NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that 'adaptability, efficiency, inclusivity, opportunity, and universalism' are the 'new vowels' which will redefine the new business and work culture in the days ahead following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Prime Minister through a post on LinkedIn urged Indian innovators to come forward and "take the lead in providing a new work culture."
He said that "like vowels in the English language, these would become essential ingredients of any business model in the post-COVID world."
Elaborating on adaptability, the article reads: "The need of the hour is to think of business and lifestyle models that are easily adaptable. Doing so would mean that even in a time of crisis, our offices, businesses, and commerce could get moving faster, ensuring loss of life does not occur."
Through the article, the PM urged shopkeepers to "invest in digital tools that keep commerce connected" and added that the country is witnessing an "encouraging surge in digital transactions." Telemedicine is another field from which positive signs of going digital have emerged.
The next vowel -- efficiency -- is equally important as it is important for building "models where productivity and efficiency matter more than the appearance of effort. The emphasis should be on completing a task in the specified time frame."
Inclusivity perhaps the most important point raised by PM Modi focuses on the need for developing business models that attach significance to the "care for the poor, the most vulnerable" as well as our planet.
The Prime Minister has urged the innovators to develop technologies and practices that reduce the humankind's impact on the planet and to invest in "innovations to make sure our farmers have access to information, machinery, and markets no matter what the situation, that our citizens have access to essential goods."
Opportunity, and universalism, the two final points raised by the Prime Minister stress on the need to realise the opportunity which the COVID-19 crisis has brought along with itself and to take steps so that "India must be ahead of the curve in the post-COVID world."
Universalism, on the other hand, must be taken into account to ensure that the "next big ideas from India should find global relevance and application. They should have the ability to drive a positive change not merely for India but for the entire humankind."
The Prime Minister added that "COVID-19 does not see race, religion, colour, caste, creed, language or border before striking. Our response and conduct thereafter should attach primacy to unity and brotherhood. We are in this together."
Focusing on togetherness at a moment where the whole world is under the grip of COVID crisis, Modi said this fight is "Unlike previous moments in history, when countries or societies faced off against each other" and said that, "The future will be about togetherness and resilience."
The Prime Minister further said that India has the potential to emerge as the 'global nerve centre of the complex modern multination supply chain in the post-COVID-19 world' and urged innovators to rise up as it is the need of the hour.
"India, with the right blend of the physical and the virtual can emerge as the global nerve centre of complex modern multinational supply chains in the post-COVID-19 world. Let us rise to that occasion and seize this opportunity. I urge you all to think about this and contribute to the discourse," the article reads.