At a workshop organized by the Indian School of Public Policy (ISPP) recently in New Delhi, Dhiraj Nayyar, Chief Economist, Vedanta Resources, emphasized on the need for public policy making to be based on evidence. He discussed a number of issues, including the changing shares of growth coming from agriculture, service and manufacturing sector, and reminded us about how the Indian policy making mindset needs to change to become more open to structural reforms, particularly in land, labour and capital markets.
The induction of nine experts by the Government as Joint Secretaries from outside the bureaucratic ranks is a significant administrative reform. The need, however, remains for bold decision making in order to accelerate India’s economic growth trajectory. “There is a difference between pro-business and pro-market reforms, and importance of building strong institutions that arrest the expansion of crony capitalism, and reward competition is always there,” added Nayyar, who has served as the Head of Economics, Finance & Commerce at Niti Aayog and is a formerManaging Editor, of The Quint. The workshop called ‘Does India want to grow at 10 per cent?’ also includes a lively and interactive question and answers session where participants, cleared many of their doubts.
ISPP offers course in public policy, which is seen as an emerging career, especially for those, who are intellectually curious and socially conscious. The domain involves training that includes theoretical vigour and experiential learning.
