A special one-day ‘Pharma Conclave’ was organised as a part of the centenary birth celebrations of His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj in Ahmedabad, in partnership with Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association (IDMA) Gujarat State Board.

The conference titled ‘The Niche Growth Strategy’ was led by a panel of prominent speakers, namely Dr. Viranchibhai Shah (National President, IDMA), Dr. Shrenik Shah (Chairman, Gujarat State Board), Dr. Hemant Koshia (Commissioner, Food & Drugs Control Administration (FDCOA), Government of Gujarat), Shri Jayant Kumar (Deputy Drugs Controller, CDSCO), Shri Sumit Agrawal (Secretary, Gujarat State Board), Shri Ketanbhai, Aman Mehta (Director, Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd.), Mrs. Aditi Kare (Managing Director, Indoco Remedies Ltd.) and Dr. Dushyant Patel (Founder Astral Steritech Pvt. Ltd.).

The 44^th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the IDMA was held before the commencement of the Pharma Conclave. Shri Viranchibhai Shah (National President, IDMA) discussed the agenda of the AGM and briefly elaborated on new developments in the Pharma industry.

Dr. Shrenik Shah, (Chairman, Gujarat State Board) in his welcome address said, “The influence of Pramukh Swami Maharaj and BAPS can be measured by the fact that today in Pramukh Swami Maharaj Nagar we are hosting the biggest conference of IDMA in last 60 years.”

In his enriching inaugural address, Brahmaviharidas Swami, a senior swami of BAPS and project lead for the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi, said, “The world we live in is driven by profits which are further driven by production and the need for a product or a service. Sometimes through marketing, a need is manufactured in the minds of consumers. In today’s conference, we should focus on how to complete each other but not how to compete with each other. Pramukh Swami Maharaj emphasised on achieving harmony in work by letting go of the ego. Pramukh Swami Maharaj Nagar is a prime example of harmony among 80,000 volunteers.”

“In the Ramayana, all the monkeys wrote the name of Bhagwan Shri Ram on the stones and created a water bridge to Sri Lanka; similarly, more than 10 million paver stones were installed by the volunteers in more than 200 acres while chanting the name ‘Swaminarayan.’ Pramukh Swami Maharaj promised no miracles but gave a way for the miracles to work. Today we witness a gigantic cultural wonderland, Pramukh Swami Maharaj Nagar, spread across 600 acres which is a miracle created with harmony.”

Dr. Hemant Koshia (Commissioner, Food & Drugs Control Administration (FDCOA), in his welcome address, briefly described developments in the pharma industry. Sharing a memorable incident with Pramukh Swami Maharaj, he said, “Many years ago when I was a Joint Commissioner of FDCOA, Gujarat, I had applied for the post of the Drug Controller, NCT Delhi. I met Pramukh Swami Maharaj to seek his blessings for the interview. Pramukh Swami Maharaj advised me not to take the interview and instead serve the State of Gujarat. Following the advice of Pramukh Swami Maharaj, I did not appear for the interview. Today I am standing before this audience as a Commissioner FDCOA, Gujarat.”

Subsequently, Shri Jayant Kumar (Deputy Drugs Controller, CDSCO) said, “Pramukh Swami Maharaj Nagar and its facilities are an expression of love that the devotees have for Pramukh Swami Maharaj.” He further elaborated on the need for a Drug Regulator, how to build a quality management system in the industry and how quality manufacturing of pharma can be done in Gujarat etc.

In his keynote address, Dr. Viranchibhai Shah (National President, IDMA), said, “As entrepreneurs in the pharmaceutical industry we need to imbibe the lessons of humility and selfless service from the volunteers at Pramukh Swami Maharaj Nagar. These highly educated volunteers were trained to be de-skilled for their service at the centennial celebrations of Pramukh Swami Maharaj. They keep their ego aside and clean the washrooms, garden the plants and have paved the paver blocks in more than 200 acres at Pramukh Swami Maharaj Nagar.”

Thereafter, Shri Aman Mehta, (Director, Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd.) shared his insights on how Torrent Pharmaceuticals started as a niche company approximately 50 years ago and progressed.

Mrs. Aditi Kare (Managing Director, Indoco Remedies Ltd.) said, “It has been enlightening for me to sit in the audience and listen to the enriching sessions today. A niche is defined as a small segment. Niche and growth are oxymorons. By sharing success mantras from growing through niche, we are making the niche bigger and adding to the competition.” She further shared her insights on strategic planning for niche and shared her journey of how Indoco Remedies Ltd., a fully integrated research-oriented pharma company went to become a USD 198-million company that employs around 6000 personnel, including over 300 skilled scientists.

Then Dr. Dushyant Patel (Founder Astral Steritech Pvt. Ltd.) said, “BAPS has played an important role in imparting spiritual and moral values among people and has the best management practices. The centennial celebrations of Pramukh Swami Maharaj are a homage to his inspirational life and works. He further discussed how Astral Steritech Pvt. Ltd. has grown to be a high-value organisation through its strategic and conscious decisions to emerge as a global CDMO, promoting and monitoring quality culture, and customer service with business ethics.”

In his insightful concluding session, Gnanvatsaldas Swami, a leading spiritual motivational speaker of BAPS, said, “The massive scale of Pramukh Swami Maharaj Shatabdi Mahotsav is a first of its kind. It is an institution from which to learn the principles of management and aspects of the growth strategy from Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s life, actions and works. One should inculcate inclusiveness and include everyone in the growth of your organisation. While taking an important decision for any BAPS activities, Pramukh Swami Maharaj used to take suggestions from everyone and implement a suggestion if he found that it was better than his own thought. One and a half years ago, when it was decided to celebrate Pramukh Swami Maharaj Shatabdi Mahotsav, this principle from Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s life was applied.”

“One has to keep one’s ego aside and imbibe the virtue of servant leadership in one’s work. On 21 May 1950, when Pramukh Swami Maharaj was ordained the president of BAPS by his Guru Shastriji Maharaj, he exemplified this servant leadership by washing the dishes of devotees who had attended the ceremony. Guided by this principle of servant leadership, Pramukh Swami Maharaj served as president of BAPS for 65 years without any controversy. The thought of servant leadership is the foundation of the selfless service of 80,000 volunteers in Pramukh Swami Maharaj Shatabdi Mahotsav.”

“We should strive to work with immense hard work and ethics. In the 45 years of his spiritual leadership, Pramukh Swami Maharaj travelled to more than 50 countries, sanctified 250,000 homes, replied to 750,000 letters, created 1,300 societal institutions (temples, hospitals, schools, hostels, etc.), and initiated 1,000 sadhus. Most of the success of any business depends on human relations. Pramukh Swami Maharaj has touched the lives of every person he met. He personally knew the names and faces of more than 25,000 people; all the 1,100 swamis initiated by him have many personal memories with Pramukh Swami Maharaj.”

Today’s event is the thirteenth in a series of 14 such conferences for professionals of various fields, including accountants, lawyers, industrialists, technocrats and entrepreneurs. It is a testament to the progressive mindset of Pramukh Swami Maharaj, whose work and teachings touched people from all walks of life, to ensure the holistic success and happiness of everyone in society.