February
11-15, 2021
Fee
₹5,000
Age
18-30
Time to commit
≈150 mins/day
Format
Virtual (live interaction)
Introduction
Policy Making and Politics—A Ringside View to Indian Governance is a five-day intensive learning programme that dives deep into the interplay between policy and politics, with focus on ground realities that impact policy making and its execution. It brings together a collective of national and international domain experts to examine the impact of this relationship on the country’s polity.
Programme Structure
The learning modules drill into crucial aspects of how policies are formed, and the politics that impact it, through a series of lectures, interactions and roundtables covering topics like different power structures of Indian governance, its systemic design and the role played by bureaucracy, judiciary, media, legislature, civil societies and different foreign bodies.
Lectures and Roundtables
The programme offers a multi-dimensional learning experience through 10+ lectures and roundtables that aim to bridge the gap between the theory of policy making and ground realities that finally shape it
Case studies
Included in the programme are case studies that prompt inter-disciplinary learning and a contextual understanding of the subject
Expert connect
The cohort gets the opportunity to engage with key stakeholders like politicians, bureaucrats and other industry experts for enhanced assimilation of knowledge and an exposure
Workshop and Assessment
The assessment design adds a hands-on element to the programme, making the learning comprehensive and complete
MEMBERS OF FACULTY & ROUNDTABLE
Ram Madhav
Member Governing Board
India Foundation
Former National General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Ram Madhav is a politician, author and thinker. He also serves as a Member of the Governing Board of India Foundation, a New Delhi based premier think tank.
Mr Madhav has addressed prestigious forums like the ShangriLa Dialogue in Singapore, Halifax Security Forum in Canada, 2nd Sochi Eurasian Integration Forum in Russia, among others.
He has several books to his name, in English and Telugu, with the most recent one being ‘Because India Comes First: Reflections on Nationalism, Identity and Culture’.
Shamika Ravi
Senior Fellow
Brookings Institution
Former Member
EAC-Prime Minister
Shamika Ravi is a Senior Fellow of the Governance Studies Program at the Brookings Institution, Washington D.C. Additionally, as a visiting professor of Economics at the Indian School of Business, Dr. Ravi teaches courses in Game Theory and Microfinance. Previously, she was a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, and is affiliated with the Financial Access Initiative of the New York University.
As the former Director of Research at Brookings India, she led the Development Economics vertical, which focused on financial inclusion, health, gender inequality and urbanisation. Her research work has been featured and cited by BBC, The Guardian, The Financial Times and most national and regional newspapers and magazines in India.
Manoj Kumar Mishra
Secretary, Electronics & Information Technology
Government of Odisha
Currently serving as the Secretary of Electronics and Information Technology with the government of Odisha, Manoj Kumar Mishra has had over a decade of experience in various bureaucratic roles. Additionally, he is the Officer on Special Duty to the Chief Minister and also holds the position of Special Secretary and Commissioner, Rail Coordination, Commerce and Transport Departments.
Mr. Mishra obtained his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Capital Law College, Bhubaneswar and holds an MBA in Marketing management from Xavier Institute of Management
Jaijit Bhattacharya
Founder and CEO
Zerone Microsystems
A noted expert in Societal Transformation leveraging technology, Dr. Jaijit Bhattacharya is the CEO of the cutting-edge fintech startup, Zerone Microsystems Pvt. Ltd which has launched the Bharat ZupPOS. He is also Honarary President of Centre for Digital Economy Policy Research. A recipient of the prestigious APJ Abdul Kalam Award for innovation in governance, Dr. Bhattacharya has been responsible for the creation of the next generation of solutions for governments, based on open standards. He has authored five books on e-governance and has numerous research papers to his credit in leading journals and conferences.
Shwweta Punj
Deputy Editor
India Today
An award-winning journalist with more than seventeen years of experience, Shwweta Punj covers policy, business and the Indian & US economies. She has earlier worked with CNBC TV 18, Inside Washington Publishers, Bloomberg UTV and is currently Deputy Editor with India Today Magazine in New Delhi. In 2015, she was chosen as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum for her contribution to Journalism. In 2017, her story on child sex slaves prompted the Indian Parliament to introduce a legislation specifically targeted towards tackling child trafficking.
Akhilesh Tilotia
Principal – Strategic Initiatives and Policy Advisory
National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)
A keen writer and socio-economic analyst with a best-selling book: The Making of India–GameChanging Transitions (Rupa, 2015) which makes a case for converting gaps in public services and economic fulfilment into opportunities for private sector,
Akhilesh Tilotia is the former OSD to MoS, Civil Aviation and has 14+ years of experience in public policy, capital markets, strategy consulting and entrepreneurship. He is a prolific columnist and commentator in business media, fascinated by math, mythology and human nature, and happiest while chasing curiosities.
Avani Bansal
Advocate
Supreme Court of India
Currently practicing as an advocate in the Supreme Court, Ms. Avani Bansal is an alumnus of Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU), University of Oxford and Harvard Law School. She is passionate about access to justice, social change and politics and is currently the President of All India Professionals Congress (AIPC), Delhi East.
She loves to read and write in her spare time and has authored the book ‘Life At Law School’ published by Eastern Book Company. She runs a legal awareness project, ‘Hamara Kanoon’, that explains important laws in Hindi.
Shailesh Pathak
Chief Executive Officer
L&T Infrastructure Development
With over 3 decades of experience shared evenly between the private sector and the Indian Administrative Service, Mr. Shailesh Pathak is currently the Chief Executive Officer of L&T Infrastructure Development.
In addition to his exhaustive experience in infrastructure finance and execution, his government roles have included Secretary, Public Works Department; MD, State Infrastructure Development Corporation and MD, State Industrial Development Corporation. As part of the G20 nations’ business group, B20, he has been a member in the Infrastructure Task Force B20 Argentina 2018, B20 Germany 2017 and B20 China 2016, along with the BRICS Business Council’s Infrastructure Working Group.
K Annamalai
Former IPS Officer and Vice President
Bharatiya Janata Party (Tamil Nadu)
Currently the Vice-President of Tamil Nadu BJP, former IPS Officer, and an alumunus of IIM Lucknow, K Annamalai wears several hats to deliver on the challenges and opportunities of youth development. As Chief Servant at We The Leaders foundation and Founder of Core Talent and Leadership Development, he contributes to developing human potential.
In a 9-year-long IPS career, he earned the moniker of ‘Singham’ for being a tough taskmaster with loads of altruism. An author and avid sports enthusiast, he takes a keen interest in farming.
Aaditya Bharat Tiwari
Officer on Special Duty
Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh
Presently the Officer on Special Duty to the Chief Minister, Arunachal Pradesh, Aaditya Tiwari seeks to drive innovation in the spheres of education and governance. Previously, he has worked as a Fellow with the India Foundation, curating the flagship program India Ideas Conclave and Young Thinkers Meet. He is an alumnus of Teach for India.
Madhuri Dhariwal
Lead – Operations
Indus Action
Madhuri Dhariwal is currently Lead, Operations at Indus Action, managing on-ground operations for the state of Chhattisgarh.
Her work primarily involves liaisoning with government departments at various levels, to ensure seamless implementation of the policies in the fields of Education, Maternal Health, and Livelihoods.
Additionally, she works with the community to increase capacity and make access to welfare sustainable.
With a B.Ed. from PRSU, Raipur, she obtained her Ed.M. in International Education Policy from Harvard University. She is an eternal optimist and believes in the power of arts to express oneself.
Sudarshan Ramabadran
Columnist, Writer and Contributor
India
Sudarshan Ramabadran is a columnist, blogger and contributor. He brings with him eight and a half years of experience in the field of communication, journalism and research in India. He is an alumnus of the Asian College of Journalism and the Vivekananda College in Chennai. His book ‘Good Governance: People’s Voice’ was published by the Government of Gujarat in December 2013 and in 2017, he completed the Professional Fellows Program, a premier fellowship program organised and run by the US State Department. His core areas of study and interests include Public Diplomacy, Soft Power and Strategic Studies.
In 2016, he founded the Tamil Nadu Young Thinkers Forum, an independent bi-partisan forum committed to elevating the quality of public discourse in Tamil Nadu.
S G Suryah
Spokesperson and Secretary of IT Wing
Bharatiya Janata Party (Tamil Nadu)
S G Suryah is a lawyer, writer and politician from Tamil Nadu. With more than a decade in public-life, he currently serves as the Spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (Tamil Nadu) and is also the Secretary of the party’s IT Wing. An alumnus of ILS Law College, Pune, he is also an international arbitrator and a member of the prestigious Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, United Kingdom.
He is the Managing Trustee of Sixth Sense Foundation, a non-profit in education and the Founding Director of Tamilagam Research Foundation, a Tamil Nadu focused think-tank.
Madhuri Dhariwal
Lead – Operations
Indus Action
Madhuri Dhariwal is currently Lead, Operations at Indus Action, managing on-ground operations for the state of Chhattisgarh.
Her work primarily involves liaisoning with government departments at various levels, to ensure seamless implementation of the policies in the fields of Education, Maternal Health, and Livelihoods.
Additionally, she works with the community to increase capacity and make access to welfare sustainable.
With a B.Ed. from PRSU, Raipur, she obtained her Ed.M. in International Education Policy from Harvard University. She is an eternal optimist and believes in the power of arts to express oneself.
Sudarshan Ramabadran
Columnist, Writer and Contributor
India
Sudarshan Ramabadran is a columnist, blogger and contributor. He brings with him eight and a half years of experience in the field of communication, journalism and research in India. He is an alumnus of the Asian College of Journalism and the Vivekananda College in Chennai. His book ‘Good Governance: People’s Voice’ was published by the Government of Gujarat in December 2013 and in 2017, he completed the Professional Fellows Program, a premier fellowship program organised and run by the US State Department. His core areas of study and interests include Public Diplomacy, Soft Power and Strategic Studies.
In 2016, he founded the Tamil Nadu Young Thinkers Forum, an independent bi-partisan forum committed to elevating the quality of public discourse in Tamil Nadu.
Course details
The curriculum is spread over five days starting 11 February, with the sixth day being marked for assessment and submissions. A preparation period of one week will precede the date of submission.
Day one - Legislature and Genesis of a Policy
Day one focuses on the top-most rungs of the political machinery. Here, we will attempt to cut through the news and understand the genesis of a policy, its journey to the top, the various stakeholders that give it shape and the political factors that influence it.
Day two - Policy and The Executive
The ‘executive’ operates at multiple levels, and each brings with it its own set of challenges and strengths. Day two will attempt to penetrate the layers of bureaucracy, the politics of the system and provide a critical lens with which to view this branch; we will understand the impact, in real terms, that it has on the success or failure of a policy.
Day three - Feedback Mechanisms and Policy Evolution
The success of a policy depends on feedback from its beneficiaries and can only be ascertained by understanding its performance on ground. Sincere and efficient sourcing of feedback, building data collection infrastructure and framework for evolution of policy are some of the important topics day three will deal with.
Day four - Politics and Influence of External Stakeholders
Outside of the three branches, there exist various stakeholders and groups which attempt their own push and pull on a policy and lead public opinion. On day four, we will attempt to understand how, and why, this comes into being, what motivators and incentives do different stakeholders have, and how they ensure they are heard by the government machinery.
Day five - Culture and Industry in Policy
Indian policy making is heavily influenced by several socio-politico-economic factors. With immense diversity in culture, ever growing industries and heightened environmental awareness, on day five, we attempt to understand how different Indian idiosyncrasies shape policies, and how policymakers navigate this convoluted space.
Lectures
The learning programme is divided into eight lectures, two roundtable discussions and conversations –
Day one
- The Politician And The Policy by Ram Madhav
- The Art and Craft of Policymaking by Praveen Chandrasekaran
Day two
- Roundtable – Top-down: How Different Tiers Of Government Implement A Policy by K Annamalai, Akhilesh Tilotia, Aaditya Tiwari and Madhuri Dhariwal.
- Government, Governance and Institutions: The Execution Of A Policy
Day three
- Conversation – Integrating Technology In Governance by Jaijit Bhattacharya
- Collection, Transmission and Incorporation Of Feedback by Manoj Kumar Mishra
- Success and Sustenance Of Policies
Day four
- Roundtable – External Stakeholders: An Extra Pair of Hands by Shamika Ravi, Shwweta Punj and Avani Bansal
- How Third Parties Influence And Shape Policy
Day five
- Culture As An Inseparable Force In Policy Making by Sudarshan Ramabadran
- The Industrialist And The Politician – The Power Duo That Shape Policies by Shailesh Pathak
Day six
- Policy, Politics and the State: Jallikattu – A Case in Point by S G Suryah
The programme is being jointly offered by Standpoint India and Indian School of Democracy
Standpoint India is an editorial founded with the objective of reflecting India’s diverse realities through disciplined sourcing of analyses, critique and knowledge on a wide range of topics that concern the Indian citizenry.
Indian School of Democracy is a non-partisan organization that conducts programs for aspiring, grassroots political leaders. It aims to nurture principled leaders, with moral courage and imagination, to achieve sarvodaya.