Coimbatore: Coming down heavily on the current education system that is ‘‘killing human potential and draining the nation of vital talent and inspiration’’, Sadhguru, founder, Isha Foundation, has said that the education system which plays an integral role in shaping future citizens needs a radical overhaul. “Education as information is out. Information is available everywhere. Education as inspiration, education as innovation, education as insight is what is meaningful now and this is the only way to explore human genius”, he added.

Sadhguru was interacting with real estate sector leaders through a webinar organized by Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) titled ‘Rebuilding the Nation and New Avenues for Real Estate’. CREDAI was established in 1999. With more than 20,000 members in 21 states, the association was formed to pursue the cause of housing and habitat providers.

Reiterating that “without high quality people, there is no high-quality nation,” Sadhguru urged “responsible builders” to change the image of the real estate industry by strongly advocating for unambiguous laws. The real estate industry which employs 5 crore labourers is reeling under the onslaught of the pandemic with stalled projects and an unprecedented reverse exodus of migrants.

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The webinar streamed live saw participation from prominent builders such as Niranjan Hiranandani, co-founder and MD, Hiranandani Group; Shrikant Joshi, CEO, L&T Realty; Irfan Razack, CMD, Prestige Group; and chairman of CREDAI Jaxay Shah among others. An online audience in tens of thousands joined the webinar.

“From being just a builder, you must become a Nation builder,” Sadhguru said, encouraging the industry to “rejig itself” to leverage new investment opportunities that will come India’s way with some companies deciding to wholly or partially shut down their China operations. He reiterated that “unless we spread the investment and in turn the development, there is no way” the cities of the world can stop migration or offer quality of life to its residents. It is estimated that up to 78% of investments are concentrated in 32 cities around the world.

Responding to a question from Niranjan Hiranandani on how to rejuvenate cities, Sadhguru outlined his concept of ‘One Building City’ a vertical complex with residential blocks, office blocks, schools, healthcare and entertainment facilities contained in a single building with the land around it left free and forested. This can significantly improve living standards in villages and cities while also protecting the ecology, Sadhguru said.

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Rajeev Talwar, CEO, DLF Limited wanted to know what the relationship between environment and the realty industry would be like in the future. “It is very important that building and ecology must be friendly to each other,” Sadhguru asserted and spoke at length about the importance of ensuring adequate percolation of rainwater underground in cities. One of the answers may be vertical growth so that rainwater can “get soaked into the city” through soil. “If you take care of the soil, water is naturally taken care of. Vertical buildings (with foliage around it) will make our cities liveable.”

Responding to Vikas Oberoi, chairman, Oberoi Realty who asked why as a society India has failed to provide basic facilities and services to its population, Sadhguru said the education system which plays an integral role in shaping future citizens needs a radical overhaul.

He called on CREDAI to examine how the realty industry can change its relationship with migrant labourers by offering them better healthcare, accommodation, livelihood security and other facilities to encourage them to return to cities. Sadhguru was answering a query from Shrikant Joshi, CEO, L&T Realty on the immediate future of the industry in the absence of labour and absence of construction technology to fill the gap.