Thought Leadership Series
The list of Speakers for the event was as follows:
- Mr. Alok Verma, Ex-Director, PWC Strategy
- Ms. Parul Mittal, Director, Deutsche Bank
- Mr. Rajesh Aggarwal, Ministry of Tribal Affairs
- Mr. Ramandeep Chowdhary, Ministry of drinking water and sanitation.
Mr. Alok Verma laid the foundation of the event by discussing with the students on the topic, ‘Consulting in the age of disruption’.
Mr. Verma explained that ‘Disruption is a vast subject’. IIT, having produced more than 150 start-ups, is in itself a part of disruption. He then discussed about 20 year’s roadmap. He focused mainly on what would be the challenges and their respective solutions. Mr. Verma discussed various disruption examples of Uber, OYO, PayTM and Tesla Company. ‘There is an invisible aspect to disruption as well’, he quoted. Market areas are getting disrupted and they are very difficult to predict.
Mr. Verma also discussed asset light models, new business models, untapped markets and mega trends with the students,the disruption fundamentals being product innovation, business model innovation and multiple breakthrough technologies. ‘When multiple technologies come together, disruption can happen’, he excerpted. In conclusion, Mr. Verma also discussed consulting challenges and opportunities that one can seek in the coming future.
Ms. Parul Mittal began her speech on the topic, “Vision 2020: Innovating towards a better financial health”.Financial health consists of three aspects: Inflows, Risks, and Buffer against risks. Financial health is either considered of nation, company or individuals. Ms. Mittal uttered that a lot of changes are happening in the Banking sector. In the past, traders used to make their own rules for valuation of trades. It is no longer the practice followed nowadays. Adding to that, Banks have put layers of security of submitting reports to regulatory.
Ms. Mittal also focused on the big issues pertaining in India such as non-performing assets. She also stressed upon the fact of building more banks in the rural areas. Developments have happened. Risk controls can be made robust. Consumers, nowadays, do require seamless and faster transactions. It is the responsibility of Banks to ensure that correct transactions happen. Banks also need to verify transactions. Because of technology, verification happens automatically. Ms. Mittal also focused on Block chain which is a technology to reduce incidents of Bank defaulters/frauds. ‘Banks have your sensitive information. So a lot of trust is required to be kept on Banks,’ Ms. Mittal uttered. She familiarized the students with impacts of Mobile penetration, Mobile wallet and Jan Dhan mobile Bank accounts. ‘Biggest risk in life is that you take no risk”, Ms. Mittal concluded.
Mr. Rajesh Aggarwal initiated his speech on the topic, “Innovation in financial services and role of startups”.Mr. Aggrawal initially discussed the challenges he faced in his IAS career. He has worked on various impactful projects like ‘Approximate matching of Indian names’ which required GIS mapping of Delhi school and colleges. It was a disruptive model.
Speaking about startups, Mr. Aggarwal excerpted that all startups are facing disruption. He also stressed upon going paperless and cashless.
Earlier in the share market, there was aggressive physical usage of paper. It was risky as important information was sent via post. Hence there was a need to go paperless. Mr. Agrawal also said that education degrees are also going to be paperless in the near future. We can go paperless in almost all the aspects, driving license, doctor prescriptions being a few of them.
Likewise there are various advantages of going paperless. Money can be given to beneficiaries via online banking, people can pay cashless, and one can do a lot of things just sitting at home. ‘Banking system is a dinosaur’, Mr. Aggarwal added. Fintech companies are a doing wonderful job. Internet is better than telecom when it comes to transactions. Today, we can get a JIO sim by just an adhaar card. We are allowed to have paperless verification without KYSs. Because of so many advantages, PayTm is going to be the next game changer. Lots of companies will go UIDs. Mr. Aggarwal concluded that disruption is an important element and companies need to work in sync with it.
Mr. Ramandeep Chowdhary began his speech on the topic “UPSC challenge and how to nail it?” Mr. Chowdhary had cleared his UPSC exams eight years ago. ‘Basic principles of UPSC remain the same even after so many years,” he said. He guided the students that in the near future there will be no routine or structured life. What they want from their life will depend mostly upon their personality. Students must learn to grab opportunities thrown at them.
Mr. Chowdhary then talked about how government works. ‘We, as government, are all linked for common purpose,’ he uttered, which is service for people, families, societies, state, nation and global scenario. Government is now responding to the aspirations of people. Jobs in top IAS, IPS are divided into 3 zones:
- Working on field
- Handling departments
- Managing government policies
Officials need to work in analytical point of view to make conditions easier for public. Apart from regular roles, there is ample of opportunities to choose from. People need to be strong willed to seek any opportunity. ‘If you want something from life, everything will happen automatically’ Mr. Chowdhary quoted that UPSC is a challenge to go to public services. Everybody here gets a fair chance. Competitiveness, clarity of thought and smartness are the key. One needs to be prepared for ups and downs.
The interaction further proceeded by opening the floor for questions and the audience bringing up a wide range of questions on various related topics. The panelists diligently provided their views on these aspects. Overall, the session was very interactive and enriching for the students.
The students of DMS, IIT Delhi extend their heartfelt gratitude to the entire panel for taking their time out and sharing their valuable views.
