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But this isn’t a wake up call to economic advancement or glory. This time, the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) Young Indians (Yi) will be focussing on the flip side, the issues that have been ignored during India’s recent economic surge.

“In our first three summits, we dealt with seizing opportunities that have passed India by historically,” says Jay Galla, chairperson of the Yi summit 2008 and managing director of Amara Raja Batteries Ltd. “Four years later, things have changed. People have recognised the opportunities and our economy has grown, but we just have to walk out of our doors to see that it isn’t enough.”

Yi has taken the ‘India @ Risk’ report released by the World Economic Forum which lists six key risks that India faces as a starting point. They range from loss of fresh water and oil peaks to globalisation vs. protectionism and the HIV/AIDS crisis, but this summit in Chennai will focus primarily on ‘Climate Change’.

Yi, which began back in 2002, is aimed at energising and organising young India into taking up the reins of leadership and getting involved in nation building. “We are such a young country historically and demographically,” says Jay. “Why are our leaders in all spheres so old?”

The non-profit organisation, which has 900 members — primarily professionals and businessmen — between the ages of 25 and 45 all over the country and 2,000 student members, conducts national activities and programmes in education, employability, environmental protection, economics and healthcare.

“We provide a powerful platform to young men and women who have ideas and enthusiasm but don’t know how to go ahead and make the changes they want to,” says Jay.

Their annual national summits — previously held in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore — are a chance for their members to get together, network and motivate one another. This summit in Chennai have 300 members coming from all over the country and six speakers, including Dr. R. K. Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (the organisation which incidentally shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore).

The summit, to be held at Le Meridien, is also open to non-members, who can register for free at their website http://yisummit.com.

“Our dream is to see a developed India in our lifetime,” says Jay. “But that won’t happen if we don’t get involved — it’s not going to be served on a platter to us. That is the realisation that drives us at Yi.”

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