The Illustrious: Only Knowledge Helps Overcome
A scientist by profession, Swati Piramal is a leader enabling inclusive change. Her journey, filled with several highs, has seen her don different challenging roles. She was the president of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India (ASSOCHAM), the apex chamber of commerce, being the first woman in 90 years to take the position. Championing the leadership parity cause, she worked towards developing frameworks and policies that would support women in leadership roles.
In 2012, she was awarded the Padma Shri. She also served on the Prime Minister’s Scientific Advisory Council and the Council of Trade. In May 2012, she was elected to the Harvard Board of Overseers and served on it until 2018.
As Director, Piramal Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Piramal Group, she is deeply involved in developing innovative long-term and scalable solutions to resolve issues that are critical roadblocks towards unlocking India’s economic potential.
In her experience that has been rich with diverse encounters, she kept women’s issues and the Indian healthcare sector close to her heart.
Maintain the Momentum
The Indian healthcare industry faced an unprecedented challenge since 2020. According to Piramal, the pandemic’s emergency and scale called for innovations in research and development (R&D), smart technology implementation, fast-paced digital solutions, quick clinical trials, cross-border collaborations, swift ramping up of manufacturing capabilities and supply chain and distribution efficiencies.
“For the Indian healthcare industry, now is a crucial time to re-evaluate growth possibilities and find strategic ways to capitalise on emerging opportunities for global value creation,” notes Piramal.
India made an everlasting impact on the world in its response to the pandemic as higher-value products and the investment in pharmaceuticals expanded and augured well. “Our government is focused on achieving inclusive growth and self-sufficiency. Major structural reforms have helped the country to boost the long term outlook of the economy. The country needs to maintain momentum and keep introducing laudable initiatives,” she adds.
The Role Leaders Play
A country like India must improve its public health systems. Piramal points out that only one or two districts in India have dedicated epidemiologists. “As leaders, our immediate priority should be to train people, health workers and policymakers to drive this change within the country,” she advises.
Rural areas in India need to develop infrastructure significantly and be prepared for any future uncertainties. Investments made by the industry in drug R&D in the past two decades are paying off. “India is now in the position to develop its own set of vaccines. Collaboration of various systems is the key to shaping the future of the country,” says Piramal, as she takes stock of the healthcare sector in India.
Overcoming Bias
In her career, Piramal witnessed several gender-based challenges. “When I joined as the Assocham President, people assumed I would have low awareness on subjects like economy, banking, logistics, nuclear energy or manufacturing. I believe that knowledge is power. Therefore, before I met the RBI governor, I read around 1,000 pages on the economy and also connected with experts in the banking arena to gather and absorb information. It is only knowledge that can help you overcome counter gender bias,” she says.
While women have gained prominence at the workplace in recent years, Piramal reminds us they are underrepresented in science and engineering.
Citing an example, she avers, “At the Piramal Life Sciences research centre, we moved from a 10 per cent women workforce in 2004 to 40 per cent in 2009 through sustained efforts. Fair compensation and respectful treatment were critical in our human resources. Recently, while serving in the search and selection committee of eight at the IITs, I made a special effort to try and get women leaders in the predominantly male world of engineering studies. Women are increasingly seen in the field of medicine pursuing undergraduate education. Diversity is critical in every field of human endeavour.”
