Gurcharan Das @IIFT in NDTV Mega Show ‘B-School Budget’

The Union Finance Budget 2011 is presently one of the most talked about issues with India growing at phenomenal rates accompanied with the evils of inflation and high fiscal deficit. To discuss, suggest and improve upon the measures that can be taken by the finance minister, some of India’s brightest minds from the top B-Schools and the stalwarts from the corporate and economy descended on the campus of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi, India’s premier B-School in International Business in a B-School Budget show organized in association with NDTV. The Guests included Mr. Gurcharan Das, noted author, economist and a public intellectual and Mr. Sunil Godhwani, Chairman and MD, Religare Enterprises Ltd, who aired their opinions about the Budget.

NDTV, in its special series of shows on the Budget, came down to the IIFT campus to conduct the B-school Budget show. Manisha Natarajan and Siddharth Patankar were the anchors for the show and students from IIFT, MDI Gurgaon and other premier B-schools participated in an interactive discussion on what to expect from the budget. The show was broadcasted on both NDTV Profit and NDTV 24x7 on the weekend before the budget.

The first agenda to set the ball rolling was black money and corruption, one of the hot political potatoes in current times. They deliberated on the huge impact that it would have if corruption were to be completely wiped off the economy. In response to one of the questions asked on the corruption front, the speakers held the opinion that corruption was indeed a huge menace. “India grows when the government sleeps at night”, quoted Mr Gurcharan Das, depicting the potential that the parallel economy possesses.

The discussion then shifted to the other big concerns facing the economy i.e. inflation and fiscal deficit. The views of the student community to this end were amply reciprocated by the guest speakers who also felt that the measures were long overdue to tame the present rates of inflation and improve the efficiency in the distribution of the proposed benefits to the people at the bottom of the pyramid. Measures like UID and direct cash transfers were discussed so as to ensure that the intended benefits reach the target population.

Finally, the show came to an end with a wrap-up on what the students and the speakers felt was the one biggest expectation from Pranab Babu. While one of the students outlined his top priority to be the creation of ‘infrastructure of opportunity’ involving the 3E’s of education, employment and employability, another wished for better reforms for the real estate sector. Some wished for a reformist budget rather than a political budget while some wished for a more encouraging environment for retail and FDI investments.

All in all, the show was a grand success and both IIFT Delhi and NDTV look forward to many more such positive associations in the future.

You can watch the video here