Giving striking examples of relative perceived deprivation, he said, all sources of social conflicts have their roots there. The contrast is even more conspicuous in the urban landscape when a slum-dweller feels dejected on seeing the concrete monuments of consumerism next door.
Taking a cue from Dickens, Major Gen. Bakshi said, “India is passing through an era of paradoxes. We will also go places, provided we get our act together”. While concluding, he remembered Arnold Toynbee -Great civilisations arise in response to great challenges; both social and environmental.
Mr. Ramesh Agarwal, Chairman, Agarwal Movers Group, drew on his experiences to reiterate the importance of honesty, hard-work, ethics and charity. Back in the 1980s, he had served in the Air Force for 7 years, did overtime without any extra pay, and on retirement, gave away his entire deposit to war widows’ fund.
In September, 1987, he started his venture in a bid to help the Air Force officials shift from one place to another. “The client is my living God. I worship him”, he said, while illustrating how his firm acts proactively to address customer grievances, sometimes months after serving them.
To meet the truck drivers’ grievances of lack of sleep, Mr. Agarwal set up the first ‘Driver Seva Kendra’ of the country, situated near Dudhu on the Jaipur – Kishangarh highway (NH8). Here, the truckers get free services and sound sleep. This concept of Nidra Daan has been able to save around 38 lives every month, previously lost to the road accidents in the region. Mr. Agarwal plans to set up similar centres all over the country.
Director, IIM Rohtak, Dr. Dheeraj Sharma observed, “While Maj. Gen. Bakshi talked about the challenges in employment, between 70-80 percent labour is engaged in the unorganised sector. However, between 2004 and 2015, the organised sector employment doubled, the unorganised sector grew only by 20-30%, which is encouraging.”
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