Hyderabad: The Indian School of Business organized a seminar named ‘Public Policy Dialogues: Bridging Research and Practice’ where policymakers, industry and researchers come together to highlight the critical issues about integrating research and public policy for problem-solving and building an efficient community ecosystem.
Prof. Ashwini Chhatre, Executive Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Amarjeet Sinha (IAS Retd), Former Advisor to the Prime Minister, Srinivas Katikithala (IAS), Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Jugal Kishore Mohapatra (IAS Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Government of Odisha were present at the event.
Dr Aarushi Jain, Policy Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, moderated the inaugural session.
On the inaugural day of the seminar on Wednesday, Prof. Ashwini Chhatre called the event a unique initiative where people with different voices in the same room came together to express their opinion as equal stakeholders.
Prof. Chhatre said, “The policy world has changed a lot in the last decade because of advances in technology allowing for a more diverse and larger number of stakeholders to be able to voice their opinions, concerns, and oppositions vociferously.”
During the inaugural plenary session, Jugal Kishore Mohapatra (IAS Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Government of Odisha, said, “When it comes to policy making and implementing government schemes and projects, there cannot be one cookie-cutter model that fits all in a country like India which has such diverse states, both geographically and culturally.
What may work in western states may not work in northeastern states. Therefore, rolling out pilot projects goes a long way as the situation on the ground always differs from ideal cases.”
Amarjeet Sinha (IAS Retd), Former Advisor to the Prime Minister shared his experiences in policy design and issues that he faced in implementing policies on the ground. Highlighting the financial constraints that hinder the process when policies are being formulated, he discussed the entire policy process, sharing his own experiences of various schemes that he pioneered such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, PM Awas Yojana, and many other projects.
Srinivas Katikithala (IAS), Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), threw light on the issue of effective implementation of policies and the importance of capacity building. Quoting examples from his own field experience in Gujarat, he shared information on policy cases with the audience, which has been imbibed into national policies owing to their successful implementation.
He emphasised the significance of planning while formulating a policy and identifying the soft spots where the approach can make a difference. He talked about Mission Karmayogi and the capacity-building ecosystem at LBSNAA, and the transformational steps being taken undertaken in recent times.
The event aims to provide a unique platform to discuss multiple public policy innovations, issues, and challenges and facilitate collaborations and interactions between policy researchers and practitioners.
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