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Industry urged to take up social responsibility

Staff Reporter

J. J. Irani delivers National Aluminium Company Foundation Day Lecture

— Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty

PAYING BACK: J. J. Irani, Director of Tata group of companies, delivering the Nalco Foundation Day lecture in Bhubaneswar on Saturday. C. R. Pradhan, Managing Director, National Aluminium Company, looks on.

BHUBANESWAR: Advocating closer coordination among industry, government and labour unions, Director of Tata Group of companies J. J. Irani on Saturday said industrial growth must fill in the slot after the service and agriculture sectors to take the country to the upper level of development.

"We need a tripartite agreement among industry, government and labour unions so as to achieve fast industrial development in the country. We cannot progress unless labour unions have confidence on us,'' Mr. Irani said while delivering the sixth Nalco foundation day lecture here on Saturday.

He criticised politicians for sticking to populist policies and the bureaucracy for its `habit' of delaying projects.

Emphasising the need for labour reforms, Mr. Irani said, "when management and union get on well, one can circumvent other negative factors. In the event of absence of a responsible union, the labour reform is badly required to see industrial growth through. As the foreign direct investments are flowing in, the government must think on bringing in the reforms.'' Delivering the talk on `role of industries in the future development of India,' he said while the service sector contributed 15 per cent to the country's total GDP, agriculture had a share of 30 per cent. "There is ample space for industries to fill the vacuum in future,'' he said. The director of the Tata Group called upon industrial houses and the Government to increase their expenditure on <243>R&D if they wanted to match progress with the west.

Mr. Irani also urged the industries to take up their corporate social responsibility as one of their prime goals. "When you are creating wealth using natural resources of a region, you cannot remain aloof from the society. A major part of profit should be shared with the local population for development,'' he said. Referring to the plethora of memoranda of understanding in Orissa, he said, "there is no point in having so many MoU, unless all these result in investment on the ground.''

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