POSCO INDIA’S VIKASH SHARAN DISCUSSES AT LENGTH WITH VIRAT BAHRI OF B&E ABOUT THE PROBLEMS THAT PLAGUE GREENFIELD PROJECTS IN INDIA AND HOW POLICY MAKERS CAN PLAY A MAJOR ROLE
B&E: The kind of activism that POSCO is facing become much more prominent in India in re3cent times. Your views.
Vikash Sharan (VS): When you are talking in context of India, there are two situations; one where you are being genuinely concerned and the other when you are doing such actions on the surface, for some vested interest. In India 98% of the activists are in the second category. It’s not brought out for a genuine concern like environment, community or anything. Yes, people who are getting displaced should be adequately compensated and their liability needs to be sustained. But how do you do it? There has to be a model for carrying this out. In our case, what we have seen, is that the so called leaders of opposition in the area have no such genuine concern about the people. They are not flagging any issues. NGOs try to pick up a cause that looks very genuine on the face of it, try to organise civil society behind them, try to gain strengh in society and then use it for gains on the political platform.
B&E: Does POSCO feel, in retrospect, that it could have changed the situation in any way?
VS: No, I don’t think so; may be the choice of place, may be estimation of time frame... May be this is how it has to happen in India and we are not ready for such green field projects where huge infrastructure is required. And, the govt. in its enabling role and the media have both failed. Government is supportive, but plagued by a long chain of bureaucracy. Media also has to act responsibly. I will give you an example, when forest diversion clearance was given to us, it also required some economic survey to be done. Now, when this action was being taken by the state government, these people were resisted by the local population. Who were the people resisting? This was the first role of media to report, whether they are local, outsiders or hired people? There was no reporting on that. Then the people sitting on dharna were ladies and children, no menfolk. This was totally ignored by media. For good ten days reports kept coming that there is firing at POSCO site, lathi charge at POSCO site, et al. POSCO is nowhere in the picture. They were protesting against the government. The area happens to be area where POSCO might come up in future. The right things should have been flagged.
B&E: The kind of activism that POSCO is facing become much more prominent in India in re3cent times. Your views.
Vikash Sharan (VS): When you are talking in context of India, there are two situations; one where you are being genuinely concerned and the other when you are doing such actions on the surface, for some vested interest. In India 98% of the activists are in the second category. It’s not brought out for a genuine concern like environment, community or anything. Yes, people who are getting displaced should be adequately compensated and their liability needs to be sustained. But how do you do it? There has to be a model for carrying this out. In our case, what we have seen, is that the so called leaders of opposition in the area have no such genuine concern about the people. They are not flagging any issues. NGOs try to pick up a cause that looks very genuine on the face of it, try to organise civil society behind them, try to gain strengh in society and then use it for gains on the political platform.
B&E: Does POSCO feel, in retrospect, that it could have changed the situation in any way?
VS: No, I don’t think so; may be the choice of place, may be estimation of time frame... May be this is how it has to happen in India and we are not ready for such green field projects where huge infrastructure is required. And, the govt. in its enabling role and the media have both failed. Government is supportive, but plagued by a long chain of bureaucracy. Media also has to act responsibly. I will give you an example, when forest diversion clearance was given to us, it also required some economic survey to be done. Now, when this action was being taken by the state government, these people were resisted by the local population. Who were the people resisting? This was the first role of media to report, whether they are local, outsiders or hired people? There was no reporting on that. Then the people sitting on dharna were ladies and children, no menfolk. This was totally ignored by media. For good ten days reports kept coming that there is firing at POSCO site, lathi charge at POSCO site, et al. POSCO is nowhere in the picture. They were protesting against the government. The area happens to be area where POSCO might come up in future. The right things should have been flagged.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine
IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM B-School Detail
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine
IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM B-School Detail
