Following the Covid-19 outbreak, a global effort is needed to get back to normalcy, and the pandemic also presents an opportunity for renewal, according to Tata Sons’ Executive Chairman N Chandrasekaran.
“We are, I hope, on the threshold of a new era of cooperation, in which individuals, businesses and nations more readily join forces. We need it. To distribute a vaccine to every country in the world will be an international operation of unparalleled complexity. The same is true of rapid testing and new treatments,” Chandrasekaran said in his New Year message to Tata Group employees.
“Only a global effort can get us back to normality,” he added.
Chandrasekaran took charge as Tata Sons’ chairman in 2017, following the ouster of Cyrus Mistry in 2016. It has been a customary practise for the group head to address all employees ahead of the New Year and spell out briefly on its future plans and priorities. However, this year Chandrasekaran wrote to thank all the employees of the salt-to-software conglomerate.
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“Though this year has been hard, we end it with a renewed sense of possibility. Buried in the stress and trauma of Covid-19 are opportunities for renewal. Pandemics have, in the past, inspired progress in medicine, urban planning, architecture and countless other fields,” he said.
“This one will be the same. This moment is akin to walking on a bridge, but it’s a special bridge, because we are not simply waiting to see what is on the other side. Instead, we have a hand in building our destination,” the letter, which also touched upon the group’s activities during the pandemic.
Stating that rules were rewritten during the pandemic-ravaged year, he also said that in this year taught that many things once under taken outside the home can be done equally well inside too such as shopping, education, healthcare and work.
“Alongside practical adaptations to lockdown, there has been a shift in priorities: greater focus on safety and resilience, and a transition from ‘just in time’ toward ‘just in case’. Such changes offer a glimpse of the new economy that will emerge from the old,” he said.