Singapore Dy PM Asks India To Shed The Culture Of Accepting Mediocrity

On 26 August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first part of the annual lecture series introduced by Niti Aayog under the theme of Transforming India.

The purpose of this series is to bring policy makers, scholars, and administrators of international standing to India, and share their expertise with the policy makers in States and the Centre. 

The first lecture of the series titled ‘India in the Global Economy’ was delivered by Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. You can listen to the speech in the following video.

The following are the notable highlights of his speech:

1.   The Deputy Prime Minister agreed with the words of PM Modi that India needs ‘rapid transformation and not gradual evolution’.

2.   Shanmugaratnam said that India is in two races at the moment: one is a race against demography and another against intelligent machines. India needs to think and make an in-depth examination of the phenomenon of using Artificial Intelligence in governance, given the scale and numbers that need to be gainfully employed in the country. Doing that will ensure higher productivity and higher income for the country.

3.   He urged India to move with urgency to achieve its potential. In his words, ‘8-10 percent growth rate is not a luxury, it will merely get India about 70 percent of the per capita income of China in 20 years’ time.’

4.   Shanmugaratnam also spoke about the need for disciplined dynamism and the adoption of a culture that impulsively avoids mediocrity.

5.  Instead of focusing on ‘domestic demand’ , the Deputy PM asserted that the focus ought to be on supply - productivity and skills.

6.   Citing the high dropout rate in upper primary schools, Shanmugaratnam said schools are facing the “biggest crisis” in India-

‘Schools are the biggest crisis in India today and have been for a long time. Schools are the biggest gap between India and East Asia. And it is a crisis that cannot be justified…’

7.     Shanmugaratnam made a very important point on cities being clusters of innovation and inclusivity. Hence there is a need to give them financial autonomy, empower them, hold them accountable and make them compete with each other.

8.   In his concluding remarks, Shanmugaratnam claimed that “a culture that focuses on the long term is essential for all that we want to achieve in an inclusive society. Short-termism is an enemy of social mobility.”