S. Divakara on The Forum of Free Enterprise

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBdRExrgG2I Duration: 445.4s

S. Divakara (00:00): I had the good fortune of working with Mr. M. R. Pai from 1964 till he passed away in 2003. He used to tell me some interesting story about two articles which appeared in Times of India on 03/31/1956. One was written by Mr. Murarji Vaidya and the other was written by Mr. A. D. Shroff, both were on the same theme about protecting free enterprise in our country. And Mr. Pai told me a number of times on that day I believe Mr. Farooq Mulla, who was at that time the Chief Public Relations Officer of Tatas, he was in the lift in Bombay House, Mr. Eddie Shroff also was there in the same lift. Mr. Mulla complimented Mr. Shroff, Mr. Shroff the your article is very good, he has said that an organization should be set up to protect and preserve free enterprise in our country, I will be happy to help you. Then Eddie Shroff said I will give you the money, you start, I will also be there. That is how the forum started, it was Mr. Farooq Mulla, Mr. Eddie Shroff and a number of other people. The Forum of Free Enterprise was started in 1956 by Eddie Shroff with the main object of educating the public on economic affairs. The Forum publishes booklets on economic subjects, we have published so far about 800 booklets. Initially, we were publishing almost every month one booklet, sometimes more than one booklet, all having a bearing on economics. Number of public meetings have been held since 1956, in fact it’s just more than 2,400 public meetings, most of them in Bombay, but hundreds of them have also been held in different parts of the country with different speakers on different economic subjects. When the forum started, of course, there was some opposition in fact from the business community itself because they were scared of coming on a platform which was opposed to the Government’s economic policies. But it must be said to the credit of the founders of the Forum that they maintained their integrity, their transparency and their approach to issues. The Forum does not take any stand on any economic subject or any policy matter, but it allows people to come and air their different views on economic subjects. A number of well known economists and others have appeared on our platform. We had the privilege of having on a platform Professor Milton Friedman on more than one occasion, Professor Peter Bauer had come. In fact, I had the privilege of arranging his meeting. In August 1965 when Mr. A. D. Shroff was President of the Forum, he always liked to encourage the young students to participate in economic activities. His belief was every Indian whether you are a doctor, engineer or any other professional should have some knowledge about basic economic problems of the country. He always encouraged the students. From the very first year the forum was conducting All India essay competition for college students with the object of helping them to think and write on economic subjects. So, in August 1965, Mr. Eddie Shroff at one of the committee meetings of the forum said we must also institute elocution competitions for college students to enable them to think and speak on economic subjects. After Mr. Pai died in 2003, we started the M. R. Pai Foundation in 2004 and after Mr. Palkhivala passed away in 2002, we started the Nani Palkhivala Memorial Trust in 2004. So together with these two organizations, the A. D. Shroff Memorial Trust, the Forum of Free Enterprise has been organizing jointly various programs for the youth, main object is developing good citizenship. Palkhivala Memorial Trust organizes every year a memorial lecture and the first lecture was delivered by Mr. Fali Nariman and then a series of eminent persons have delivered this lecture. Last year we had Mr. Harish Salve, before that we had the then Chief Justice Mr. S. H. Kapadia, then Mr. Soli Sorabjee, Mr. Narayana Murthy, Mr. Arun Shourie, Dr. Bimal Jalan, the various number of eminent people have delivered the lecture. The Trust also gives the Nani Palkhivala Civil Liberties Award to those who protect and preserve civil liberties and human rights in India every year. The award carries a cash prize of 2.5 lakhs at the citation. The M. R. Pai Foundation is an organization where we have been mandated to have programs for the youth in small towns and cities. So, we go to at the present we are going to about six states Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Goa where we have about 40 to 50 leadership camps of two days each, where interactive sessions are conducted by expert trainers on subjects such as goal setting, communication, teamwork, communication, self esteem and allied subjects. And we are deliberately going to small towns and cities because there the youngsters do not have any exposure. In cities the students are saturated with any number of activities, but in small places this is the only activity they have. The forum is still like non profit, non political organization and fortunately for us their brand has been built over a period of now we will be completing sixty years in 2016, that brand name has been built, we are happy about it, wherever I go the forum is recognized, I don’t have to, in fact Mr. Pai had the experience, he was travelling in aircraft and for me I believe Mr. George Fernandes who was a minister at that time, he was in one of the front rows and he happened to see Mr. Pai and then he come where he was sitting he showed a book of the forum to Mr. Pai, Mr. Pai I am reading your booklet, that is the brand that is the popularity of the forum that Mr. Pai has been able to build. And I met Dr. V. K. R. V. Rao who was known to be a very, was a minister in the Indira Gandhi government, was supposed to be a staunch socialist and I met him in a wedding, I was introduced to him and then he asked me what are you doing, I told him I gave him my card, this was in the 80s, by the time he had given up his office, then he took me to a small corner, you are doing good work, you continue. Mr. Pai told me when the forum started he was one of the staunchest opponents, now he is recognizing what we are doing but this is a fact.