The size and complexity of India’s developmental challenges, especially at a time like the novel coronavirus pandemic, requires all the stakeholders in the ecosystem to come together and bring their collective energy to collaborate.
The conversation needs to begin now so that we are not too late to take action.
The/Nudge Foundation is hosting '#charcha2020' - a platform to bring together thinkers, researchers, practitioners, enablers, policymakers, communicators, philanthropists and community leaders to address the toughest challenges in a post-COVID world.
From May 14 to 16, 2020, '#charcha2020' will host nine plenary sessions and 16 parallel events to cover the broad range of topics in the development sector.
Closing the sessions for day one on 14 May, Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi touched upon how the existing disparities and inequalities for the most vulnerable have exacerbated manifold during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The last person in the society, the poorest of the poor should feel comfortable, should be smiling. And most importantly, must be protected. The economic policies and the political decisions must be guided and driven by the well-being of the last person of the society,” said Satyarthi.
He also spoke about how applied compassion can play a transformative role at this critical juncture for policy makers, businesses, international donor agencies, civil society actors, law enforcement agencies and public at large to collectively tide over this crisis so that the vulnerable particularly the most marginalized children and their communities are not left behind.
“Compassion is needed in politics, in society, religion and economy. The solution does not lie in sympathy put in compassion,” he added.
COVID Is Wake-Up Call For World, Says NITI Aayog VC
Earlier during the opening plenary, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said that the coronavirus was a “wake-up call” – not just for India but for the entire world.
He said that after the pandemic, there will be a ‘pre-COVID’ and a ‘post-COVID’ world, and that while we all hope for the better, we must be prepared for the world order to change.
“We need to new India at this point of time. We need to think differently, we need to behave differently. We need to nudge ourselves and everyone else to adapt to behavioral change in the ever-evolving world,” said Kumar.
Kumar also spoke about the need for such a platform given that developmental problems of a country are multi-dimensional in nature and require concerted, collaborative efforts.
The NITI Aayog vice chairman also called for all stakeholders to work together both during and post the pandemic, especially that the development sector and government should work closely with each other, driving collective action and impact at scale.