Expatriates will be the chief architects of post-COVID period in India, told Dr. C. V. Ananda Bose, veteran administrator and the one member expert commission of the Government of India Labor Advisory Council. He was delivering the keynote address at a webinar on Strategy of Post-COVID India organized by the Kuwait FB Group.
India will survive the COVID crisis. The country should be able to turn this challenge into opportunities. The great Indian resilience will be repeated here- Ananda Bose expressed hope. It is the duty of the nation to support the expatriates who have shielded the country during the time of hardships. If the nation fails to do so, it is an irretrievable sin, he reminded. The National Social Security Board and special economic zones should be established to take care of the expats in predicament. Never should it happen to lose the faith of the expats who defended the country without hunger.
He added that there should be no instance for an expat who comes in for investment will be considered himself as an Abhimanyu who is in the padmavyuham where surrounded by enemies due to the non-cooperation of governmental systems.
Beyond the barriers of bureaucracy, there should be a pragmatic approach of adhocracy that makes extraordinary decisions to deal with exceptional circumstances. In the current crisis, the central government has taken many such steps.
In the post-COVID era, there should be dynamic steps from the part of Government of Kerala that can effectively attract firms seeking to relocate from China. A modified approach must be followed for the rehabilitation of the returning expatriates. The multi-lingual and multi-level skills of the expatriates need to be effectively utilized and more opportunities will be created through re-skilling.
During this phase, we realized the need to go back to agriculture. Our country can become a hub for organic agriculture. We have the example of Holland which feeds Europe. It requires a comprehensive Agripreneurship from post-harvest management to value addition. Horticulture should be developed from the village panchayat level.
Advanced public health systems and well-trained enormous human resources enable us to become a global hub in health sector too. We have learned to prioritize necessities instead of luxuries during Covid. In the days of the epidemic we were looking not for a car, but for peas.
We must move forward with a sense of unity while maintaining confidence, he said. In the post COVID phase, a new world order where India will naturally play a leading role will emerge, Ananda Bose observed.