Activities
ADDRESS BY SHRI DEEPAK PAREKH AT THE LAUNCH OF THE CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS OF THE INDIAN MERCHANTS’ CHAMBER AT NCPA, NARIMAN POINT MUMBAI
18-07-2006 : Mumbai
Hon’ble President of India, H.E. Dr Abdul Kalam, Hon’ble Governor of Maharashtra, H E Mr S M Krishna, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, President IMC, Mr Nayan Patel and Vice-President, IMC Mr Niraj Bajaj, Co-Chairman IMC, Mr. Ram Gandhi, Mr. Suresh Kotak and distinguished guests.
It is a pleasure and a great honor for me as Chairman of the Centenary Celebrations Committee of the IMC to join Mr Nayan Patel, President, IMC in welcoming H.E. Dr A.P.J Kalam, President of India and other dignitaries to this memorable occasion marking the Chamber’s entry into its 100th year of existence.
We are also honoured by the presence of H.E. Mr S M Krishna, Governor and Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, Hon’ble Chief Minister.
History, it is said, is the greatest teacher. For the Indian Merchant’s Chamber, an organization that has played a role in every stage of development of this country, this statement holds great promise. Especially in the context of the IMC’s contribution in India’s freedom struggle, the post-independence period and more recently, the post-liberalization period, as an enabler of progress. Stalwarts like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and others blessed this organization with their thoughts and wisdom in the initial years, and it is now our duty to take this forward.
Today, we are faced with several new challenges – foremost amongst these is creating an environment of stability in an atmosphere of uncertainty and turbulence. Events like the aftermath of last year’s flooding of 26th July and this month’s serial bomb blasts in Mumbai have left citizens with a number of questions regarding the future. It is in this context that the role of IMC needs to be mapped out. In addition to bringing transformation in the business arena, which it is well known for, the chamber has a much larger role to play in enabling the business community and the common man to work towards progress and peace.
Some other issues that have come to the forefront in recent times include rapid urbanization, load on infrastructure and development, safety, access to health, disaster response & recovery mechanisms and so on. It is time for all of us to join hands to work together and build a city that offers all of this and much more to the people who make it their home. This needs to happen first, if we are to grow and leave our mark on the global platform. Our Honourable President, HE APJ Abdul Kalam has always stressed on internal development as the first step towards sustainable progress and we look towards him for inspiration as we move forward in this journey.
As IMC commences its Centenary Year celebrations today, a series of momentous events have been planned for the entire year, the first one being today’s landmark function when H E Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, President of India, will be addressing the business fraternity of Mumbai.
My role at IMC, supported by the doyens of Indian business, is not that of merely supervision of the Centenary Year celebrations. It is to create a blueprint and oversee its implementation as IMC undergoes a historic transformation to keep up to its increasing relevance in the new global scenario. The fresh outlook for IMC is not just to adapt to the changing landscape of industry, business, society and governance but to drive the change and move in new directions.
To sum up, through our conferences and initiatives this year, we look forward to understanding different viewpoints and objectives, discussing city and disaster management, a greater focus on women’s issues by the ladies’ wing of the IMC, examining individual areas of work in the context of a larger canvas, seeking consensus on priorities and looking at the impact of time, cost, political and bureaucratic will on solutions, articulated with an integrated approach. I am confident that the young team of IMC, Mr Nayan Patel and Mr. Niraj Bajaj, will rise to the occasion and usher in a new order as confidently and purposefully as the generations in the past have done.
With these words, I once again welcome you all to this function and I am grateful to the highly revered Hon’ble President of India for being with us today on this auspicious occasion as we embark on our new role.
Thank you.