Saturday, August 22, 2009

Why risk a drought?

Earlier this weeek, I was talking to a few experts on Risk Management and how companies need to make risk management practices a part of their daily operations. Ravi Narain, the head of the National Stock Exchange told me that taking risks may be a necessary part of growth but that does not mean that one should not have a contigency plan in place, just in case things go wrong. But he believes that risk and growth are not in conflict with each other.
Somehow that thought stuck in my head.
Now through the week, I have been reading and analysing the drought situation that seems to be worsening. As I write, 264 districts in India have been declared as drought affected. That's nearly half the country that we are talking about. Yesterday, the finance Minister says there is a need for a contingency plan to be put in place.
This is what I dont get.
So the Govt wants to put in place a plan after the crisis has happened. Much the same way, Mmbai spoke about the need for crisis management team after the terror attacks
Why is it when things are all hunky dory, no one speaks of the potential risks? When the country was growing at 8 per cent clip, not once did we speak about potential pitfalls. My question is
Why doesnt the Govt of India have its risk management practice in place?