Don’t resist automation, it will create more jobs: Adi Godrej

Hyderabad, Sep 1 (PTI) Veteran industrialist AdiGodrej has sought to brush aside concerns regarding job lossesdue to the advent of automation, artificial intelligence androbotics, asserting that those were the factors that increaseproductivity and cautioned against resisting winds of change. "It (things like automation, artificial intelligenceand robotics) only improves productivity", the Chairman ofGodrej Group told PTI. "Throughout history, every time there are newinventions, new productivity improvements, people worry aboutjobs not being created. It increases productivity. When youincrease productivity, economy grows and when your economygrows, there will be more jobs created and there will bebetter progress. So, we shouldn’t worry about it at all",Godrej said. "We should encourage all forms of productivityincrease. Otherwise, same protests when machinery firststarted, same protests came when computers were first used inbanks etc, etc…we should encourage productivity improvement,that’s the way the world improves," he said. Godrej, a former President of Confederation of IndianIndustry, dismissed suggestions from some quarters that 25years of economic liberalisation had led to wealth inequalitybecoming sharper with benefits largely not reaching farmers. He argued that in the last 25 years, India has lifted"many, many more" people out of poverty than it did in theearlier years after independence. "So, unless you have good economic policy, you cannotremove poverty. And it’s a natural corollary that there willbe some people who have been very successful earning more thanpeople who are not successful. That’s a natural corollary offree enterprise. So, we shouldn’t be too concerned aboutthat," he added, "Otherwise in the day of socialism before we openedup, it led to poverty for all which is terrible. So, I thinkit (economic liberalisation) has been very good for India. Ofcourse we could have done even better, with moreliberalisation. We should continue in that path," Godrej said. He sees tremendous opportunity for the country in thestart-up space, noting that Indians are very innovative,entrepreneurial, and instead of becoming job-seekers, thesepeople (those who have started start-up ventures) have becomejob providers. "So we should encourage them tremendously, provide allthe necessary facilities for them to succeed, and thegovernment is doing that, and it’s a good move", Godrej said.PTI RS NRB MKJBAS