India must build ‘antifragile’ systems to tackle risks: PK Mishra

INdia must displace beyond simply edifice resiliency and make “antifragile” systems that emerge stronger from disruptions and uncertainty, principal secretary to the Prime Minister PK Mishra said on Saturday, arguing that future development models must be designed to anticipate and adapt to increasingly complex risks.Mishra said resilience must be understood not merely as the ability to absorb shocks, but as the capacity to anticipate, adapt and transform in response to change.The emerging development paradigm, he said, requires a shift from “bouncing back” after disruptions to “bouncing forward”, where institutions and systems continuously learn and improve.“The objective today is not only recovery, but building stronger institutions, infrastructure and governance systems capable of managing future shocks, and uncertainties,” he said.Speaking at the National Institute of Urban Affairs’ (NIUA) golden jubilee celebrations, Mishra said the occasion was not only an opportunity to celebrate the institution’s 50-year journey but also a moment for introspection on India’s urban transformation and the path ahead as the country works towards the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047.India today stands at an extraordinary point in its development journey, marked by rapid economic growth, expanding infrastructure, technological transformation and urbanisation, he said.However, as societies become more interconnected and dynamic, the nature of risks and vulnerabilities is also evolving, with climate change, public health emergencies, technological disruptions, economic stresses and resource pressures increasingly interacting across systems and geographies.Recent global experiences, including the Covid-19 pandemic, have demonstrated that disruptions are no longer isolated or temporary events and that they can rapidly cascade across sectors, institutions and economies, he said.Citing the Climate Risk Index 2026, Mishra said India recorded nearly 430 extreme weather events between 1995 and 2024, affecting around 1.3 billion people and causing economic losses of nearly $170 billion. Globally, more than 9,700 extreme weather events during the same period led to over 832,000 deaths and economic losses exceeding $4.5 trillion.As India’s urban population continues to grow, cities are increasingly at the forefront of climate risks such as heatwaves, floods, droughts, cyclones, sea-level rise and infrastructure stress, disproportionately affecting vulnerable and low-income populations, he said.He said development must increasingly focus on creating systems that can learn, adapt and emerge stronger through disruption, moving towards what he described as antifragile systems. Such an approach would require stronger urban local bodies, systems-based governance, data-driven decision-making, and wider use of technologies such as artificial intelligence, geospatial systems and predictive analytics.