Global Integration and India: The Role of Entrepreneurial Initiatives

Abstract

As a political and economic entity, India has not yet shed the garbs of insularity that have stifled individual aspirations of its people for decades, and has kept under wraps, the problems of continuing high incidences of poverty and illiteracy. The process of liberalisation that was set off in 1991 has kindled the aspirations of the educated section, but in the absence of an integrated approach, the measures have only been half-baked. It has not reached vast sections of the people, who do not have access to basic amenities. Social discontent has been abated by populist measures, which continue to eat into our future. Emphasis on health and nutrition, education and training, and environmental conservation continue to take a back seat. Even after seven years of liberalisation, India finds itself on the fringes of the global system and moving away. It still plays an insignificant role in shaping the forces of global integration. As we resolve to meet the challenges of global integration, to tide over the tumultuous period of transition from insularity to integration, we need to think beyond the boxes and boundaries that most of us find ourselves in. We need to broaden our ambit of activities, and discover personal reasons for doing so. We need to create and support structures, where the conventional set-up has failed to deliver. Entrepreneurial initiative can play can play a significant role in getting together people with diverse background to address our common issues in depth and in detail. We need to research and innovate new structures to implement our ideas. With the growing complexity and the increasing pressures on our time in our respective professions, the role of entrepreneurs as facilitators and integrators, researchers and innovators, event organisers and service providers gains tremendous importance. This genre of entrepreneurship has to be understood and accepted before it becomes an economically viable proposition. It marks a new paradigm in entrepreneurship that gains great importance as we enter the age of knowledge. It explores entrepreneurial opportunities at fundamental levels, where theory intermingles with practice, constantly and pervasively.