“The theme of Utthan 2019 ‘Bridging the Gap – Innovative and Inclusive India’ is laudable”, said C. N. Ashwath Narayan, Dy. CM of Karnataka
Bangalore: The office of Post Graduate Porgramme in Public Policy Management (PGPPM), in association with the Public Policy Club (PPC), hosted a summit titled ‘Utthan’ based on the theme ‘Bridging the Gap – Innovative and Inclusive India’, recently.
Utthan 2019 was an open forum where leaders and experts from different government and private institutions came together on a single platform to debate and discuss the various nuances of public policies in the making of the Indian Government and how the underlying systems operate in accordance to these policies to ensure continual development.
Speaking on occasion was C. N. Ashwath Narayan, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, the Chief Guest and one of the keynote speakers at Utthan 2019. While shedding light on how technology has played critical role in simplifying our lives, he mentioned, “As a country, we need to go long way in leveraging the benefits of technology. Only when people can use technology seamlessly, technology will be beneficial. The theme of Utthan 2019 was ‘Bridging the Gap – Innovative and Inclusive India’ is laudable. When it comes to technology and innovation, we have always demonstrated our commitment to take the necessary steps to ensure technology and innovation reaches the masses. There is a need for all the sections of the society—students, academicians, policy-makers—to work together to make India a developed nation.”
Sanjiv Garg, Managing Director at Pipavav Railway Corporation Limited (PRCL), shared his views about how management institutions can play an important role in honing and sharpening the managerial and analytical skills of future managers. He said, “Managers are born, they cannot be made. A good manager should critically analyze any issue that’s brought before him and express his views frankly and fearlessly.”
G Raghuram, Director, IIM Bangalore, spoke about Public-Private Partnerships, one of the first innovations that came in the organizational and structural sense of developing infrastructure. Addressing the gathering as a part of panel discussion on ‘Innovation in Infrastructure’ in Utthan 2019, a Public Policy Summit on the theme ‘Bridging the Gap – Innovative and Inclusive India’, G. Raghuram added that, “Project structuring, risk appraisal, fund sourcing, tendering & bidding, and concession agreements are some other key innovations that have helped bring innovation in infrastructure.”
The event also incorporated a panel discussion on ‘Roadmap for Inclusive Development’ comprising eminent speakers namely Abha Singh, former Bureaucrat, Social Activist and Lawyer, Nazia Erum, Author, Media & Advocacy – Amnesty International India, and Tabrez Ahmad, Group Director, Government Affairs & Public Policy, Dell Technologies, moderated by Maya Sharma, Executive Editor, NDTV. The panellists discussed and revealed some crucial roadblocks for Inclusive India in getting the common people, especially women, heard and included. Tabrez rightly pointed out, saying, “One stakeholder alone cannot bring the change. It is a community effort.”