Author: cprindia

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CPR TECHNOLOGY BUREAUCRACY

SOCIAL SECTOR SCHEMES
Watch the full video (above) of the panel discussion on ‘Technology and Administrative Reform: Experience from India and the World’ featuring Arun Sharma (Director, DBT Mission, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India); Saurabh Garg (Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Empowerment, Government of Odisha); Shrayana Bhattacharya (Senior Economist, Social Protection and Jobs, World Bank); Varad Pande (Investment Partner, Omidyar Network India) and moderated by Yamini Aiyar (President & Chief Executive, CPR).

Technology is often seen as a tool to strengthen the delivery of goods and services in India. For cash transfer programmes, the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) initiative and Socio-Economic Census (SEC) data are two large-scale digital building blocks for India’s future social protection system. While DBT creates an eco-system for digital and transparent payments, the SEC allows transparent targeting and identification of beneficiaries. Several states are also investing in their own delivery platforms for core cash and benefit transfer programs.

However, a growing body of experience in India highlights that the effective use of digital resources requires complementary human resources, particularly within the local bureaucracy. Far from ensuring that the pipelines for payments are automated and mechanised, the next generation of administrative reforms will need to contend with eligibility determination, cross-departmental coordination, deeper IT familiarity, claim management and last-mile accountability with deeper citizen engagement. This requires a motivated local administration with sophisticated skills and competencies. Leveraging technology tools require a deliberative and responsive local administration, where government agents have the time, talent and tools to enable reflection on information, solve problems in an iterative framework and feel confident in their authority to respond.

This panel took stock of Indian and global experiences in using technology to reform the welfare bureaucracy at the state and national levels.

The panel was organised as part of the second edition of CPR Dialogues, held on 2nd and 3rd March 2020 at the India Habitat Centre. Addressing the theme of Policy Perspectives for 21st-century India, CPR Dialogues 2020 provided a window to the India of the future. Experts from around the country and the world engaged with and debated these very significant development and policy challenges that India faces in the coming decade.

ThePrint India was the digital partner for the event.

Media coverage of the panel discussion can be found below:

Tech intervention in welfare schemes necessary, but requires social integration: Experts by ThePrint
Videos of other panel discussions organised as part of CPR Dialogues 2020 can be found below:

CPR Dialogues 2020- Inaugural Address by Hon’ble Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
CPR Dialogues 2020- At the Threshold of a New Decade: Navigating the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape
CPR Dialogues 2020- Rights in Times of AI: Emerging Technologies and the Public Law Framework
CPR Dialogues 2020- What Would Happen if We Were to Believe in Indian Agriculture?
CPR Dialogues 2020- Creating an Inclusive Economy in a Digital World
CPR Dialogues 2020- What Would it Take to Build a 21st-century State for India? Launch of CPR’s State Capacity Initiative
CPR Dialogues 2020- Tracking Government Spending: Challenges in Social Policy Financing
CPR Dialogues 2020- The Air Pollution Crisis: Making Political Salience Count
CPR Dialogues 2020- Article 21 and India’s Social and Economic Rights
CPR Dialogues 2020- Challenges in Public Education: Balancing State and Non-State Actors
CPR Dialogues 2020- Emerging Trends in Indian Politics
CPR Dialogues 2020- Are India’s Financial Institutions in Crisis? Understanding India’s Economic Slowdown
CPR Dialogues 2020- The Role of Ideas in Shaping Policy
CPR Dialogues 2020- Indo-US Relations
CPR Dialogues 2020- Land and the Constitution: Solving Land Conflict in India
CPR Dialogues 2020- Political Elites and Local Bureaucratic Capacity

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CPR AIR POLLUTION

Watch the full video (above) of the panel discussion on ‘The Air Pollution Crisis: Making Political Salience Count’ featuring Gaurav Gogoi (Member of Parliament, India); Rohit Negi (Associate Professor, School of Global Affairs, Ambedkar University Delhi); Shreya Gadepalli (South Asia Director- Institute for Transport and Development Policy) and moderated by Santosh Harish (Fellow, CPR) and Shibani Ghosh (Fellow, CPR).

With growing public and media engagement, air quality seems to be becoming politically salient, featuring in Parliamentary discussions, election manifestos and political debates. Have we indeed turned a corner? How does this increased engagement translate into making tough decisions, higher resource allocation and improved environmental governance? The panel discussed the state of public demand for clean air, and the role of elected representatives in addressing air pollution.

The panel was organised as part of the second edition of CPR Dialogues, held on 2nd and 3rd March 2020 at the India Habitat Centre. Addressing the theme of Policy Perspectives for 21st-century India, CPR Dialogues 2020 provided a window to the India of the future. Experts from around the country and the world engaged with and debated these very significant development and policy challenges that India faces in the coming decade.

ThePrint India was the digital partner for the event.

An article on how the Delhi government should tackle the air pollution crisis, written by Santosh Harish and Navroz K Dubash in ThePrint can be accessed here.

Media coverage of the panel discussion can be read below:

Need to include health impact of air pollution in our policies: Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi by ThePrint
Videos of other panel discussions organised as part of CPR Dialogues 2020 can be found below:

CPR Dialogues 2020- Inaugural Address by Hon’ble Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
CPR Dialogues 2020- At the Threshold of a New Decade: Navigating the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape
CPR Dialogues 2020- Rights in Times of AI: Emerging Technologies and the Public Law Framework
CPR Dialogues 2020- What Would Happen if We Were to Believe in Indian Agriculture?
CPR Dialogues 2020- Creating an Inclusive Economy in a Digital World
CPR Dialogues 2020- What Would it Take to Build a 21st-century State for India? Launch of CPR’s State Capacity Initiative
CPR Dialogues 2020- Technology and Administrative Reform: Experience from India and the World
CPR Dialogues 2020- Tracking Government Spending: Challenges in Social Policy Financing
CPR Dialogues 2020- Article 21 and India’s Social and Economic Rights
CPR Dialogues 2020- Challenges in Public Education: Balancing State and Non-State Actors
CPR Dialogues 2020- Emerging Trends in Indian Politics
CPR Dialogues 2020- Are India’s Financial Institutions in Crisis? Understanding India’s Economic Slowdown
CPR Dialogues 2020- The Role of Ideas in Shaping Policy
CPR Dialogues 2020- Indo-US Relations
CPR Dialogues 2020- Land and the Constitution: Solving Land Conflict in India
CPR Dialogues 2020- Political Elites and Local Bureaucratic Capacity

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CPR POLITICS

Watch the full video (above) of the panel discussion on ‘The Role of Ideas in Shaping Policy’ featuring Lant Pritchett (Senior Visiting Fellow, CPR); Navroz K Dubash (Professor, CPR); Partha Mukhopadhyay (Senior Fellow, CPR) and moderated by Yamini Aiyar (President & Chief Executive, CPR).

What is the role of ideas in public policy? Policy-making is often thought of as an art of balancing trade-offs and negotiating compromises. But underlying these trade-offs are normative assumptions about the state of the world and the consequences of our actions. In recent times, we have tended to focus our debates on policy much more in the realm of design, action and impact than on these underlying questions about the state of the world. Yet, it is ideas that shape our understanding of the state of the world and the possibilities for policy. This session was an invitation to reclaim the space for ideas in our debates on public policy and consider the role of think tanks in driving and shaping the world of policy through ideas.

The panel was organised as part of the second edition of CPR Dialogues, held on 2nd and 3rd March 2020 at the India Habitat Centre. Addressing the theme of Policy Perspectives for 21st-century India, CPR Dialogues 2020 provided a window to the India of the future. Experts from around the country and the world engaged with and debated these very significant development and policy challenges that India faces in the coming decade.

ThePrint India was the digital partner for the event.

An article on India’s regulatory reform, written by Partha Mukhupadhyay in ThePrint can be read here.

Videos of other panel discussions organised as part of CPR Dialogues 2020 can be found below:

CPR Dialogues 2020- Inaugural Address by Hon’ble Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
CPR Dialogues 2020- At the Threshold of a New Decade: Navigating the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape
CPR Dialogues 2020- Rights in Times of AI: Emerging Technologies and the Public Law Framework
CPR Dialogues 2020- What Would Happen if We Were to Believe in Indian Agriculture?
CPR Dialogues 2020- Creating an Inclusive Economy in a Digital World
CPR Dialogues 2020- What Would it Take to Build a 21st-century State for India? Launch of CPR’s State Capacity Initiative
CPR Dialogues 2020- Technology and Administrative Reform: Experience from India and the World
CPR Dialogues 2020- Tracking Government Spending: Challenges in Social Policy Financing
CPR Dialogues 2020- The Air Pollution Crisis: Making Political Salience Count
CPR Dialogues 2020- Article 21 and India’s Social and Economic Rights
CPR Dialogues 2020- Challenges in Public Education: Balancing State and Non-State Actors
CPR Dialogues 2020- Emerging Trends in Indian Politics
CPR Dialogues 2020- Are India’s Financial Institutions in Crisis? Understanding India’s Economic Slowdown
CPR Dialogues 2020- Indo-US Relations
CPR Dialogues 2020- Land and the Constitution: Solving Land Conflict in India
CPR Dialogues 2020- Political Elites and Local Bureaucratic Capacity

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CPR BUDGET SOCIAL SECTOR SCHEMES

Watch the full video (above) of the panel discussion on ‘Tracking Government Spending: Challenges in Social Policy Financing’ featuring Rathin Roy (Director, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy); Alok Kumar (Adviser, NITI Aayog); Jeffrey Hammer (Senior Visiting Fellow, CPR); TR Raghunandan (Adviser, Accountability Initiative & Former Indian Administrative Service Officer) and moderated by Avani Kapur (Fellow & Director, Accountability Initiative, CPR). The panel marked the completion of ten years of the Accountability Initiative at CPR since it’s founding.

Despite significant investments in social welfare programmes, it is widely acknowledged that implementation is India’s Achilles heel and public service delivery is often plagued by inadequate quality, corruption and accountability failures. Yet, a discussion on the links between design and implementation is often constrained by the lack of evidence on the processes through which policies are translated on the ground.

What are the emerging trends of social policy financing in India? What should be the role of the Union Government in social policy financing in an era of more cooperative federalism? What is the role of technology in enabling a more efficient public finance management system? What is the optimal allocation of functions and capacities required across all levels of government to ensure an outcome-focussed financing system? By placing the current evidence on the processes involved in the delivery of social policies at the front and centre, this session aimed to revisit the current design of social policy financing given the recent changes in India’s fiscal architecture.

The panel was organised as part of the second edition of CPR Dialogues, held on 2nd and 3rd March 2020 at the India Habitat Centre. Addressing the theme of Policy Perspectives for 21st-century India, CPR Dialogues 2020 provided a window to the India of the future. Experts from around the country and the world engaged with and debated these very significant development and policy challenges that India faces in the coming decade.

ThePrint India was the digital partner for the event.

Media coverage of the session can be found below:

Civil servants and politicians aren’t worried about outcomes of govt spending: Experts by ThePrint
Videos of other panel discussions organised as part of CPR Dialogues 2020 can be found below:

CPR Dialogues 2020- Inaugural Address by Hon’ble Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
CPR Dialogues 2020- At the Threshold of a New Decade: Navigating the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape
CPR Dialogues 2020- Rights in Times of AI: Emerging Technologies and the Public Law Framework
CPR Dialogues 2020- What Would Happen if We Were to Believe in Indian Agriculture?
CPR Dialogues 2020- Creating an Inclusive Economy in a Digital World
CPR Dialogues 2020- What Would it Take to Build a 21st-century State for India? Launch of CPR’s State Capacity Initiative
CPR Dialogues 2020- Technology and Administrative Reform: Experience from India and the World
CPR Dialogues 2020- The Air Pollution Crisis: Making Political Salience Count
CPR Dialogues 2020- Article 21 and India’s Social and Economic Rights
CPR Dialogues 2020- Challenges in Public Education: Balancing State and Non-State Actors
CPR Dialogues 2020- Emerging Trends in Indian Politics
CPR Dialogues 2020- Are India’s Financial Institutions in Crisis? Understanding India’s Economic Slowdown
CPR Dialogues 2020- The Role of Ideas in Shaping Policy
CPR Dialogues 2020- Indo-US Relations
CPR Dialogues 2020- Land and the Constitution: Solving Land Conflict in India
CPR Dialogues 2020- Political Elites and Local Bureaucratic Capacity

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CPR ECONOMY SOCIAL SECTOR SCHEMES

Watch the full video (above) of the panel discussion on ‘What Would Happen if We Were to Believe in Indian Agriculture?’ featuring Saurabh Garg (Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Empowerment, Government of Odisha); Harish Damodaran (Rural Affairs and Agriculture Editor, The Indian Express); Ajay Vir Jakhar (Chairperson, Bharat Krishak Samaj); Ramesh Chand, (Member, NITI Aayog) and moderated by Mekhala Krishnamurthy (Senior Fellow, CPR).

What would happen if we were to actually believe in Indian agriculture? This panel was an invitation to revisit and revise our assumptions about the vast potential of Indian agriculture, instead of treating it as a residue, a stalled structural transformation, a subsistence industry that requires only income support, or a buffer stock strategy for foodgrains. Here, we seek to place agriculture, its linkages and its multiplier effects at the centre of India’s economic development and to consider therefore the nature and scale of public investment, institutional support, knowledge resources and partnerships needed to transform agricultural outcomes and impact in India.

The panel was organised as part of the second edition of CPR Dialogues, held on 2nd and 3rd March 2020 at the India Habitat Centre. Addressing the theme of Policy Perspectives for 21st-century India, CPR Dialogues 2020 provided a window to the India of the future. Experts from around the country and the world engaged with and debated these very significant development and policy challenges that India faces in the coming decade.

ThePrint India was the digital partner for the event.

An article on the state of Indian agriculture, written by Mekhala Krishnamurthy in ThePrint can be read here.

Media coverage of the panel discussion can be found below:

Link Indian agriculture with global chains, liberalise agro-commodity markets: Experts by ThePrint
Videos of other panel discussions organised as part of CPR Dialogues 2020 can be found below:

CPR Dialogues 2020- Inaugural Address by Hon’ble Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
CPR Dialogues 2020- At the Threshold of a New Decade: Navigating the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape
CPR Dialogues 2020- Rights in Times of AI: Emerging Technologies and the Public Law Framework
CPR Dialogues 2020- Creating an Inclusive Economy in a Digital World
CPR Dialogues 2020- What Would it Take to Build a 21st-century State for India? Launch of CPR’s State Capacity Initiative
CPR Dialogues 2020- Technology and Administrative Reform: Experience from India and the World
CPR Dialogues 2020- Tracking Government Spending: Challenges in Social Policy Financing
CPR Dialogues 2020- The Air Pollution Crisis: Making Political Salience Count
CPR Dialogues 2020- Article 21 and India’s Social and Economic Rights
CPR Dialogues 2020- Challenges in Public Education: Balancing State and Non-State Actors
CPR Dialogues 2020- Emerging Trends in Indian Politics
CPR Dialogues 2020- Are India’s Financial Institutions in Crisis? Understanding India’s Economic Slowdown
CPR Dialogues 2020- The Role of Ideas in Shaping Policy
CPR Dialogues 2020- Indo-US Relations
CPR Dialogues 2020- Land and the Constitution: Solving Land Conflict in India
CPR Dialogues 2020- Political Elites and Local Bureaucratic Capacity

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CPR BUREAUCRACY

Watch the full video (above) of the panel discussion on ‘What Would it Take to Build a 21st-century State for India?’ to mark the launch of CPR’s new State Capacity Initiative featuring Sanjay Mitra (Former Chief Secretary, West Bengal); T V Somanathan (Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Government of India); Junaid Ahmad, Country Director (World Bank in India) with a presentation by Mekhala Krishnamurthy (Senior Fellow, CPR) and moderated by Yamini Aiyar (President & Chief Executive, CPR).

To mark the launch of CPR’s new State Capacity Initiative, we asked, what will it take for India to build a state that can credibly address the complex, competing and multi-generational challenges that we face in the 21st-century? In particular, we explored the changing roles of the Indian state and how we might balance some of the critical tensions of administrative reform and institutional change. This includes the tension between generalists vs. specialists and the question of knowledge and skills; the tensions between discretion, administrative flexibility, and public accountability; the evolving nature of citizen-state relations, and the tensions and dynamics between the Centre and States in shaping state capacity in democratic and federal India.

At a time of widespread disenchantment with the state, this panel was an effort to collectively re-imagine and re-invest in the possibility of building a genuinely capable, responsive, and accountable Indian state.

More information about the State Capacity Initiative can be found here.

The panel was organised as part of the second edition of CPR Dialogues, held on 2nd and 3rd March 2020 at the India Habitat Centre. Addressing the theme of Policy Perspectives for 21st-century India, CPR Dialogues 2020 provided a window to the India of the future. Experts from around the country and the world engaged with and debated these very significant development and policy challenges that India faces in the coming decade.

ThePrint India was the digital partner for the event.

An article on Indian state capacity, written by Yamini Aiyar and Mekhala Krishnamurthy in ThePrint can be read here.

Media coverage of the panel discussion can be found below:

‘Lateral entry in civil services vital to state’s ability to deliver to citizens’ by ThePrint
Videos of other panel discussions organised as part of CPR Dialogues 2020 can be found below:

CPR Dialogues 2020- Inaugural Address by Hon’ble Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
CPR Dialogues 2020- At the Threshold of a New Decade: Navigating the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape
CPR Dialogues 2020- Rights in Times of AI: Emerging Technologies and the Public Law Framework
CPR Dialogues 2020- What Would Happen if We Were to Believe in Indian Agriculture?
CPR Dialogues 2020- Creating an Inclusive Economy in a Digital World
CPR Dialogues 2020- Technology and Administrative Reform: Experience from India and the World
CPR Dialogues 2020- Tracking Government Spending: Challenges in Social Policy Financing
CPR Dialogues 2020- The Air Pollution Crisis: Making Political Salience Count
CPR Dialogues 2020- Article 21 and India’s Social and Economic Rights
CPR Dialogues 2020- Challenges in Public Education: Balancing State and Non-State Actors
CPR Dialogues 2020- Emerging Trends in Indian Politics
CPR Dialogues 2020- Are India’s Financial Institutions in Crisis? Understanding India’s Economic Slowdown
CPR Dialogues 2020- The Role of Ideas in Shaping Policy
CPR Dialogues 2020- Indo-US Relations
CPR Dialogues 2020- Land and the Constitution: Solving Land Conflict in India
CPR Dialogues 2020- Political Elites and Local Bureaucratic Capacity

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ELECTION STUDIES POLITICS

Watch the full video of the second CPR Election Adda discussion on ‘How to Win an Election’ featuring Abeer Kapoor and Oshin Lakhani, moderated by Rahul Verma.

The strategies and games that govern Indian politics have often been discussed but only very recently have they been ‘gamified’. Abeer Kapoor sheds light on how he modelled his board game ‘The Poll’ on the real life twists and turns that follow an election in India as well as his experience taking the game across India to play in colleges.

Abeer Kapoor is the creator of ‘The Poll: The Great Indian Election Game’. Oshin Lakhani is an Intern at CPR. Rahul Verma is a Fellow at CPR.

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POLITICS ELECTION STUDIES

Watch the full video (above) of the fifth CPR Election Adda discussion on ‘Taking Stock: A Mid Poll Evaluation of the 2019 Elections’, featuring Surjit Bhalla, Sunetra Choudhury, Dhananjai Joshi, Philip K Oldenburg and moderated by Rahul Verma.

It has been a long campaign, political parties and their leaders have spent tremendous energies so far to win the confidence of Indian voters and form the next government in Delhi. More than three-fourth of India has voted, and it seems we are in the midst of an election, which has undoubtedly been one of the most polarised so far. The discussion reflected on the 2019 election story, the emerging scenarios possible post-May 23, and what the country has gained or lost in this electoral battle.

Surjit Bhalla is a Contributing Editor at The Indian Express, and Consulting Editor at Network 18. Sunetra Choudhury is the National Political Editor at Hindustan Times. Dhananjai Joshi is the Managing Director at Cicero Associates and Consultants Private Limited. Philip K Oldenburg is a Research Scholar at the South Asia Institute, Columbia University. Rahul Verma is a Fellow at CPR.

The question and answer session that followed can be accessed here.

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ELECTION STUDIES POLITICS

Watch the full video (above) of the fourth CPR Election Adda discussion on ‘Elections 2019 & the Future of the Indian Party System’ featuring Yamini Aiyar and Rahul Verma.

When can an election be declared a ‘wave’? Is the status quo of politics in India a ‘new normal’ or will we see the political landscape evolve further post the 2019 election result. Watch Rahul Verma and Yamini Aiyar debate these issues and many more in the fourth CPR Election Adda.

Yamini Aiyar is the President and Chief Executive at CPR. Rahul Verma is a Fellow at CPR.

FULL VIDEO OF THE DISCUSSION
ELECTION STUDIES POLITICS

Watch the full video of the third CPR Election Adda discussion on‘Modi and Millennials – Who will India’s Young Voter Choose?’ featuring Snigdha Poonam and Vivan Marwaha, moderated by Rahul Verma.

The 2019 election will see 84 million people vote for the first time. What can we infer about this group’s voting choices? Do they vote along the same issues as their elders or will their aspirations dictate who they choose?

Snigdha Poonam is a journalist with the Hindustan Times and author of Dreamers. Vivan Marwaha is a policy consultant and has a forthcoming book on millennials. Rahul Verma is a Fellow at CPR.