Not possible without a clear political will! It is political will,rather than any economic wisdom that propels economic change. Economics in its grand design must be seen essentially as people’s hopes and aspirations. Economic science or art may be about dry statistics or figures.But economic trnasformation calls for a vision and a drive for mobilising…
Agricultural extension : Make agri/horti dept. officials and scientists spend time in villages!
Time to partly privatise and for private participation. There was this news recently. The Union Minister for Planning M.A.Raja Shekaran, a senior politician from Karnataka had participated at the Bangalore based Agriculture University on a, mouthful topic, called “Extension of methodological issues in impact assessment of agriculture and rural development programmes”. From the way this…
What is education? What is education for?
Confusing the means and ends! Universities in crisis There seems to be utter confusion in education sector. Policy makers seem helpless! Even the initial noises seem to have died! Yes, the statistics and budgets are on paper. On the ground nothing is happening! Once a while it is nice to stand up and have a…
Inequality? Poverty? Or, denial of freedoms?
Education’s unfinished agenda! You can’t have everything in life, can you? Life doesn’t offer you too many choices, does it? Have you ever thought of these questions, do you? Yes, there is too much poverty in the world, in India! There is too much inequality, in the world, in India! There is too much denial…
We, Indians, are shameless people!
Why we worship the bureaucrats, even the most corrupt kinds? Debureaucratising Indian society is the way to a free and open society! Babus may tire, but not retire! Delhi is crowded by retired bureaucrats! PM must help to give room for new faces, new talents! Can a country of India’s size and stature be run…
All the guilty men of India’s Partition!
Shameful Flight, The Last Years of the British Empire in India,pp 231,OUP, 2006, where historic photos mislead us! India’s Partition and why we feel shy to avoid the topic? This book by a serious scholar of India’s modern history, an authoritative writer on Gandhi and Jinnah has now produced a book that would give us,…
Appoint a Cabinet Minister for Culture!
Bifurcate the HRD Ministry! We need a bold new culture policy to preserve our ancient heritages and to project our contemporary brand image. Before I write about anything else this time, I have to mention two events, one exciting, one saddening. The exciting this is about the archeological discoveries in Athens, Greece, where they have…
Education? The competitive pressures, not silly principles!
Yes, that makes for elite education in Delhi! Our School Curriculum must be raised to international standards. Reading India’s English language papers, we mean at least some of the widely read ones by the elite, could be quite disheartening! Delhi society, the very core of the power wielders, seems very brutal and ruthless when it…