A major initiative to network Indians abroad and within the country for India’s speedier development in the new millennium was launched here when Action India, a brainchild of three non-resident Indians of distinction, Sam Pitroda, Prakash Desai and Shiban Ganju, formally came into being.

The launch was marked by a two-day conference here over the weekend to create and begin implementation of an agenda for a new India in the 21st century. Mr Pitroda, a renowned telecom expert, stressed, "The key aim of the new organisation is to quicken the development activities in the country by creating a human and material resource database, a climate for new order and innovation also to build a consensus through public dialogue and debate."

Mr Pitroda, who is chairman of WorldTel, also said, "The basic objective behind the launch of Action India is to unite the forces of hope, action and innovation for the development of the people in India with the emphasis on implementation."

He said that with the advent of information technology and tools like internet much could be achieved in hastening the development process in India. The internet, he pointed out, was the easiest way to create a virtual community of Indians, unmindful of their present places of residence.

He said Action India has been launched to develop leadership of younger people of professionals and of Indians living in different parts of the world through a global link-up that could help solve many problems in diverse areas of human development more speedily.

He said that the purpose was not just to talk about issues but take action through global network.

He said some like-minded friends living in the US, such as Prakash Desai and Shiban Ganju, had been thinking about how to help accelerate human development activities in India. The idea for a non-government organisation, now styled as Action India, germinated in this churning of Indian minds in the US, he explained.

Welcoming the 250-odd delegates at the new Matthai Hall at the Indian Institute of Management where the first working session got under way, Mr Pitroda characterised Action India as an Indian effort, and not just by non-resident Indians.

He said Indians living abroad had a keen desire to take an active part in modernising the country.

The internet, Mr Pitroda said, could bridge the gap in time, distance and expenses, which had inhibited formation of a global network in the past.

He said Ahmedabad was chosen as the venue for the launch of Action India because it was from Ahmedabad that Mahatma Gandhi had, on his return from South Africa in ‘15, started his work that triggered a mass movement for India’s independence.

He said that Gandhi was an NRI, and so were other leaders like Sardar Patel. The formal launch of Action India, marked by a gathering in the evening at the famed Sabarmati Ashram of Gandhi, was an attempt to draw inspiration from that "Great NRI".

Prakash Desai, Shiban Ganju and Mr Pitroda stressed that while Action India would work actively in the fields of health, education, illiteracy, housing, population, environment, energy, women’s uplift and information technology, "let there be no illusion that we have come with a bagfull of tricks and resources".

Speaking at the first session on economic policy and speed of development, A.K. Shivakumar, a specialist in human development, noted that in some areas such as the fight against illiteracy, India was worse off than many countries in the world. The good news, on the other hand, was that India was on a fast track of economic growth.

Compiled from local news media