PGPPM students host the year’s inaugural talk of the ‘Policy Speaks’ series on ‘Rethinking Development: A Perspective from the Delhi Model’
Jasmine Shah, former Vice Chairperson, Dialogue and Development Commission, leads discussion in an interaction with PGPPM Chairperson Prof. Arnab Mukherji
13 January, 2025, Bengaluru: “In the past decade, huge governance efforts have been made in Delhi in human capital development aiming to enhance the quality of life of citizens and provide social security to the vulnerable. It is a story of hope and optimism spanning diverse sectors”, said Jasmine Shah, former Vice Chairperson, Dialogue and Development Commission, a policy think tank of the Delhi Government. He led a special talk titled, ‘Rethinking Development: A Perspective from the Delhi Model’, hosted by the students of the Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management (PGPPM) at IIM Bangalore, as part of the annual ‘Policy Speaks’ series, earlier today.
Jasmine Shah, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, has played a crucial role in shaping many reforms of the Delhi Model in transport, environment, electricity, education and employment sectors. He was formerly the Deputy Director of MIT's Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, South Asia, and led the nationwide 'Jaago Re' voting campaign at Janaagraha, the Bangalored based non-profit organization. A graduate of IIT Madras, he holds an MPA from Columbia University, New York, where he was a Fulbright-Nehru Fellow. His columns have appeared in leading publications such as Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Mint and Economic Times.
During his talk, Jasmine Shah recounted from his own professional journey and his hands-on experience in developing and implementing policy, elaborating on key changes and improvements in governance, what we lack as a country and areas that need to be developed, and challenges that need to be handled to take India forward.
Drawing insights from his latest book, ‘The Delhi Model: A Bold New Roadmap to Building a Developed India’, Jasmine Shah said, “The book starts in 2015 and talks about Delhi’s progress in terms of education, healthcare, infrastructure including roads, electricity, water, sanitation, and more. It talks in length about how politics and governance should be about solving diverse challenges faced in day-to day lives of people. It is not important to just fix small issues – the real focus needs to be on making valuable changes in governance. That is the starting point of the book.”
Highlighting that the book gives an account of governance and policy related changes in Delhi in the past decade, as well as the approach adopted in conceptualizing and implementing reforms, he added that complete dedication coupled with investment has been the key to the progress. “The human capital approach serves the country well. The Delhi Model has improved the quality of life and has contributed to resilient economic progress.”
Elaborating on progress made in different spheres, he said that in the education sector, in the last 10 years, Government schools in Delhi have outperformed private schools. “The Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Schools of Specialised Excellence, set up by the Delhi government, provide education that focuses on the dynamic needs of this century. In the health sector, a revolution has been brought about by Mohalla clinics by bringing free and quality basic health services at the doorstep. There is 24/7 electricity supply, with tariffs remaining the same over the last decade. In fact, the principles of the Delhi Model and replicable and applicable to other states as well.”
Earlier in the evening, Prof. Arnab Mukherji, Chairperson, PGPPM and faculty of the Public Policy area at IIMB, introduced the guest speaker and provided a brief overview of the session, adding, “This kind of interaction with stalwarts who are directly engaged in designing and implementing policy at such high levels, through IIMB’s ‘Policy Speaks’ series, adds value to the repertoire of the students of PGPPM, which is a programme dedicated to enhance skills to frame policy, take on leadership roles and raise efficiency.”
In conversation with Jasmine Shah, Prof. Arnab Mukherji pointed out that, “When we look at data across different states, for example, Kerala in the health sector, we see public sector doing better than the private sector. That is an important message”. He went on to ask if such reforms could be politically anchored. “Policy making often reflect priorities of those in power, and that is democracy. Sometimes reforms, if they make meaningful change in the lives of people, have a life of their own, making it difficult to undo them”, Jasmine Shah responded. Prof. Arnab Mukherji lauded the Delhi Government on being ahead in the Right to Education implementation checklist. He also spoke about incentivizing performance and moving away from universal policy towards targeted policy.
Jasmine Shah’s talk was followed by a Q&A session, where he discussed key takeaways from the Delhi Model, adding that each state is unique and has to find its way to its own solutions. “In Delhi, while a lot of work has gone into basic service delivery in all the sectors, a lot of work is still in progress. There is sustained focus on providing social security to middle- and lower-income groups to enable people to live a life of dignity.”
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