risk-taking ability as well as the ability to partner with various organizations create partnerships Is what you would actually see as being the foundation for a better future? We're creating partnerships across different sectors. So for me, I'd have to create a partnership with the bank As as well as education institutions, and I think You know when we read the newspaper headlines, you don't really see much reason for joy cheer hope What about you? Are you feeling optimistic about India? Absolutely optimistic? I actually moved I lived in the US for ten years after for college and beyond and I moved back last year because I'm optimistic about India All right, excellent Malminder Singh. You've been doing this for a while now. Do you share the optimism or have you been jaded already? Absolutely not. I think I'm an optimistic person by nature. I think clearly For me, I'm a proud Indian Very proud of the country that we have the opportunity that lies ahead But I think more importantly for us is we need to work as as Everybody together as one team for one India. I think we India is there a one India today. Let's be honest about that. Is there a one India as a yes There is and and I think we many a times Score our known our own self-goals And I think we need to start taking decisions beyond parties and beyond institutions for our country for your country for my country It's one country and it's we as Indians who need to make it happen I have absolutely no doubt over the next 10 15 years if there's one country that's best place To capitalize on the opportunity that's there globally today. It's here and it's in India We are a country of a billion entrepreneurs Whether it's somebody sitting on a street outside Taj Mahal in Agra or it's in one of those global headquarters in Delhi or Bombay It's a country of opportunity We have to create an enabling environment which empowers people which makes things happen I think our biggest hurdle is if we stop creating and scoring an old our own self-goals and if we Create a more enabling Transparent and environment which allows people to do what they want who's going to create this more transparent enabling environment I think the environment To an extent I would say the government From a governance perspective from a policy a liberalization perspective Which will then bring investment from domestic people and from international investors If there's one thing we as a country need today its investment its growth and its employment and that to a large extent Will address many of the challenges that we have as a country. Okay easier said than done. We were growing at 8% We're now down to about 6% Best case scenario 6% perhaps even lower than that. We would like to create jobs We don't know whether we are going to be able to nobody talks about creating jobs anymore I mean the US elections were fought on how many jobs Romney promised to create and how many jobs Obama promised to create in India when was the last time you heard a government get up and talk to you about the kind of job creation numbers that they will deliver on Why do you want the government to do it? Why don't you ask each of us in the private sector to talk about how many jobs We are creating how many jobs have you created? We've created thousands of jobs in healthcare in financial services And if there's one group that's consistently over the five years invested It's been Fortis and relegated and in in in addition to that this year itself We've got close to 750 million dollars of FTI in this global environment as investment in this country So then why whine about what the government is doing or not doing because you're bringing the money Anyway, you're creating the jobs anyway, right? This discussion is not about me. It's about the country It's about the people I'm using you as the example representing corporate India and to that representing corporate India on this panel I think there is there is a lot that's happening But certainly we're not capitalizing on the opportunity that we have because of our inherent advantage These are the other countries in the world. Okay, I personally believe there's a lot more that we in India can do And I think we need to open up. We need to liberalize. We need to get more investment in We need to create a more Certain and a more stable and a more enabling business environment And that's really for the government to continue to do and be able to get more confidence So that people in India and internationally bring more money in alright So transparency meritocracy partnerships a more enabling Environment a more liberal environment to draw in investments for ideas here coming in from our panel Let me get a fifth one and let me come to you Priya Add add the sixth idea in terms of a new vision Perhaps if that is what is required for India today Well, I mean I think you just need to move your mic building on other people's ideas I think the big thing lacking in India today's investment. We invest a 10th as much in cities as Any other country? You know leave aside even China, but even other Southeast Asian countries. This is desperately lacking We spend a third as much on health care as as China does a 10th of Western countries We spend a third on education the thing that is really lacking today is investment in and really investment in urbanization We have 250 million people in cities, which is going to grow to 500 to 600 million by 2030 There's a complete crumbling of infrastructure in the cities. We are here in Gurgaon, which feels a little bit Because it's built by individuals by developers and then of course complemented by the government But what is really needed is a huge investment in this infrastructure and unless we do it We'll still be talking in five years and ten years and 15 years on why we're still at 5% growth We really do need to go out and say we have to liberalize the financial markets We have to deregulate I read a study done by the World Bank, which says which surveyed 183 countries and they said India came hundred and eighty second yeah in ease of doing a business In enforcing contracts and hundred and eighty first in giving construction permits. So clearly what I Should about what you know Everybody on this group is saying is we have to open up and have ease of doing business But that's really to bring in capital into the country because the cities are crumbling and we're not investing enough in People to make them realize their full potential. You know besides the investment part. What about the need for a mindset change? You know, we have three people talk about education in this country one of the reasons why Education is where it is and why we see such a large supply demand mismatch in education is that the government still wants to operate with the notion that education is not something that an entrepreneur ought to profit from and Once you get rid of that mindset, perhaps you will begin to see the supply demand mismatch change How much of this is really an issue of changing mindsets? Whether it's in government or even within the corporate sector for instance and health care I'll get you in on this Malvinder is well, you know If you take land from the government and the government then comes in with riders and says you need to provide 25% free beds or cheap beds or whatever the case may be you accept those demands and then later on don't deliver on them So I'm saying does does it require a change in mindset? And also this is very clearly an issue where there is a trust deficit. How do you bridge that trust deficit? Well two aspects one is I think you brought up a good point Which is should the government be putting riders when they give land and I think the answer is very simple For example in London where you build housing you need to provide affordable housing in China When you do it the government provides rent subsidies So the issue of giving you know people a house, you know Roti Capra Macan the house This has to be something that the government takes on there has to be policy around it and affordable housing is a necessary part of it Yeah, so I'm not one to say the government should not mandate any affordable housing at all because otherwise it just won't happen Every housing will focus on the wealthy. They won't be inclusive growth. So the riders are fine Well, I mean it really depends the devil's in the detail on all of this as you know But really I think there has to be a government involvement in affordable housing There's no question that that cannot be left entirely to the private sector the private sector cannot afford to do it and Will not do it if they're more profitable options Yeah, but if the if the laws are clearly stated if they're transparent if the mindset is to encourage growth and not to discourage Growth then certainly that's something that the that the corporate sector lives with throughout the world We all live with it So more clarity of purpose and more clarity in policy is what you would add as far as the sixth idea is concerned for the vision for India I don't that the bill on that Build on that when I'll build on what Ashni said, okay My work is a lot around self actualization as well through mentoring We operate on it I run an NGO which operates on the simple maxim that a lot of people have gone much further than they thought they could Because someone else thought they could and that's the power of mentoring in in a young person's life Now India's had this great tradition of mentoring through Guru Shisha and We try to put a modern spin on it What we think is that young people don't need to be sitting at the feet of an adult You know receiving all the wisdom they need to be in an equal relationship They need the support of adults in their life pushing them challenging them and giving them new ideas for how they could grow What I absolutely hate is how Remedial we have become with young people at the age of 20 We think we need to be putting them in a classroom to study soft skills because they've not built it or life skills Because they've not built it in the first 20 years of their education. I absolutely hate that You know, I don't think that we need to be doing that in one of our programs We help young people we've started doing social entrepreneurship mentoring where our mentees are looking at solving problems in their communities And they're doing this with mentors and their mentors are vice presidents and companies So they're working with this VP on the field to look at problems to look brainstorm around ideas And that's the kind of transference of the social and cultural capital that mentors have to mentees So I would love if we were more creative about how we want to Self-actualize and help people realize it and not be so remedial about more classroom education and skilling For this and training for that So the moral science classes and SUPW classes and all of that that's just with completely thrown out of the window Right out of the window. I mean we have so much so much richness in the networks that adults have But we don't need to be prescribing solutions and putting it into textbooks We need to be experiencing the outside as far as the government is also concerned or or even corporate in general We have this idea in India of Prescription of you know of talking down to somebody it's not it never really is a partnership of equals is it right? I mean I moved from finance to to youth development largely because of the role of mentors in my life And the missive was never start an NGO It was explored what you can do and I realized that volunteering was so impactful I wanted to make a life out of it So I think that if we had so many more mentors you'd feel you'd have so many more empowered Individuals and redefining it because with all due respect to Guru Shisha. We don't need that right now We need people as equals in in partnerships. Okay Equality in partnerships is what Arun that he is proposing here as her idea or her vision Prakshal, let me ask you what would your idea or your vision be? I'll just talk about my background. I belong to a typical Gujarati family and Gujarati is very well known for business Yes When I walk up to my father and I said I want to be Into the profession of saving environment. That was the shocking reaction that I got from him Yeah, exactly because where will you earn your money from so when we talk about environment This is the kind of reactions that we normally get from across all the sections of the society right from a student to teacher to professor to Government departments to Corporates to politicians everyone because the way we see our environment the way we price put a price to all the natural resources It is something that we really need to rework on Because we when when we talk about our GDPs when we talk about our growth. We normally put it in figures We don't really see the real development that is required. Yeah, that will sustain us for a longer period So what I would like to see is the change in that perspective the way Every one of us not just me or my father or my family sees at environment But every one of us if we put environment as one of the resources one of the you know baseline Why do you think that's the case? Why do you think we don't care enough about the environment? Why and it's not just an Indian problem. It's perhaps more of a problem here in India Which is forcing then governments around the world to mandate? Responsibility on part of corporate on part of government and so on and so forth when it comes to environment Why do you think it's so low down on the list of priorities in India? Maybe because we just have too many problems is it because the way environment reacts to us is not very well Understood by us. Yeah, right It doesn't say that it doesn't speaks out, but it reacts It's on us how we interpret that right? We have sand is in us. We have smog in Delhi It's just because of the entire farms being, you know burned in Punjab We are very good example in Gujarat wherein we turn this a dried farm residues into pellets and we supply it to industries We have solutions. We have ideas. We have mechanisms But the only lacking thing is the attitude towards the environment If the government puts it in the policy if the corporates takes it up as a responsibility Everything will fall in place because at the end. We are standing on a land Back then to the point that this is going to be something that has to be mandated It has to be made into law. There must be penalties if you don't abide by it Not exactly It's the mindset change has to be driven by the stick or the carrot Exactly, but what we believe is that we work with schools because we cannot go to the politicians or the leaders or the ministers and say that You know, please change that what you are doing. It's not correct. So what we have started is we work with schools We are having a program that is a beryl change communication program that we work with students for a period of three years And during that three periods We try to bring those environmental manners in those students so that whenever they grow up any Decision that they make whatever field they are in whether engineers were industrialists We're in he becomes a minister the decisions are somewhere environment conscious decisions So what we try to do here is that we try to put that seed right from the right age Yeah, and we have social manners. We have religious manners. We have professional etiquettes. Why don't we have environmental manners? So we try to work on that because at the end it comes everything that we are consuming comes somewhere from the environment The resources that we use so you've been trying to convince students You've been trying to convince governments. Have you managed to convince your father? This is a good way of earning your living. I'm doing that Not won the battle yet. No, but I am successful at doing it and they are really happy with what I am doing They're very proud of me. Okay. They're very proud of you. We're very proud of you as well And thank you very much for sharing your story. We've also got somebody here from Sri Lanka You know, how do you see India at this point in time? Do you see India as this place where there is chaos? There is not enough constructive dialogue There's only criticism of what the government should be doing is not doing or what the corporate sector should be doing is not doing Do you believe that India at this point is time is being seen as the land of chaos confusion? I think India Sri Lanka has always seen India as a very good partner neighbor Because we always say that Sri Lanka India relationship is lost in the midst of time Because it goes dates back to the historical texts of Ramayana and all that so there is a rich culture Which joins both the countries? How I see the vision for India is that as a small country and we are smaller than Delhi New Delhi. We are 20 million people so How I see the vision would be India needs to play a better a leadership role a regional leadership role I think in Sark To its neighboring countries. We want India to be Great success as a small nation We want India to lead the role of South Asia. So How I say this is because India got to see a problem of another country As a problem of their own because you can't we are we say we are connected But we don't sometimes actually mean it and We for example India got to recognize issues in Pakistan Afghanistan Sri Lanka They got to talk about it India got to talk as well as the other side I mean if you look at the visas to enter a country India got to give the research visas for Pakistan Is to come in like Sri Lanka we have we are give over the counter for any of the countries So like that and we had a big trouble with terrorism, but we are reforming we are we are trying to introduce new practices We are trying to get things in order. Okay, and that's the first thing a regional leadership. I think the next would be Getting the basics right like the Angar Vadis, you know the basic The 43 million children who was studying there and I think India needs to get that right Because that's really important. That's the cream of India. Okay, so that's that's everything that you would actually like India to change But is there anything you know by way of a solution that you would actually like to import here from India and take back to you in Sri Lanka? Yeah, we imported many things and we've been very successful and one was the education. I mean starting from the Nehru's and the Gandhi I mean the the education the cooperative systems It all came down from India and most of the good practices. We have a 98% literacy rate in Sri Lanka We need to we need we need to import that. Yeah, and also the cooperative systems are really good When I visited the Angar Vadis, I was comparing with the Sri Lankan cooperative systems and so I was trying to find I mean, what was the difference? Well, where was the where was the issues? So actually it was we we empowered the cooperative systems governments back in 70s 80s. So it's sort of a gradual empowerment of the cooperative systems and Getting them to do that you can because education is a must and and Everybody get engaged in education. So so that like that I mean the cultural it is so if you can make a few of those a few of those things and Make it a cultural sort of an arm and so you're you're essentially talking about changing the mindset as well in Institutionalizing some of the changes that you've talked about see that lal, you know We have this obsession about talking about history and talking about the past perhaps what India also needs to do a lot More of is look at the future talk about the future. We don't do that enough But but that aside, you know, you talked about transparency and meritocracy I want to now ask you about the one thing that you have done either in your personal capacity or as the As part of the organization that you currently run to bring about the change that you have talked about this afternoon Yeah, it's not easy to talk about yourself really so that's but Look transparency is I mean is something I totally believe in and I think that's that's a catalyst Which will totally change in there and and certainly, you know, it's in in the country. It's very difficult to operate I mean, I happen to be in a sector. I would say it'd be one sector, which is much more immune from, you know Let's say from governmental interference. Yeah, I happen to be in a sector, which is also relatively immune It's not regulated. I mean if you if you happen to be in a regulated segment in sector You are going to be faced with much more moral dilemmas. I mean even we are faced with a lot of moral dilemmas in Our business, but we're able to let's say let's put it this way I think in our history, we've been able to take a call that you know, is it what direction you go on? I mean, is it is it growth at all costs and and certainly that's not been Have you lost out on growth because you've decided I won't play the game that everybody else perhaps is playing or that You know when you were faced with a moral dilemma, you decided to walk as opposed to give in Absolutely, we've lost out on a lot of growth in the past on that, but it's now become a source of enormous strength So just to give you an example and You know, we we got a partner in Volvo, you know a few years ago in our in our business and and it's based on repetition It's not based on anything else, you know So there's so I think it's for us It's more important to build a brand or reputation and with that comes a lot more in the in the long term so yeah, I think you know, that's certainly the way to go in terms of where You know organizations couldn't go in and like I said, it's a great start what some of the companies have done this morning or yesterday in terms of Absolutely brilliant. I mean Something that you've changed in in the manner in which you operate something by You know something in the in the way that you manage your operations a process perhaps to bring about a concrete change to bring about more Transparency to bring about more meritocracy within the organization But certainly within the organization, that's you know, there are many internal processes But in terms of interfacing the outside actually we try and just keep a low key I mean, maybe that's not obvious here because I'm sitting A hundred people talking about yourself exactly so So trying to keep a low key I guess is what what we try and do so that you're not out there in the public domain that much in terms of You know and and people do leave you alone beyond a point So, you know, you can't make a big issue out of it when you're dealing with people But you try and keep a low key, but I think if I just take a different move I mean one of the other bigger issues which You know in addition to this entire transparency thing and going down to my list we talked about health safety One of the areas that I'm particularly focused on as an automobile player and to bring in more consciousness as an automobile player like The gentleman here doing healthcare and all of that is to say what is our role? I mean actually In India is the road safe or let's say it's a road death capital of the world We have 120,000 deaths. We have 1.2 million serious injuries and we have 12 million Injuries on Indian roads every single year. So that's an area which I'm trying to know It's a long-term effort, but I'm trying to take a focus on okay and see What is it that we can do as an automobile company as an automobile? Environment to actually bring that down. It's more than all the HIV and I don't know And all these diseases cardio diseases all of the deaths put together Cars contribute to more and the and the thing is that the people they're killing most often is the pedestrians So it's not the car for it's not the person in the car who's dying So so that's the one concrete change that you've tried to bring about malvin They're saying what is the one concrete change that you've tried to bring about? You know and you were talking about changing the environment making it more nurturing enabling and so on and so forth Have you tried to sell the India story brand India? What is the one concrete thing that you've been able to do? I think at a global level clearly one has been part along with many other successful and leading businesses To really take the India story global and also to bring global investment into the country But what I'll talk today is on a different point in terms of health care This is clearly one area where India is quite Deficit in terms of the capability the quality and the and the amount of health care That's currently available in India We had a point in time little over a decade ago Took a conscious call as a business that we wanted to be part of bringing world-class health care into India We were not in the business of health care delivery services at that point in time But today in little over ten years We have created the largest health care delivery services company in India and that came from one purpose That was to ensure that India and the people in India have access to world-class health care To affordable health care and reliable health care, and I certainly believe we've done a lot But yet there's a lot more that we and other people in the industry Need to do to make sure that every Indian has access to affordable high-quality health care How much more affordable can you make it? Today health care in India is probably the most affordable globally at the price points that you have today These are comparable and substantially lower by 1 10th 1 15th to what's available Either in the east or in the west saying can't go any lower than this it can and scale will bring that more scale Will but at this point in time. It's still extremely competitive and affordable. All right, Priya Well, obviously in my real estate role we invest heavily in infrastructure. We do hospitals. We do schools. We do crushes, but One of my great passions in life is really the foundation work that we do Which is in the area of mental health and I must talk about that because it's really the forgotten subject mental illness Kills more people than smoking And I I say that again because it's so shocking to most people when I say that it kills more people than smoking and and as much as obesity so it's a big killer of people we our foundation runs helplines we counsel people we have Psychiatrists and psychologists working for us and we work on stigma prevention Programs so that people can acknowledge the illness in their families get treatment we provide free treatment and Really we try and work in extensively with the government to improve the institutions for mental illness Which are terrible and decency and and none of us would like to ever visit But that's the area that that we focus on you know This is something that you voluntarily decided to do and this is not as part of your sort of corporate structure But what the government in India is now trying to do is in a sense mandate corporate social responsibility Mandate corporate generosity. Do you think that's a good idea? Well, you know either you have a conscience or you don't it's hard to mandate that but I think the corporates And if they're gonna tell you to put 2% of your profits away every year Which you well will then have to invest in healthcare education hospitals Whatever the case may be do you think that is the that is the way that India should go forward But I think most corporates are doing a good amount of that Anyway, we are certainly other people are certainly and I think the the Indian corporates are extremely Philanthropic when it comes to giving back in their communities that being said, you know, I suppose the taxes that we pay the government are also Towards these causes and must be used towards these causes. So should they are saying no should the no I think they should I don't think there's any problem in in in mandating that people should put more towards healthcare and education I don't think most of the corporates will must be doing that anyway So I don't think the company's bill has been stuck because because of corporate lobbying on this one particular clause I mean, there's several others, but this one particular clause. So do you believe that corporate India's? Has a point when they say that this is not going to be an effective way of going forward or do you believe that this is just You know, it's a cop out. I Personally think the company's bill will do much more for companies than the 2% that they put towards healthcare and education That being said, I think if Indian corporates are holding that back, that's That's certainly not something that I would recommend I think that we should invest heavily in health care education for our own selfish interest Yeah, and if you don't have the ability to manage it come to us. We'll do it What would what is the one thing that you have been able to drive by way of the change that you would like to see? So I think the thing that we've done well through the organization is also for us uncovered layers of the problem Which have shown us what the real problems are and that's that's also frightening for us So in I think what we've allowed is people in the cities of Bangalore and Mysore Especially a large number of them being corporates to strike up very meaningful authentic and real Relationships with young people who come from very disadvantaged backgrounds and who just existed in the same space But not really interacted with them. So those kind of meaningful relationships I don't think people companies were doing and these and these volunteer mentors of ours were doing But I think because of that because we have more than a ringside view to to these youths life We've also seen how difficult it is to make life choices as young people and that the negative influences are Sometimes even stronger and how much work we have cut out for us In the last two weeks, we've grappled with one of our brightest mentees Deciding to drop out of school and run away because the man quoting her Put so much pressure on her and said that he would not wait So clearly that what we're doing by giving her a role model and a mentor to build up her self-concept and self-esteem Is not helping her make the right choice and hold out for a groom who will respect that So so that's that's just cutting showing us how much more work we have to do But I'm what I'm really glad is that we're really Meaningfully engaging with our young people now and not just saying oh, they take bad decisions because they take bad decisions But trying to understand a little bit that goes on in their mind What are the choices that a young girl at 16 has and and you know what affects her mental health How can we actually help her make a right choice and know she has to hold out for someone a better groom So so I like what we're doing and because it's showing us the real problem That's perhaps a choice that many Indian women have gone awfully wrong Anyway Praksha let me come to you and ask you about the one thing that you've that you've been able to do We have been as I said working with students because when we are talking about bringing a change in attitude It becomes very difficult if I stand in front of a person of my age and tell them that you know Please don't do this is not good for the environment.  Sorry. Do you get taken seriously in forums like this? I'm putting across my point. That's all I can do the same way like you know I'm trying to wage a war against it seems so at times because there are reactions that we get Because the priorities are different for everyone. So what we are doing is we are targeting the it's the softest target that we can Say students and we're trying to bring those changes in them So that in future when we have such kind of discussions environment also be a part of it How many students have you been able to counsel or how many people have you been able to? Send the message of environmental etiquette to so far and how many more do you intend to target?  We work with around five schools in amdabad So it's very it's kind of a drop in the ocean But we see that if this can be a successful model It can be replicated elsewhere and apart from that we also do a lot of research is wherein we find out good environment-friendly practices, okay, and which are really very easily replicable across the country and even the globe and can solve a lot of environmental issues just you know by passing on the information and the correct data sharing, okay So Roiney Olympics next time around you think yeah Do you believe that you've been able to make some changes to allow young women like yourself to get a shot at Sporting glory and sporting history So when I started sailing I took part in my first nationals way back in 2000 and I was one of four girls who took part and I came forth so I think now at the latest nationals we've had over 75 girls taking part in sailing and I've gotten to medicine on the sports quota in Tamil Nadu and it was the first time a Girl from sailing had made it through the sports quota to get into medicine And I know that the government the sports development authority of Tamil Nadu have courted my case too Because I'm one of the very few sports people who continue my sport while I study medicine because there was a lot of talk About how the sports quota is just used to get you know people into good colleges, but they quit their sport So I think I've given them hope that there are People like me and hopefully sports people out there who are very passionate about their sport and don't want to give up just because of education I think We can balance it and I hope that I could be an example for a lot more women to take up the sport and not be afraid You know to take it up seriously and for parents to let their children do the same Because I think I've heard a lot of parents, you know worry about their children just constantly into sport and They just put them into tuitions after school. I mean I used to play, you know And I think that's something that is missing in date I know first standard students who go to tuitions after school and I really hope that You know, we could change that and bring a lot more play that would also, you know, help prevent non communicable diseases like diabetes Hypertension I think we have to address that and I hope we can well We wish you the very best of luck with your attempt next attempt at the Olympics, Ashne The one thing that you've been able to bring about in terms of change. I Think I've been able to push people working in lending to look at human potential as a factor while deciding whether to lend to somebody I think that currently the way lending works is you really just look at just someone someone have enough evidence of Repayment enough wealth to repay and then only will you actually lend to them? Obviously microfinance Did a lot to change that but in education lending this still happens a lot one of the things I was able to do in the US was Do a pilot at Stanford where we got people to invest in students education in return for a share in their future income? So we really looked for a fixed amount of time and we really looked at the students earning potential And we had investors share that risk with them. So I think though our pilot was small and I'm working on slightly different model here in India I think in the process of it I was able to I worked with a lot of people working in education finance banks lenders And was I think I was able to push the envelope on that So what's the most frustrating thing that you've had to deal with? Well going back to the idea of enforcement of contracts. I think that that's always Tough when it comes comes to lending and I think that's going to be tough part of this business. All right And let's final words from you in terms of the one thing that you've been able to change in Sri Lanka Yeah, I've been working on the government sector. So after the tsunami in 2004, so I've been trying to change Few things how the government sector I've been working bringing bit of efficiency First of in the fisheries industry. I've managed to create about 17 fishery harbors in Sri Lanka Bit of change there try to increase the fish catch To about 250,000 metric tons of few challenges I had but I I wanted to increase More than 2% of the GDP the contribution of the fisheries sector, okay Which I couldn't but But I then I got involved in another sector, which is the foreign employment Sector so again try to do a little bit there Of change try to Send more skilled migrants. Okay, then unskilled migrants. So right now I'm doing the National Reconciliation Conference trying to bridge the community We have a divided sort of you know, the Tamilian community at the singly so we're trying to recognize the differences bring both of them blow both the communities together and Conduct I'm conducting the National Reconciliation Conference. Okay, excellent So you've you've seen what our young global leaders and our young shapers have had to say in terms of their vision for India and The ideas that they would like to build on to drive change in India any questions that you may have for our panelists here, we'll get a microphone across to you and Feel free and if you can address them to any any specific individual Go ahead. Thank you very much. I'm Atamutambara the prime minister of Zimbabwe I have a framework to share with the panelists and I want their comments on that on the broad issue of the national vision for India what I propose is that we have The vision as a long-term aspiration with four pillars Society the environment Politics and the economy where do you want India to be in 30s time in those four? Having established that house on the top of the hill you then ask yourself and say what can I do now? To take India from where it is to where I aspire to be in 30s time That's what we call strategy What is the strategy would you take you from where you are to the house on the top of the hill? Then the third element of the framework is what values are going to drive you to achieve your vision? And also what are some of the mega impact projects you can pursue to achieve your vision? What are the views of the panels to this framework? Do we even have a strategy approach here in India when it comes to thinking about India in our future? So that's not isn't that the big problem that we don't have one Yeah, I guess it is it is a problem because like you said there's you know little shared vision in that sense and you put a framework Which is you know exactly how it should be framed? And I think we try to do the panel slightly differently, which is to sort of but but yes that is the framework which which is required and and I mean I guess there is a Potential is enormous and I'm you know I want to make sure that it's seen that I'm exceedingly optimistic so the potential is enormous And I think a lot of the if I may say that even if it may not be very well articulated It's it's out there the framework in terms of what we need to accomplish It's the problem is now in the execution in the in the nuts and bolts and in actually Getting things all together. Yeah, absolutely We do have what we call the five-year plan here in India But unfortunately at the end of the five years we realize that we haven't met any of those targets And so we we go back and revise that plan and come up with another one But hopefully hopefully we will be able to execute as per the plan and as stated by the government But you know I think well I totally agree with you that when you're looking at a vision it has to be outside in rather than inside out But I think haven't said that I think many of us in India are quite critical of ourselves and where things are But if you look at things where India is today and where we were and how things have moved and evolved I think we've come a long way The question is could we have done more? Can we do it better and the answer to both of those is yes We certainly can do more we can certainly do it better and we can probably do it fast There's enough learning from what we've done and What more we need to do and if you talk to anybody in business, which there are many of the leaders sitting here or even in government They will have the answers It's not that they don't know what needs to be done But I think some of the current circumstances in the environment Sometimes doesn't enable them to be able to execute it or create an enabling environment the way they actually want to make it happen So we just need to get some of those issues addressed and resolved to be able to have a clear runway to run as fast as we can Maybe maybe we need to borrow Barack Obama's idea We have a lot of potential and yes, we can all right ladies and gentlemen the final question here if anybody has a question Well, I have a two-part question One is what's it going to take for people in India to stop littering and To what's it going to take for each one of you to join the government? All right, who wants to go first who wants to go first Priya? What's it going to take for you to join the government littering? I think you know just enormous fine That's the only way we're going to probably be able to do that lucky for us We have a lot of wonderful young ministers in the government now not enough Not enough and you know perhaps one day we will be in the government. Why why should we shut that door today? There's certainly that that is that is certainly an option I'm sure there are wonderful people here who should join the government and we'll join the anybody here who would be interested in Getting into the government being a part of the political process in India any one of you any of the shapers here I think you know, it's not it's not that much about I Certainly hope a lot more youth and a lot more people continue to Join the governance process and be a part of the government But really to make a change to make a different you don't necessarily need to be in government Okay, you can work with them. You can partner with them and there's a lot To be done in the social sector in the private sector where you can drive change where you can lead change If your last name was Gandhi pilots in there, you wouldn't be saying this would you Malvinder Singh? Well, I'm not and I'm saying and I'm here And I think from my perspective I have a lot cut out to do in what we're doing in business And I think we're in our own little way making a difference And I'm sure as long as people are able to make a difference in what they believe what they're passionate about and what they're committed to Yeah, you will have a much stronger in the emerging. Okay. Yes or no If we had a hypothetical situation yesterday in one of the meetings where we said in 2030 an anti-corruption party would win majority of elections in in the urban The votes the poor votes if that happens, I think I mean we have an anti-corruption party today It could hopefully sort of make it to make it to government in 2030 But would you join the anti-corruption party today or not today? I would say I would say what you said Which is that I'm doing a lot of impactful work in the sector that I chose and I see enough to do here for the next 15 years At least okay, so none of you want to join Arvind Kejriwal is it? But having said that I think The transparency issue in itself will foster You know a meritocracy and it will allow people who don't have these last names. Yes, I actually Enter politics all the young politicians are all you know, they have last name So it's it's you know You don't have the type of crop of people coming in which you should actually be having so I mean I Don't think it's an individual issue here. I mean I'm not I don't think I want to join politics ever But I don't think it's an individual issue. It's it's that there are millions of brilliant potential for politicians They'll never get the opportunity today. Okay, so you've got your answer Nobody from this panel at least is going to be joining politics anytime soon a final question That I'm going to take there was a gentleman there. Yes, go ahead Hey, thanks. I have a question for mr. Singh First of all kudos to your company for all the work that you have been doing and you know You talked about accessibility reliability affordability However, a lot of that has been limited to Larger cities in India. So when we think about doctors and most of them are in big cities hospitals mostly in big cities What are your thoughts on increasing accessibility to you know in the rural areas? You know, so do you think the government has to play a leading role in that or do you see private sector stepping up? I? think to just give you a background Today 75% of the healthcare infrastructure in India is run or owned managed by the government But 75% of the people who get treated get treated by the private sector I don't think today It's humanly possible for the type of investment which is required in healthcare to be able to create Healthcare infrastructure across the length and breadth of the country in the period that we needed We'll need over a hundred billion dollars and I honestly no matter how many people put that money I don't see that happening So the way to address that is going to be through technology is going to be through taking healthcare Investments closer to people in tier two and tier three towns Many companies are doing that you create. What about what sorry? What about partnerships? For instance in education? We've actually seen where again there's a lot of government infrastructure private operators are running the schools Using government infrastructure. Can that not be a model that we can see in healthcare? I was going to address that. Sorry. I preempted you I think so clearly I think the private sector in healthcare you have investments happening there But the question probably is is it enough and probably not so we certainly need to make that investment We need to use technology and at the same point in time. There are public private partnerships happening in healthcare Healthcare is a state subject and we do have some public private Healthcare partnerships with different state governments. It's a start. It's doing well, but I think it needs to get scaled up Okay, and that is something which I think over the period of time will happen But you know you have to deal with different state governments and they all have the different priorities and perspectives So execution of that will take a little longer. Okay, it may be chaotic It may be confusing it may be a lot of noise at this point in time But as you can see from our panellists here this afternoon the underlying potential of India continues to be strong We hope we will be able to get rid of some of the baggage that we've been carrying of the past And we hope that we will be able to enter a much better brighter more robust future for India on the basis of the ideas that have been shared by our panellists here and hopefully it'll be young global leaders and young shapers like you who Outside the government or within the government will be able to drive some of the change that we have talked about this afternoon I'm feeling a little more optimistic about the future of this country at the end of this I certainly hope that all of you here this afternoon are feeling the same Thank you very much to all of our panellists here for joining us this afternoon and sharing your thoughts with us Thank you very much indeed