By: Uma Asher

In the next five years, India will have the largest youth population in the world – 465 million people in the 20-35 age group. “We have always marveled at the demographic dividend, but we can sustain this advantage only if we train our workforce adequately, and equip our youth with necessary skills,” said Dalbir Singh, Senior Advisor, Forum of Federations, Canada, and Chairman, One Globe Forum, in his welcome address to the seventh edition of the Forum, held in Delhi on February 9 and 10, 2018. “Unfortunately, currently there are huge gaps. Skill development and employability remain key challenges for our growth process,” he added.

He noted that the National Skill Development Corporation was set up with the ambitious target to skill 500 million people by 2022. He said, “We have fallen woefully short on targets. If we have to grow at 8-9%, we need to step up our manufacturing by at least 20-22%. We would also need a core of around 250 million people with diverse skills catering to various segments of the economy in the next five years. It would entail an annual investment of Rs 100,000 crore. We’d also have to build a huge capacity of trainers. We hope these objectives are vigorously pursued by the government in collaboration with industry, civil society and all other stakeholders.”

Mr. Singh noted that in the last decade, India had increased its education capacity, increased its higher education gross enrolment ratio from 10 to 18%, and was set to achieve the target of 20%, which is comparable with the international average. But none of the country’s central universities figured in the global top 200, he said, adding that the Foreign Universities Bill had been in a state of limbo for almost a decade, and university curricula were out of sync with the job market.

Turning to the theme of urbanization, he saidIndia was experiencing major shift, with an estimated 30 people leaving rural India for cities every minute. He said, “We require 500 new cities incorporating innovative technologies and solutions for the delivery of vital services. Since cities are going to be fundamental drivers of economic growth, we have embarked on an ambitious program to develop sustainable smart cities along economic corridors. But we’ll also have to adopt new governance structures to respond to the critical needs of rapid urbanization.” He also highlighted the need to transform India’s 650,000 villages, where 70% of the population lives.

Welcoming the gathering, Harjiv Singh, Founder & CEO of Salwan Media Ventures and convener of the One Globe Forum, said, “If you look the room, you will see people from Tokyo to Silicon Valley, representing a kaleidoscope of world views. This unique alchemy of minds and curiosity leads to magic, as we discuss, deliberate, and debate some of the most pressing issues and challenges of our times. We look at the world, at One Globe, through the lens of a quarter of the world’s population that resides in South Asia, and their linkages to the global economy.” He noted that today, 1.6 billion people across South Asia accounted for less than 10% of global GDP, in contrast to an estimated 40% in 1820.

He said, “In the next decade, India and South Asia will become the world’s third largest economy, after the US and China. This will be driven by one of the world’s youngest demographics, a massive surge in internet and mobile adoption, rapid urbanization, and global connectivity. As we head towards a future in a hyperconnected world, and talk about developments in quantum computers, AI, blockchain, autonomous vehicles, and so on, we need to remind ourselves that scientific and technological progress alone will not solve the challenges faced by our planet. We have the responsibility to harness technological changes to make our world more inclusive and sustainable.”

Distinguished film director and producer Ramesh Sippy said, “The digital economy is a whole new world opening up for everyone. We need to take advantage, contribute, make it grow. From the media and entertainment side, as well as education, we would like to do what we can. This is a wonderful time, though there are challenges. We are on the threshold of something wonderful. I offer myself, my resources and my experiences in helping make it happen.”

Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Member of Parliament and Union Minister of Food Processing, Government of India, caused some amusement as she expressed her delight at being the only politician in the room. She said, “One of the topics in this forum is about empowering women and their contribution to the economy… Normally in India, at 9:30 in the morning if I go for any program, there might be four or five women, but other than that the room would be full of men. That’s the reality of my country where women are yet to contribute their full potential towards nation-building.”

She said, “The Constitution gives us equal rights, but in our country, and maybe in a lot of countries, we are far from getting our due. If women were to contribute as equals, not only would the GDP improve globally, but so would the economy of each country. We have a lot to learn from many countries… and in our country everybody needs to contribute to ensure gender equality.”

She noted that in India, every four minutes a woman is molested, every 12 minutes one is kidnapped, every 15 minutes one is raped, and every one hour there’s a dowry death. She said that India was a country “where a girl has to fight a battle even to take birth, where millions of lives are snuffed out before they can take their first breath, where even after taking birth it’s a challenge to have equal opportunities to your male counterparts in education, health care, even food.”

She said, “Despite all odds, I find when I visit educational institutions that 70% of toppers and medalists in education are girls. Despite that, they do not ascend to leadership roles in business and the workforce.” She said the government and Prime Minister were committed to empowering women, and had taken steps such as allowing women to take up combat roles in the armed forces, the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao initiative, and the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, a small savings scheme that benefits girls. She added, “I contribute in my own way with Nanhi Chhan, an NGO I started before I got into this role, to change the mindset of people.” She noted that even she had faced disappointed reactions within her family after the birth of her second daughter, and this had spurred her to start the NGO that aimed to engage with not just women but also men.

She said,“I’m happy to say that my Punjab, which had one of the worst sex ratios – it’s still pretty bad, but there has been an improvement in the last 10 years.” When the audience applauded, she responded by saying, “I don’t think we deserve a clap, because there is a lot of work we need to do.”

The next speaker was Jerry Hultin, Chairman, The Global Futures Group, LLC, President Emeritus, Polytechnic Institute of NYU, Chairman, Smart City Expo World Congress Advisory Board, and former Under Secretary of the US Navy. He noted, “As we work today on many issues – whether it’s the role of women in society, young people getting skills, creating jobs – keep your eye on cities.” He noted that cities attracted talent, and were sites of productivity. He said, “In India, about 40% of the population is in urban locations, but nearly 70% of the GDP is produced in cities.” He said cities gave people a better quality of life.

He said,“We’ve been working around the world with this idea: how could you give every citizen one more hour a day that they weren’t trapped in congestion, standing in a line, waiting for something to happen, being told ‘no’… if everyone got that hour, the gain in productivity around the world would be delightful, and you’d have happy people… The key is listening to people.”

Proposing the vote of thanks, Lord Raj Loomba, Member of the House of Lords of the Parliament of the UK, and Chairman Trustee of The Loomba Foundation, underscored the issue of gender equality. “This is the centenary of women’s suffrage – in 1918, women were given the right to vote in England… So far only 23% women are in government and private jobs.”  He concluded by saying that in the 21st-century knowledge economy, media such as cinema were a powerful tool for taking a message across to the public.