The Hindu Business Line : New CII chief banking on distributed leadership

The Managing Director of Ashok Leyland, Mr R. Seshasayee, who took over as CII President last week, is banking on the "distributed leadership" model of the CII to see him through both the high-profile jobs that he will now have to manage.

Undeterred by the fact that he will have to balance his time between Chennai and Delhi more than ever before, he is ready to take on the new ambitious agenda of the apex chamber.

"We have announced four missions - Manufacturing Innovation, Knowledge and Skills Development, Inclusiveness and Sustainability - and these will take a lot of my time. However, what is admirable about the CII culture is that it works on the principles of distributed leadership and has a strong secretariat. Each mission has its own leader who will be pursuing the objective that has been put forward. Each one of us has to put aside a part of our time for the larger good," said Mr Seshasayee.

Mr Seshasayee, who is a chartered accountant by qualification, is clear that it is for companies to come forward to be partners in the country's development.

However, he is of the opinion that reservations for the backward classes in the private sector "on a mandated legislation is not right at all."

Positive agenda

According to him, the industry would rather pursue "action through a positive agenda" to achieve the same goal. In fact, two of the four missions announced are directed towards this end.

For fostering inclusive growth, Mr Seshasayee outlined the concept of Rural Business Hubs that the CII has conceived.

In 60 pilot hubs currently in various stages of development, the CII is working with panchayats and is hoping to link its programme to the Central Government's Bharat Nirman project - a four-year business plan for rural infrastructure. As an example of linkages, Mr Seshasayee gave details of two hub projects.

In Rajasthan, a community that traditionally depended on sword and dagger making for its livelihood has been taught the skill of making cutlery, a product that is being linked to the high-premium retail sector. In Nagapattinam, a tsunami-effected community is being veered towards the processed fisheries business, with technology upgradation for the fisherfolk.

"The hub projects will become more sustainable once we have linked them with the Government programme," he said.

CII's Taskforce on Affirmative Action - which will focus on education, skills development, and entrepreneurship, among other social indicators - will also work towards the goal of empowerment of the backward classes.

Brand India

On the global front, Mr Seshasayee is all set to take forward the Brand India project. "India is no longer a vague brand; it has strong recall."

However, he said that the country is still known largely for its IT and call centre expertise. "We need to change that and could easily promote the country as a big health and education destination."

On WTO, the country is "well placed" and largely had an offensive agenda, according to him.

Though the timetable is going to be missed, time lengths are not critical and that "missing a time line does not mean success or defeat." He added that Western countries must come forward on the agriculture front.

Personally, being CII president would mean cutting on time for family life, but he nevertheless hopes to be able to carve out a bit of time for his passion - Carnatic music. "For it's music that keeps me sane."

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