28th foundation day of the center for civil society.

22 Aug 2025

It was an honor to participate in the 28th foundation day of the center for civil society. As one of the leading think tanks it has helped shape policy through its research and engagement with experts and policy makers.

The panelists presented their views on the topic of 'Decriminalization for development' where they argued that too stringent compliance policy may be hurting the entrepreneurial spirit and that the goal of ease of doing business can't be realised until risk taking is encouraged.

Special mention was made of insolvency laws where founders often lose control of their organisation in contrast to the laws of other countries where focus is on business recovery rather than handing over the power to the creditors.

It was argued that compliance is easy for big businesses but smaller orgs may need a more supportive ecosystem that nurtures their growth.

I was in general agreement. It is important to build trust, focus on partnerships and continue to develop new methods for dispute resolution. Too often businesses look to compete and contest for market spaces overlooking far more lucrative opportunities that can be seized by creation of new markets through calculated risk taking.

Such a mindset also prevents growth through partnership and cooperation — hurting long term resilience. This needs to change.

Practically this change could take the form of opting for MoUs instead of formal agreements, going for arbitration instead of lengthy courtroom battles and in long term simplification of the law —Choosing flexibility over rigid structures.

For labor related disputes industry bodies or perhaps administrative bodies might need to play a more of a mediatory role. Not every procedural oversight needs to be punished.

But is it the policy that is stifling the risk taking ability of entrepreneurs? I felt that many of these changes don't really require a policy intervention. Provisions already exist within the law it is imp to use them.

Businesses must learn to adapt. There are always new challenges coming. Some of them would require far greater resolve to overcome. It is not enough to rely on a handful of think tanks doing the thinking for us. We must act and take initiative. As Emerson so very keenly stated in his address to the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard what we need is not a thinking man but a man thinking.

Akshat Jiwan Sharma

Strategy Consultant--Innovation/ Materials science/International relations/Telecommunications/Digital Transformation/Partnerships Mobile/whatsapp:+919654119771 email:getellobed@gmail.com

Comments

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Notes by Akshat Jiwan Sharma

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