Focus on the society, not just the quick money: Amartya Sen

By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 22 December 2010, 14:03 IST   |    7 Comments
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Focus on the society, not just the quick money: Amartya Sen
New Delhi: Speaking at The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) summit, Nobel Laureate Professor Amartya Sen asked the business community to increase their focus on the society than making quick money on the sly. "The business community plays a unique role but they are also part of the society. They should not get into making quick money on the sly. They have to think big, not just in terms of money, but also in terms of remedies for the society," he said. The noble price winner had earlier inaugurated the three-day summit being organized by TiE, a group of over 15,000 first generation entrepreneurs from 14 countries. Commenting on the recent corporate scams and scandals, he said though it is disturbing, but its impact should not be exaggerated. "Scams are not special to India. Its impact should not be over-estimated," he said. However, he considered the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a man of integrity and said it would be bizarre to link his name to any corruption or scandal. "Having known Manmohan Singh from college days, I can say that he is a man of integrity. Nobody can question that," he said. Noted scientist and the former Director General of CSIR, RA Mashelkar who heads the National Innovation Council, said, "The 'I' in India should stand for innovation, and not for imitation." He said doing well in business is important, but it's even more important now to be doing well by doing good. "Focus on ultra low costs, ultra affordability," he said. Talking on innovation, noted film maker Shekhar Kapur said, "Entrepreneurship comes out of nothing, so if we can force entrepreneurship down to the bottom of the pyramid, we can become a truly great nation."