Concept Note: New India Policy Foundation (Part 2)
The Solution
There is a cross section of society who believes that there is space for new thinking beyond being wedded to socialist ideals. The Group believes that there is scope for new ideas with a right-of-centre thrust, on a range of economic and social issues in the country. This group is coming together to create a new think tank - the New India Policy Foundation — that will provide cutting edge research on a range of economic and social issues.
The Foundation will propose, educate and engage with policy makers (elected representatives and members of bureaucracy) with the objective of guiding public policy, legislation and delivery, and influencing public opinion. Its support in matters of policy and governance will be driven by India’s long-term requirement and not short-term opportunism. The Foundation will be guided by the principles of liberal democracy, free enterprise (keeping in mind the interests of wider sections of society), social inclusion, robust defence policy and nationalism and will deliver India-oriented research.
The Foundation will analyse ongoing programmes and make suggestions for new policies that can be taken up by policy makers across party lines. Even as the Foundation expects that it is likely to have a right-of-centre thrust in its work, the Foundation will take a well researched and reasoned position on issues affecting India, rather than being driven purely by any economic or social ideology. The Foundation will be supported by a wide range of actors such as grant making foundations, the corporate sector, and individuals.
Similar parallels can be found with Heritage Foundation and Centre for American Progress, which support the Republican and Democratic Parties in the US, respectively.
Tomorrow: The Objectives and Activities
Comments
19 Responses to “Concept Note: New India Policy Foundation (Part 2)”
Hi Rajesh and Amit,
Though I was critical of your initiative, I wish you the very best in your endeavor. Just one suggestion though, you need to have a consumer for all the research you produce (I’m sure, it would be of a high quality).
How about getting some undertaking from the party or a state govt at the very least to consider your proposals? Or do you have that backing already?
-Mohan
[...] A new Center Right Think Tank – Parts 1 & 2 Reproducing a proposal for a Center Right think tank by Rajesh Jain and Amit Malviya from Friends of BJP on what they call the “new India Policy Foundation” – Parts 1 & 2. [...]
HI Amit and Rajesh,
The proposal deserves serious thought and development and is most welcome given the paucity of engagement one sees of Centre-Right proponents in the wider public arena. Friends of BJP initiated that change by engaging with professionals, and I think this a logical way forward.
I personally, work on health policy and would be happy to share my thoughts and proposals with the proposed think tank.
All the very best
Karan
I hope you do not indulge in censorship here. I was criticizing former editor of a Delhi based newspaper, whose owner is now a Congress MP, on his website and he could not take the criticism any more. Put a blanket ban on whatever posting I made
Proponents of free speech muzzling dissenting opinion.
social inclusion might have noble ideals, but is a word forever tainted. A center right think-tank should not look at social inclusion as a policy. Social inclusion will come naturally out of good policies. Explicit inclusive policies tend to favor some but exclude many !
I wish to share this item with all those concerned about out Nation and Democracy.
The way to go for BJP and all believers of democarcay:
It takes a village to bring in amenities
(Published in Times of India on 20th July 2009)
NEW DELHI: A few kilometres from the Sonia Vihar treatment plant, there’s a quiet revolution taking place.
Badarpur Khadar, a small village with barely 1,500 inhabitants, may not seem much it’s a village without electricity, school, health centre, ration shop or even pukka roads. But if activities of the past few weeks are any indication, this “unauthorized colony” is taking a small step towards participatory governance that could spell big success for citizens all over. On July 12, residents of Badarpur Khadar, for the first time, collectively took decisions and told their local representative what they wanted. In an open mohalla sabha meeting with Annapurna Mishra, Sonia Vihar councillor, over 100 men and women of Badarpur Khadar decided they wanted a school, ration cards for every household, voter ID cards for every adult, widow and old-age pension for eight identified women, and a pukka road from “Babu’s home to Jafru’s home”. It’s an experiment in participatory governance which, Mishra says, is already bearing fruit. “My first mohalla sabha was in E-block, Sonia Vihar, with the second one being in Badarpur Khadar. Initially, people were skeptical but they saw I was serious about the effort and the feedback has been phenomenal,” says Mishra. Accompanied by MCD officials, Mishra conducts the sabha with a clear-cut agenda ask the people directly what they want. “I’m a first-time councillor. Instead of spending public funds on projects which people may not want, I wanted to ask them what they really wanted. The idea of the mohalla sabha was suggested by Parivartan, a local NGO,” adds the councillor. Mishra has about Rs 50 lakh in councillor’s funds. In addition, MCD also spends funds under various heads. These would now be spent according to the will of the people, she says. The sabha is especially useful for a village like Badarpur Khadar, which has woefully few resources. This village has never had any school and most children don’t go to school. A few go to those in Loni or Mirpur in UP. After the Sunday sabha, village adults decided that a 10 bigha plot of land belonging to gram samaj (common land) would be set aside for a school. Villagers also claimed that hardly 10-15 out of the 180 households have ration cards. Solution: a team of local volunteers would collect documents from all households and complete the formalities for getting their ration cards made. Also, names of eight women were suggested so that their pension accounts could be opened with the government. That’s not all. Next on agenda is voter ID cards, and more importantly, a pukka road. At the sabha, Soopanji and one Hashim Ali proposed that the path from Babu’s home to Jafru’s home should first be turned into a pukka road. After others voiced their agreement, MCD officials conferred with the two to confirm the location of the proposed road and took notes. Moreover, the village doesn’t have a dispensary or primary health centre (PHC). Mishra said she suspected the village might not have enough population to qualify for a PHC, but she would nevertheless try. “What I can do immediately is to send mobile health vans here,” she promised. Finally, a list of the tasks set by the mohalla sabha for Mishra was read out and the date of the next meeting was decided. The sabha in Badarpur Khadar is not a one-off phenomenon. While Mishra says she’s committed to the experiment, nearby councillor Hari Shankar Kashyap of Trilokpuri is also planning to start the sabhas. It’s a movement that could well change the way governments function, admit politicians. Adds Mishra, “It obviously makes me more accountable. But if I can make a difference, it ultimately reflects well on my political career and means progress for the ward. I’m okay with that.” So are residents of Badarpur Khadar.
To suggest is every citizen’s right in a democratic setup.
I wish the team all the best.
but look back how many times has the government excepted even constructive criticism.
Narayan Maurthy say he gave a prgam with education reforms,which is obiviouly catching dust.
we have been talking of national register for decades. we get 120 crores for it. I have bought computers some time back and i know what we can get for 120 crores.
the above is reality check. but here is what can be done.
See Teach India and Lead India program, Citizen Journalist programs or run for India programs.
these have mass approval if you have a plan take it to the masses. Specially BJP ruled states, prove it works. HOpeflly it will catch up. I remember noon-meal schemewas most ridiculed at one stage. it is norm for all states now.
When this centre-right bullshit will stop ? Guys pls understand u r barking up the wrong tree. There is nothing wrong with our ideology. The defeat has to do with secular Advani, lime light lover Jaitley and ideologically bankrupt people, pls understand this.
@spade a spade:
Economic, Foreign, Infrastructure and welfare policies dont fall from sky one fine day. They come from a thought process. Right from the days of Sri Syama Prasad BJS and BJP have advocated free market economic policy, muscular foreign policy, stong infrastructure policy etc. This is what center right parties do and the BJP does it with strong focus on Hindu ethos.
When you say BJP is ideologically bankrupt I donot agree. BJP is built up on some of the *FINEST* principles of governance, but it is not sticking to them or probably not communicating them properly. BJP is running some of the best state govts in the country and an ideologically bankrupt party cannot do that.
In the 1990s BJP had a moral high ground and strong intra-party discipline which it has lost very rapidly. There used to be a buzz about the party in the 1990s, but now it has become stale, this is what needs to be addressed. But, seeing the manner in which the party has behaved post defeat, I doubt it will happen.
Mohan to see a major change in BJP, leaders like Advani should retire graciously. A leader should always retire graciously when he fails to lead his organization and the party to success.
Sure I agree, a change at the top is needed, but how that change is brought about is the question. Advaniji cannot nominate anybody as he has done recently. In 2005, after Bihar elections, Sushil Modi became the deputy CM of Bihar through a ballot procedure so that no one was offended. While this method is good, there is a risk that an oldie might again get the top post. But atleast BJP has that internal democracy in place.
through this medium i want to convey my anger towards rajnath singh . he should not ask vasundra raje to resign . she is a very good and popular leader bjp should not snub her instead protect and nurture her . she is very popular in rajasthan and has the potential to become rajasthan’s modi.on the other hand rajnath singh is a very bad leader he has done nothing in up the performance of bjp in up is very bad i think he should resign owing to defeat of bjp in up. he is not a popular leader even in up people do not like him he is useless
वशुंधरा को नेता विपक्ष के पद से हटाने से पहले क्या बीजेपी इसकी क्षति पूर्ति के लिए कुछ सोच रखा है की राजस्थान को कौन संभालेगा जो राजस्थान की जनता के बीच लोकप्रिय हो ? यदि नहीं तो फिर कहीं झारखण्ड ,यूं पी जैसा हाल न हो जाये .
वशुंधरा न सिर्फ राजस्थान में बल्कि देश भर में एक महिला नेता के रूप में लोकप्रिय हैं .
झारखण्ड को आज किसी नेता ने नहीं बल्कि वहां की बीजेपी समर्थक जनता ने संभाल रखा है .बाबूलाल मरांडी जनता के बीच काफी लोकप्रिय नेता थे .झारखण्ड में किये गए उनके कामों को लोग आज भी याद करते हैं .इसके विपरीत यूं पी में बीजेपी अपना जनाधार खो चुकी है .लेकिन वहां करने के लिए संभावनाएं बहुर कुछ है और बीजेपी अपनी प्रतिष्ठा यूं पी में पुनर्स्थापित कर सकती है .
Wondering why no body is asking Rajnath Singh to resign or LKA to resign for failing to win the 2009 elections. The resignation should start from top to bottom , not from bottom to top.
Media Professional from New York on March 29th, 2009 1:37 pm Has anyone at Friends of BJP conveyed the following to the BJP management?
TO THE BJP’S TOP MANAGEMENT….DEVELOP YOUR OWN MEDIA POWER SOON OR THE BJP HAS NO FUTURE….SERIOUSLY!!!!
I am a sincere sympathizer of the BJP, hence this negative tone in my comments. And I am sorry but there is no other way to digest this bitter pill.
BJP’s media management team should either be fired or revamped immediately. In all these years, the party has yet to start or develop a high-reach and influential pro-BJP television channel or newspaper (except the tiny Daily Pioneer) among other media vehicles, whether it’s in India or outside.
I myself have tried to get in touch with BJP’s media cell a few times on my various trips to India within the past three years, but with no success. The few individuals that I did manage to speak to came across as typical Indian government employees; IGNORANT, UNCONCERNED and UNRESPONSIVE.
The party management obviously doesn’t seem to understand the importance of media, communications and networking for political and national success.
Are the folks running the media cell friends of the BJP? I believe that this is a very serious issue that has cost the BJP many national and state elections so far. It’s image within India and outside has taken a beating time and again inspite of it’s good intentions.
TO THE BJP….Firstly, please develop or redevelop a proper think-tank before it’s too late. And when I say THINK-TANK, I mean a PROPER THINK-TANK, not an apology for a think-tank.
Secondly, please CHANNELIZE all this pro-BJP energy coming in from various quarters systematically and sensibly; else, this ENTIRE “Friends of BJP” exercise will be in vain and become the butt of jokes in the media like “India Shining” did. I personally believe in the sincerity and potential of “Friends of BJP”, and hence would not want this to happen. Also because failure is not an option.
THE BOTTOMLINE SUGGESTION WITH RESPECT TO DEVELOPING CLOUT WITHIN THE MEDIA — “KARO YA MARO”. AND IT’S NOW OR NEVER.
Jai Hind. Jai Bharat.
BJP SHOULD PARTICIPATE ONLY IN ELECTION DEBATE NOT IN ANY CONTROVERSIAL DEBATES .
Dear friends,
The CM of Karnataka has appealed to public and experts through TOI and The New Indian Express dated 5/9/09 to give their advice on Agriculture and Rural development.Advice can be e-mailed to cm@kar.nic.in or info@yeddyurappa.in before 9/9/09.
B R Shetty
Bangalore