Page 82 - EW March 2021

Interview

“Huge need for well-educated public policy professionals”

A comp uter science and b usiness formulation. Indeed think tanks have
management alumnus of R amaiah fleshed out major policy decisions
I nstitute of Technology , Bengaluru such as OBC quotas in government
S
and I I M- Bangalore, ri d h ar P ab - and education institutions and cre-
b i s e t t y is founding director of the ation of Telangana state.
K autily a S chool of Pub lic Policy , H y - During my stint at IIM-Bangalore
derab ad (e stb .2 0 2 0 ). I ts mission is at the Centre for Public Policy, we
to “ emp ow er leaders w ho solve 2 1 st worked closely with state govern-
century p rob lems through rigorous ment ministries to launch impactful
p ub lic p olicy education” . projects. For instance, the Karnataka
Earlier, Prof. Pab b isetty w as government’s Right to Public Service
chief operating officer of the Centre Delivery programme was enriched
for Pub lic Policy , I I M- Bangalore with periodic and timely inputs from
and also served as the chief p ro- IIM-B. Currently, this nationally
grams officer at the Bangalore unique programme provides over
Political Action Committee. Prior 1,000 services with clear documenta-
to that, he w ork ed w ith several tion, targets and process details from
hi- tech comp anies including Z y me 95 government departments.
S olutions, A diti Technologies and The public needs to be made
iCOPE Technologies. Excerpts from aware of such interventions made by
a 4 0 - minute video interview (w w w . academia and think tanks. We also
educationw orld.in) need to multiply the number of think
tanks and public policy programmes
What are the aims and objectives of the the uniqueness of this city as the to increase the supply of public
Kautilya School of Public Policy (KSPP)? gateway to the South. For the past policy innovators in the country. The
Kautilya’s vision is to “rebalance four decades, the southern states challenges confronting the nation are
the role of society, government and have pioneered new-age industries enormous and there’s huge need for
business towards an equitable and — IT, ITES and biotechnology. The thousands of well-educated public
regenerative India and world”. Our entrepreneurial buzz of Hyderabad policy professionals well-versed in
mission is “empowering leaders who not only offers freshness of statecraft to be solution providers.
solve 21st century problems, through perspective, but also opportunity
rigorous public policy education”. to leverage policy innovations from The academy is still dominated by Left
We offer passionate young minds a the fastest growing hubs of India — faculty and intellectuals inimical to
robust training ground that nurtures Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai. business and free markets which have
grassroots aspirations with rigorous been enthusiastically embraced by
academic programmes. The popular belief is that India’s think communist China. As a result, the People’s
tanks and the academy have had little Republic’s GDP is 5x of India’s. Which side
Most of India’s think tanks are sited in success in shaping public policy. What’s of the ideological divide are you and your
Delhi. How accurate would it be to say your comment? board members?
that a major factor behind the location The impact of think tanks and Firstly, we cherish India’s advantage
of KSPP in Hyderabad is that inputs academia in policy formulation of being a democratic nation unlike
from southern states and peninsular is not easily visible. Yet the truth China. Nevertheless, there are many
intellectuals are also required to shape is that think tanks and academic lessons for us to learn not just from
public policy? institutions have been continuously China, but also South Korea, Taiwan
At Kautilya, we strongly believe in influencing and shaping public policy and nations whose GDP has consis-
cooperative federalism. While it’s tently grown at 8-9 percent annu-
true, and possibly appropriate, that ally. In India, we have just begun on
Delhi-based think tanks heavily Our mission is this journey and we need sustained
inform national policy decisions, we “empowering leaders economic growth for long periods of
believe attention needs to be paid to time to become rich before we be-
perspectives from other parts of the who solve 21st century come old. Our demographic dividend
country. Our location in Hyderabad problems, through rigorous will give us a great advantage if we
gives us that opportunity to maintain focus on significantly improving our
a healthy distance from Delhi, while public policy education”. human capital with good quality edu-
remaining in touch with the rest of cation, skill development, employ-
India. We offer passionate young ment and healthcare.
Another advantage of our minds a rigorous academic Moreover intellectuals and
location in Hyderabad is the academia should beware of the
opportunity it provides to leverage programme. danger of being stuck in any

82 EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2021