Holding developed countries responsible for environmental imbalance, Anant Geete, Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, has said concerns over environment are often raised to derail India’s efforts to join the list of developed countries.
Addressing the inaugural PSU edition of the Express Technology Sabha in Hyderabad last Saturday, Geete, who was the chief guest, said: “The way we are concerned about environment, even the developed countries are not as concerned. I don’t think India can be held responsible for the imbalance in environment existing today. The developed countries are responsible.”
“Now, when we try to carry out developmental works, there is an attempt to derail that in the name of environment. We are told that environmental balance needs to be maintained. We are not against that. But what is environment for? Environment has meaning only till human beings are alive, otherwise what is its meaning?”
The two-day event organised by the Express Group was attended, among others, by PSU representatives, government officials, and executives of information technology companies and consulting firms. A series of presentations and discussions on PSU issues dominated the proceedings.
Inaugurating the event on November 28, S Narsing Rao, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister of Telangana, said the PSU sector had immense potential and the undertakings needed to optimise use of information technology, not make it a mere cosmetic affair. Dwelling on issues like e-procurement, Rao urged PSUs to implement information technology to add value.
On the opening day of the Express Technology Sabha, Jayesh Ranjan, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, spoke on simplification of industrial approvals using e-biz. This online platform will speed up the process of setting up an industrial unit in Telangana and approvals will be taken care online. He said the government of Telangana was determined to make the process simple for business entities to invest in the state. “An applicant had to go to 16 different departments to hand a form. This is ending now.”
Brainstorming sessions were interspersed with contests in which winners could win iPads and high-end watches.
On the second day, S P S Bakshi, Chairman & Managing Director, Engineering Projects India Ltd, gave a presentation on how IT could help PSUs improve efficiency and transparency. SMAC (Social, Mobility, Analytics and Cloud) was part of the discussion.
B N Sathpathy, Senior Advisor, Planning Commission, said every Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) should prepare an IT plan which must involve benchmarking extant technology levels and a time-bound plan for the future. “It has to be based on strategic needs and should be benchmarked with other public/private competitors in the sector,” said.
The event concluded with a panel discussion moderated by Anant Goenka, Wholetime Director and Head-New Media, The Indian Express Ltd. The distinguished panel comprised Anant Geete, Dr S P S Bakshi, Jaiveer Srivastava, Chairman and Managing Director of Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd (FACT), and Alok Sinha, former Chairman and Managing Director of Food Corporation of India (FCI). The discussion revolved around steps that PSUs could take for the success of the Make-in-India programme announced by the government.