CPP Conference on Public Policy & Management 2024 concludes with experts providing roadmap for India’s goals for growth
Economic and Political Weekly Editor S. Mahendra Dev delivers valedictory address, while Maxwell School Dean Prof. David Van Slyke leads plenary session
29 August, 2024, Bengaluru: The XIX International Conference on Public Policy & Management, hosted by the Centre for Public Policy (CPP) at IIM Bangalore from 27 to 29 August 2024, concluded earlier today with two insightful sessions.
Valedictory address
S. Mahendra Dev, Editor, Economic and Political Weekly, delivered the valedictory address on, ‘Future of India: Challenges and Policies for Growth, Inclusion and Sustainability’ on the third and concluding day of the conference. The session was moderated by Dr. Gopal Naik, Senior Fellow, Chairperson and Jal Jeevan Mission Chair Professor at the Centre for Public Policy, IIM Bangalore.
India is aspiring to be a developed nation by 2047, and S. Mahendra Dev’s talk highlighted the challenges and opportunities surrounding that aspiration. “The areas that the country needs to work upon include poverty, job creation, per capita income, regional disparities and variations in human development, youth and women employment, social security for gig workers, digital and structural transformation, etc. Taking advantage of the demographic dividend will be one of the major sources of higher growth. States have already announced their SDP (State Domestic Product) targets. Two other drivers of growth are investments and exports. Fiscal consolidation will help achieve inflation targets. Labor and land reforms, ease of doing business, boosting education, skills, health, etc. are also essential.”
He focused on the agriculture sector, adding that policies need to be inclusive in terms of women, youth and small farmers. “The policies should be nutrition sensitive and focus on climate resilience, diversification, higher farm income with wellbeing, etc.”
“Achieving zero hunger should be another target, with balancing nutritional deficiency and obesity being crucial. Recent data shows stunting has increased in several states. Many healthy foods are unaffordable to low-income consumers. We need pathways for safe, affordable and healthy diets, improve dietary diversity, reduce post-harvest losses and empower women.”
Pointing out that climate change is for real, he stressed on the need for adopting sustainable measures to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. “Rising temperatures can impact growth in a negative way. India has announced zero emissions by 2070 but the country has to prepare at state and district levels to achieve the same. The role of states is important in reducing carbon emissions. In fact, in a large country like India, states play an important role in enhancing overall economic and social development.”
“Climate change measures and growth have to be inclusive and sustainable. Although various survey reports suggest that India is progressing indeed, but challenges remain which we can overcome by making the best use of the engines of growth, thereby strengthening our democracy.”
Plenary session
The morning session on Day Three saw Prof. David Van Slyke, Dean of Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, leading the plenary session on, ‘Partnership and Relational Contracting: Rethinking the Governance of Innovation’. The session was moderated by Prof. Arnab Mukherji, Chairperson, Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy & Management (PGPPM) and faculty of the Public Policy area of IIMB, who introduced the speaker and moderated the session.
During his lecture, Prof. David Van Slyke elaborated on government contracting and how business and government can work together more effectively towards mutually beneficial outcomes. He explained that cross-sector, multi-partner and long-term strategies were needed for structuring governance for innovation; also needed were strong leadership with vision and authority. “The other essential elements include clear policies, goals and guiding strategy; evidence; an enterprise approach; project team integration and coordination, and sustainability and reliability. We can only leverage innovation when we are working together, and we can work together effectively when we know what each one is bringing to the table.”
He added that for harnessing of innovation, the role of Government, business partners, NGO partners, the public as well as third parties becomes crucial, as does leveraging information exchange.
“It is important to remember that partnerships are complex; flexibility is a facilitator since rigidity is the enemy of good; the stakeholders have to deal effectively with power dynamics and ace signaling as well as communication, adjudicate disagreements, know the product and outcome along with contract rules, and keep in mind that experimentation is critical. Know your partner, build trust and jointly own responsibility – a reciprocal relationship devoid of self-interest would serve well although it could be challenging. Be aware of exogenous pressure and policy risks, understand incentives and sanctions. For partnerships to work, accountability and leadership support are must-haves. Innovation takes time but speed matters.”
He also shared his experiences as member of the Defense Business Board. His talk was followed by a brief interaction with the audience.
19th CPP Conference on Public Policy & Management: 27 to 29 August 2024
The CPP Conference on Public Policy & Management is an interdisciplinary conference which draws scholars representing diverse perspectives on public policy issues and provides a forum for showcasing the latest developments in policy research and practice. It comprises academic sessions, topical policy debates, workshops, panel discussions and practitioner-oriented discussions on contemporary topics in public policy and management. The conference is ideal for academicians, students, research scholars, policy practitioners, lawyers, NGO professionals and others with an interest in public policy.
The themes for the 2024 conference were Emerging Technologies and Policy Implications; Policies on Climate Change and Sustainability in Industry and Agriculture; Policy Challenges in Gig and Platform Economy, and Innovations in Public Policy. The organizing committee of this year’s conference comprised Dr. Gopal Naik, Senior Fellow, Chairperson and Jal Jeevan Mission Chair Professor at the Centre for Public Policy, IIM Bangalore; Prof. Anil B Suraj, Chairperson, N.S. Ramaswamy Pre-doctoral Fellowship as well as the Committee on Diversity & Inclusion and faculty of Public Policy at IIMB; Prof. Soham Sahoo, faculty of the Public Policy area of IIMB; Prof. Rajalaxmi Kamath, Chairperson, Internal Committee and faculty of the Public Policy area of IIMB, and Prof. Arpit Shah, faculty of the Public Policy area of IIMB.
This year, there were 252 participants at the conference from all over India, and 33 papers were presented.
Conference Highlights:
Pre-conference lecture, workshop and poster session
The 19th CPP conference on Public Policy & Management kicked off with the pre-conference Prof. M. R. Krishnamurthy Memorial Lecture on 26 August on, ‘Understanding and Harnessing Linkages between Sustainable Transport and Livability for Building Brand Bengaluru’, led by Prof. Ashish Verma, Transportation Systems Engineering, Convenor, IISc Sustainable Transportation Lab, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. During the session, Dr. Gopal Naik delivered the welcome address and introduced the speaker. The Memorial Lecture Series is in honor of Prof. M. R. Krishnamurthy of Sri Krishnarajendra Silver Jubilee Technological Institute (SKSJTI), an educational institution which was among the first to focus on management of the textile industry. The theme of the lecture series is Bangalore centric, focused on the city and its myriad opportunities, strengths, contributions and issues. Please click here for details.
On the same day, Prof. Arpit Shah conducted the pre-conference workshop on, ‘Research Using Spatial Data’. The Young Scholars Initiative (YSI) South Asia Working Group collaborated with CPP for the workshop and poster session. A total of 21 scholars were invited to present their work on posters at the conference. The Best Poster award was won by Harikrishnan K. S. from IIT Kharagpur, and his work was themed on, ‘Equalization in public provision of education: Evidence from India’. The award was handed over to him on the concluding day of the conference by S. Mahendra Dev.
Day One
On the first day of the conference (27 August), Mr. Suman Bery, Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog, delivered the inaugural address on, ‘Reaping India's Demographic Dividend’. The session was moderated by Prof. Anil B Suraj. A plenary session on, ‘Public Policy: The Challenges of Implementation and Approaches to Address Them’, was led by Shri Parameswaran Iyer, Executive Director, World Bank, and moderated by Prof. G Ramesh, former faculty of Public Policy at IIMB. Prof. Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, IIM Bangalore and Dr. Gopal Naik addressed the audience. A panel discussion on, ‘Technology Changes and Policies in Banking Sector’ was also held. Please click here for details.
Day Two
The second day of the conference (28 August) saw Dr. V Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India, conducting a plenary session on, ‘Challenges in Generating High Employment in the Era of Rapid Technology Development’. The session was moderated by Prof. Manaswini Bhalla, Chairperson, Post Graduate Programme in Management and PGP in Business Analytics, and faculty of the Economics area of IIMB. Please click here for details.
India is poised to be a high-income country by mid-century. With this as the backdrop, the conference, featuring marquee speakers from the national and international arenas, served to facilitate interaction between policy makers, implementors and researchers in a bid to throw light on different dimensions of public policy.
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