India is progressing, however, corruption remains visible for the common man, the country needs to eradicate it at lower levels, including states, Dr Arvind Panagariya, Vice Chairman , NITI Aayog said today.

He was addressing a Conclave which marked the launch of CII’s this year’s the India@75 week. Theme of the Conclave was Focusing on Enablers for a Developed India by 2022.
Commencement of the week coincides with the birth anniversary of the globally renowned Guru of corporate strategy Late Prof CK Prahalad and culminates on the eve of the Independence Day which is considered to be a milestone for India@75’s march towards the achievement for the vision objectives.

Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII said that , “Since the launch of India@75 in 2007, we have been able to get phenomenal response from key stakeholders such as industry, civil society and government.” It has become a mass movement. He further stated that many of India@75’s programmes on Skills, Urbanization and ‘Cleaning India’ have become government’s flagship schemes later.

Dr Panagariya in his inaugural address said that “Prof Prahalad identified five priority areas – Education, Anti-corruption, Infrastructure, Sustainable Development and Innovation & Entrepreneurship. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government recognized the importance of primary education which later became the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).”

“The Prime Minister has made checking corruption a very high priority. In more than two years of current dispensation at the Centre, there has been no single instance of allegation of major corruption. We are making progress; however, corruption remains visible for the common man, we need to make it work at lower levels, including states,” he added.

Mrs Gayatri Prahalad, wife of Late Prof CK Prahalad in whose vision lies the genesis of India@75 said that “Prof Prahalad was a dreamer and he always advocated aspirations beyond resources. Though he believed in the past, he was of the opinion that power of innovation can transform India’s future. He also insisted on moral leadership. India@75 is very much a reflection of his mindsets.”

Rajan Navani, Chairman CII Council on India@75 in his concluding remarks informed the audience about the innovative interventions by India@75 in the focus areas of India75 i.e. skills, functional literacy, urbanization and volunteerism.