Page 15 - Social Impact

CENTRE FOR PUBLIC POLICY (CPP) Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) Foundation Day Lecture Atmanirbhar Bharat: Evaluating the India Opportunity
This programme, which is in collaboration with the Govern- The centre initiated the Foundation Day Lecture series on 10th The centre organized the webinar, ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat: Evalu-
The Centre for Public Policy (CPP) is an independent public ment of India, is a two-year blended programme to train indi- July 2020. It was on July 10, 2000, that the centre was established ating the India Opportunity’, on 25th November 2019. The talk
interest-oriented policy think tank engaged in pioneering viduals with an undergraduate degree to work with the District through a partnership agreement between the Department of was led by Dr. Ajai Chowdhry, who is among the six founding
research, teaching, training and capacity-building. The centre – Skill Committees. MGNF is an opportunity for young, dynamic Personnel and Training (DoPT), Government of India (GoI), members of HCL and the former Chairman of HCL Infosys-
established in 2000 through a partnership agreement between individuals to contribute to enhancing skill development and United Nations Development Programme and IIM Bangalore. tems. He has held the post of Chairman of the Board of Gover-
the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Govern- promote economic development. The theme of the second lecture was: ‘The Centre Cannot Hold’ nors at IIT Hyderabad and IIT Patna, and is currently serving as
ment of India (GoI), United Nations Development Programme by scholar, writer and translator Prof. Tridip Suhrud, who the Chairman of IIIT Naya Raipur.
(UNDP) and IIMB – aspires to lead policy-thinking and praxis Under the aegis of the Skill Acquisition and Knowledge examined the relevance of Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj, the concept of
in India, promoting equitable, inclusive, and sustainable solu- Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) project of decentralization and local self-governance. The Age of Pandemics
tions to the concerns of citizens and public governance. the MSDE, IIMB was involved with a pilot cohort of 69 Fellows IIMB’s Prof. Arnab Mukherji from the Centre for Public Policy
based in six states. The implementation of the programme has had a discussion with Dr Chinmay Tumbe, on the latter’s book,
The twin objectives of the centre, to influence policy discourse been a great success and has garnered immense appreciation ‘Age of Pandemics’, on 12th March 2021. Written during the
and improve governance, are achieved through rigorous from various stakeholders. pandemic in just 10 months, the book chronicles the many
research and stakeholder engagement across domains. Its facets of the cholera, plague and influenza pandemics, which
strong evidence-based research has focused on government Phase II, based on the success of Phase I, saw a national roll-out claimed over 70 million lives between 1817 and 1920, with
innovations, regulation, policy-making, administrative and with nine other IIMs acting as academic partners, spanning India being the epicentre in all these episodes.
organizational reform, public-private partnerships and IT in 663 districts in India. Almost 24000 applications were received.
government. Phase II of MGNF was inaugurated on October 25, 2021 with XV International Conference on Public Policy and Manage-
79 Fellows joining the programme at IIMB. Due to COVID 19 ment
The centre’s work in various areas of Public Policy is continu- restrictions, Phase II of the programme was launched in distrib- The conference was held from 24th to 26th August 2020. The
ously being strengthened through robust collaborative networks uted format with the participants joining their respective col- main talks hosted at the conference were:
and partnerships with a variety of think tanks, policy profes- leagues in Agartala, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar and Chandigarh. • Understanding the Nuances of Social Justice: Justice Madan
sionals and practitioners around the world. The Centre for B Lokur, former Justice, Supreme Court of India, led the talk
Public Policy has a significant presence in IIMB’s Post Graduate Reconnect and Rebound: A Webinar on Migrant Workers, The Caste of Merit: Engineering Education in India • Global Agro-Food Systems: Research, Policy, and Implica-
Programme in Public Policy and Management. Additionally, it Employment and Economy The centre organized a lecture on, ‘The Caste of Merit: Engi- tions for India: Professor Barbara Harriss White, Economist
conducts various innovative and influential executive pro- The centre, in collaboration with the SANKALP Team, Ministry neering Education in India’, delivered by Prof. Ajantha Subra- and Emeritus Professor of Development Studies, was in con-
grammes. of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), presented manian, Professor of Anthropology and of South Asian Studies, versation with Dr. Mekhala Krishnamurthy, Senior Fellow at
the webinar, ‘Reconnect and Rebound: A Webinar on Migrant Chair, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, held CPR and Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology
A vibrant academic ambience for scholarly engagement has Workers, Employment and Economy’, on 24th June 2020. This on 19th August 2020. at Ashoka University
helped the centre emerge as a platform for ideation, debate and webinar brought together a set of stakeholders who have been • Strengthening Public Health Systems: The talk was led by
exploration. working closely on different aspects. Is there Caste Discrimination in Modern Bengaluru? Ex- Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, World Health
plaining Caste Discrimination in Bengaluru Organization
The centre organized a talk on: ‘Is there Caste Discrimination in
Modern Bengaluru? Explaining Caste Discrimination in Benga-
luru’, on 23rd October 2020, by Naveen Bharathi, Vijeta Kumar,
Cynthia Stephen, and Rajendran Prabhakar.

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