Showing posts with label TCIM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TCIM. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

City needs robust infrastructure, job opportunities, connectivity to be a Global City: Experts

‘Visioning Chandigarh’ Conference looks at challenges and opportunities for city

The city ‘s growth requires holistic view of the challenges including its satellite cities of Panchkula and Mohali, and future planning should be inclusive of them, felt experts participating in the ‘Visioning Chandigarh’ conclave-cum-workshop organized by Taaleem College of International Studies (TCIS) and the Institute for Competitiveness India.


Leading senior lawyer of the city M.L. Sarin said that though city indeed is a success in terms of the contribution it has made to the country in more than one way, the original character of the city must be preserved.

The city needs a permanent administrative body, and resented the short-sighted changes and ‘accidental development’ that are harming the eco-system and putting unnecessary pressure on the city’s resources.

Dr. Amit Kapoor, honorary chairman of the Institute for Competitiveness India, which is an extension of global network of the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School, said that the city has failed from the business perspective because of the absence of manufacturing industry, lack of highly qualified talent, and low job opportunities for the skilled professionals.

City has much more potential to be a global city and more importantly requires much more proactive people’s engagement with the city, encouraging walking, cycling, etc, he said.  Despite being a small city only 9 percent of the people use the pedestrian way, he added.

Dr. S.P.S. Grewal founder of Grewal Eye Institute said that though the city is relatively a healthy city yet its aging population require more centres of excellence in the medical field, and promotion of medical tourism has great potential.  A good convention centre could be another driver of growth for the city, he added.

Quark Media’s Senior Global HR Director Sofi Zahoor said that there should be a uniform policy for Greater Chandigarh – the tricity – and have a long-term plan to attract bigger companies, and more employment opportunities in the region.

CII-Yi (Young India) Chair of Youth Affairs Amanjot Kaur said that youth in the city have been showing remarkable interest in entrepreneurship, and the city must evolve startup funds and incubators to support them.

Jaiprakash Hasrajani, CEO and co-founder of TCIS and Taaleem India felt the need for better international connectivity that could make the city as a gateway to various other tourism and religious destinations in the adjoining states.

Dr. Kevin Stolarick, Research Director, Martin Prosperity Institute, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Canada, facilitated the workshop and involved the participant in group exercise to identify the challenges, that ranged from traffic to corruption, waste management, un-cleanliness, vandalized gardens, to ineffective administration.

Some of the other speakers included  Principal Advisor to Government of Haryana Sastry Tumuluri; Business India’s Advisor Dolly Bhasin; Director of The Millennium School Robin Aggarwal, and Gursimran Kaur, founder and COO of ValuerHR eSolutions Pvt Ltd.