Thaindian News

New Delhi, Dec 21 (IANS) Big enterprises need to focus on the bigger picture and long-term instead of getting carried away by the lure of quick money, Nobel laureate Professor Amartya Sen said Tuesday. “Business community plays a unique role, but they are also part of the society. They should not get into making quick money on the sly,” Sen said at the inaugural session of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) summit here.

“They have to think big, not just in terms of money, but also in terms of remedies for the society,” he said.

On the recent scams and scandals, Sen said it was disturbing but its impact should not be exaggerated.

“Scams are not special to India. Its impact should not be over-estimated,” he said.

Sen said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was a man of integrity and it would be bizarre to link his name to any corruption or scandal.

“Having known Manmohan Singh from college days, I can say that he is a man of integrity. Nobody can question that,” the Nobel prize winner said.

Earlier, Sen inaugurated the three-day summit being organised by TiE, a group of over 15,000 first generation entrepreneurs from 14 countries.

Addressing a session on innovation, Noted film maker Shekhar Kapur said: “Entrepreneurship comes out of nothing, so if we can force entrepreneurship down to the bottom of the pyramid, we can become a truly great nation.”

Kapur said the real power of India is in how “we manage the bottom of the pyramid”.

“The ‘I’ in India should stand for innovation, and not for imitation,” said R.A. Mashelkar, chairman of the National Innovation Foundation.

Emphasising the need for inclusive growth, Mashelkar said the new slogan around innovation is “More for less for more”.

The event also witnessed a special session on sports, where champion shooter Gagan Narang spoke about the support parents need to give to children who are interested in taking up sports as their career.