Towards sustainable development: Strategic management of human capital in India

In this globalised world, sustainability is important for each one of us to think about our choices and actions so as to ensure a liveable future to both the present and future generations. Sustainability is based on environmental, economic and social development. It is a social objective about the ability of people to synchronise to exist on the globe over a longer period. In everyday use, sustainability often focuses on countering major environmental problems.

These include climate change and loss of biodiversity, loss of ecosystem, land degradation, and air and water pollution.  Today every issue is interrelated and common to the world whether it is related to Global South or Global North. The dependency has increased with the needs and requirements because all societies now progress through similar stages of development as both are facing similar situations whether developed nations or the developing ones as we all are moving towards a common path of development by various means such as investment, technology transfers, and closer integration into the world market.

That is where international relations become important as it enables better organisation of human capital which is essential on matters of promoting trade and financial interdependence among nations and in promoting sustainability, security and stability. Strategic Human Resource management makes the most of human potential and opportunity in today’s unstable climate where Human resources are being upgraded from administrative players to strategic performers.

Countries having good and stable relations with each other tend to share their inventions and innovations more smoothly and this has been the trend since ages. The technique of attracting, developing, rewarding, and retaining people for the benefit of both the employees as individuals and the organisation as a whole is known as strategic human resource management. Strategic management and partnership play a crucial role in capitalising human capital.

Strategy for promoting sustainability in all activities include the use of resources and retention of resources to fulfil the needs of the present and the next generation. As sustainable development is a combination of environmental issues with socio-economic issues it is common for all developing countries. India, over the past two decades, has made remarkable progress in reducing extreme poverty since the World Bank is partnering with the government in this effort by helping strengthen policies, institutions, and investments to create a better future for the country and its people through green, resilient, and inclusive development.

With the rise in geopolitical tensions India has kept itself balanced in overall development and tried to sustain during the global pandemic and also in this situation of turmoil in the global environment due to war in Russia and Ukraine, India is playing a major role to continue the supply chain and also bringing peace in order to stabilise the global security. India got the opportunity to head the G20 presidency and SCO where it is getting a chance to demonstrate its thought process to focus on seeking finance for sustainable development and enhancing socio-economic development through innovative, responsible and cost efficient digital public goods.

The human resource management in India has been supporting the organisation to improve effectiveness, to manage corporate governance and ethical issues beyond economic performance, and to support realignment of the organisation's future direction and vision of new ways of operating towards sustainable development which will include air pollution reduction, job creation, improved health, access to energy, poverty reduction, protection of ecosystems, and more.

India has been encouraging collective solutions to deal with major global challenges such as food and energy security. Indian leaders have emphasised that they believe in just one world and not in the first world or a third world with common challenges and common needs. India’s announcement that it aims to reach net zero emissions by 2070 and to meet 50 percent of its electricity requirements from renewable energy sources by 2030 is a significant intention for the global fight against climate change. India’s 1.3 billion human capital as a large developing economy and its ambitious adaptation to climate are not only transformational for India but for the entire globe.

One has to understand the potential of strategic management of India’s human capital. Having such a huge population the planning should be in the right direction with the right people in the right place with proper training to become an asset who can sustain the resources. It is all about identifying and focusing on vision, mission and objectives, environment browsing, casting strategies, assessment and command. The greater sense of responsibility is on the human capital to retain and design efficient strategies aligning with the policies, rules and regulations of the domestic and global authorities in order to sustain the environment to commence environment friendly attitude and consciousness among the employees or the end users.

The author, Dr. Vaishali Krishna, is an Assistant Professor of the Centre for Russian and Central Asian Studies at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

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