Response: Seema Ahuja

This is with reference to the article “Little to cheer about” (June 12).

The author of the article, C. P. Chandrasekhar, refers to Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw as a “self-appointed business leader”, which is completely uncalled for and has no relevance to the story which is a report card on the BJP government.

As a highly responsible member of the Indian business community, Ms Mazumdar-Shaw has time and again made her views public without fear or favour. Her views are objective and reflect concerns of both Indian industry in particular and the country as a whole.

Let us not forget that Ms Mazumdar-Shaw’s untiring efforts have helped put the Indian biotechnology industry on the global map and made India proud at various international forums.

It is in recognition of her unique contributions that the government of India conferred on her two of India’s top civilian awards, the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Shri, almost a decade ago.

This year, she has yet again been ranked among the “100 Most Powerful Women” globally by Forbes magazine, moving up to No. 85. She has been recently ranked No. 2 in the “Global Power List” by “The Medicine Maker”, a leading U.K.-based magazine, the only India-based CEO on that list.

Because of her leadership qualities, the 2014 Othmer Gold Medal and the 2014 Global Economy Prize for Business have been conferred on her by the U.S.-based Chemical Heritage Foundation and the Germany-based Kiel Institute for the World Economy, respectively. The U.S.’ leading “Foreign Policy” magazine has listed her among the “100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2014”.

In fact, a lot of industry bodies, from the Association of Biotech Led Enterprises (ABLE) to the Confederation of Indian Industry, have time and again turned to Ms Mazumdar-Shaw for guidance. And government bodies such as the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission and Karnataka’s Vision Group on Biotechnology consult her on a lot of important issues that concern the Indian pharma and biotechnology industry.

Today, Ms Mazumdar-Shaw is well recognised as a global influencer. It is most appalling to see her being referred to in such a derogatory manner.

Seema Ahuja

Head,

Corporate Communications,

Biocon, Bangalore.