Dubai: While Indian citizens were invited to upload their suggestions for the Indian Prime Minister’s ceremonial speech from the Red Fort in New Delhi for India’s 70th Independence Day celebrations, Indian expats in the UAE shared their thoughts with Gulf News.
Leading NRIs spelt out their wish list for the progress they expect in India in 2017.
Vishal Tikku, president, Meals, EEMEA for Mondeleez International, hopes for grass-root development to get better in the country.
“I hope low oil prices translate directly to a step up in infrastructural investment. We skipped land lines, managed to reach planet Mars. yet … we need to catch up on toilets, highways, industries, ports and logistic systems.”
Tikku added that every Indian ought to feel proud of what has been achieved in these six decades and more but it also made the very same people impatient for more.
“We have a fundamentally sound administrative machinery — a good balance of politics, police, judiciary and media and, above everything, an effective education system helped by a parental obsession with learning and rapid adoption of technology. For 2017, my wish is that we build on our strengths, we leverage education to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, we create opportunities for our youth by enabling Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and improving ease of doing business in the country,” said Tikku.
The passing of the Goods and Service Tax bill in the monsoon session of Parliament has raised hopes for streamlining the taxation system in the country.
B.R. Shetty, founder chairman of UAE Exchange, expressed the hope this would play a direct role in moving towards a more robust economy.
“The passing of the GST bill will avoid duplication and make the tax system more transparent. One can also hope for inflation to lower this year owing to the good monsoons and the fall in fuel prices. While I congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi for having been a catalyst in improving the fortunes of India, what I would expect is better attention to be paid to social evils. One needs a stronger law and order system so that women, Dalits and other backward communities are not victimised. He also needs to control the fringe elements in the party who make irresponsible statements and bring disrepute to the party. The focus should be development and good governance, the two important winning agendas of the party.”
The need for transparency was also the need of the hour if the Indian government looks to attract Foreign Direct Investment and intends to encourage its Make in India programme, said Rizwan Sajan, chairman-founder of the Danube Group.
“While Prime Minister Modi’s progress report is on track and the success juggernaut rolls, as an NRI businessman I expect some concrete improvements in some sectors in 2017. Firstly, I expect more trimming of the red tape and corruption in bureaucracy as we have seen demands of kickbacks and also delays in transacting business. This must be cleaned up completely,” he said.
“With Prime Minister Modi being so IT-savvy, I would expect a quantum leap in smart governance, e-business and also a greater transparency as we see in the UAE. We need smart solutions to business set-ups but I know what a challenge it is to change mindsets. This does not happen overnight. Hopefully, these positive developments will take place in 2017,” Sajan said.
“Commercial and economic success are definitely the yardstick to measure a country’s success but it is important to examine if those benefits are reaching the poorest of the poor.”
Faizal Kottikollon, the Dubai-based chairman of KEF Holdings — who has nurtured several philanthropic projects in India in the field of education, felt that equitable distribution of benefits was important.
“Since the Indian PM Modi’s last Independence Day speech, the country has witnessed a great number of successes that have bolstered its presence in the global arena. The country has seen intrinsic growth as well, with initiatives such as ‘Make in India’, ‘Swachch Bharat’, ‘Skill India’ and so on, gaining prominence more than ever before. The GST Bill is another recent policy reform that will usher new opportunities for businesses like ours. Even so, we have a long way to go, to become the developed nation that every Indian dreams of today,” Kottikollon said.
“I expect to see strong commitments towards alleviating issues that continue to affect the largest section of our population — housing for the poor, access to health care and sanitation, sustainable growth of the agriculture sector and especially female empowerment through education. At KEF Holdings, we have been able to impact communities through innovation-driven development programmes that complement our commercial ventures. I hope to see the government take advantage of such private sector-led initiatives to achieve the larger development goals,” said Kottikollon.
Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, founder chairman of the UAE-based BPS health care group, also felt it is time that the Indian Prime Minister empowers the common man with a skill set that would fetch him good jobs in the international employment arena.
“The Indian government should focus on skill development by revamping the vocational educational system and raising the bar on skill levels to match the best in the world so that Indian workers get better remuneration. His ‘Skills India’ programme will enable every Indian seeking economic prosperity to explore the overseas market. The Indian government should direct states with a large NRI population to create institutional mechanisms to redress their issues back home. The Indian diaspora is bound to grow with this strategy under Prime Minister Modi’s dynamic leadership,” said Dr Vayalil.
