CHENNAI: NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar today said India needs to develop a model of capitalism that is "caring and compassionate" and not solely driven by profit maximisation.
Kumar, who was addressing graduating students at 55th Convocation at Indian Institute of Technology - Madras, here also urged that there was a need to get rid of a "termite" called cronyism.
"Over past 25 years, India has surely transitioned to a market-driven capitalist economy. However we need to evolve our own model of development," he said.
The model must have to play to strengths which are that of innovation, entrepreneurship and a large domestic market, Kumar said.
At the same time, he mentioned about mistrust between principal stakeholders government, industry, academia and civil society and said unless it is replaced with one of a common vision for the country, it would be difficult to go forward.
"Our centuries-old tradition of 'Vasudev Kutumbakam' must force us to adopt a model of capitalism that is not solely driven by profit maximisation, greed and insatiable demand...we will have to develop a caring, compassionate and conscious model of capitalism," he said.
"To go forward, first and foremost we have to get rid of cronyism, a termite," he said.
"Crony capitalism unleashed in the post-liberalisation period is a deadly cocktail of new market opportunities finding complementarity with old statused practices," he said.
In fact, cronyism has given capitalism a bad name in India, he said.
News of scams, corruption and losses to exchequer under various governments and in large number of states have exacerbated such perception, he said, appealing to the students to initiate a mass movement for development "This growing perception of a state emerged in fixing deals and nexus with unsavoury components of our society not only brings deep cynicism especially among young people but also whole suspicion about system and even threatens the legitimacy of our democracy. This must change," Kumar said.
On the need for double-digit growth, he said to meet aspirations of a young population double-digit economic growth needs to be sustained for at least the next three decades.
Over a 1,400 degrees were awarded during the convocation in the presence IIT-M Director Bhaskar Ramamurthy.