Ideas in Battle
Ideas in battle
In the third part of his book, Nandan talks about those ideas where there is no consensus, creating an intellectual deadlock in Indian society. The early resolution of these ideas is imperative to putting them into execution and to moving the country into a higher growth cycle.
Video: Nandan discusses the third part of his book
Click on the links below to learn more about each idea, and to share your thoughts with us:
- Conflicting political ideologies
- Labor reforms
- Higher education
December 24th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I believe judicial reforms should have been included in this section of the book. In my view, lack of reforms in law and order is big impediment for speedy and fair resolution to any dispute in India.
December 27th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Yes, judicial reforms and also administrative reforms seem to be two key areas that the book has omitted.
July 17th, 2009 at 5:18 am
The “battle” part is actually an integral part of being a democracy, it ensures that the final outcome has a broader buy-in from people because they have been part of the decision making (in a way). Plus, the quality of the decision is probably better since we have explored all possible aspects of an issue. That, in my mind is one of our advantages over countries like China.
I wonder if we should somehow start building awareness about the importance of process, planning, etc. As you mentioned in an interview to FT, we Indians are great on ideas but not so great on execution. For whatever reason, we have an in-built tendency to work with short-term solutions. In my opinion, if a country has to be great, it needs to incorporate the virtues of working with a longer term view, planning, defining & adhering to processes, etc. This is specially important for a country as vast & populous as ours.
On another note, it really heartens a lot of us to see that our country is finally starting to utilise the skills & expertise of its private sector. Like you, there are lots of Indians working in the private sector within India/ abroad, who would like to contribute more to their country (present company included :)). When you have some time, please do share your thoughts about how you think such can help their country (I am thinking in the lines of contributing their expertise to projects like the UIDAI).
September 28th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
I have read three section till now and the section on education reforms is the most thought provoking one. I am a Delhi University graduate and been working with a travel company since past 2 years. Most of my friends are pursuing or have completed their MBAs. However i despite huge pressure from the family have not yet plunged into management education.
During my graduation, i felt a strong lack of interest in the students to learn, instead they focussed on the next canteen break. The teachers most of them, taught as if there is no one in the class or they dont care if anyone is in.T
As soon as the exams came over, the hunt for Champion books ( A book of imp Q and A) begun. To my surprise the teachers gave a list of imp sections to prepare for exams.
It came down to me that i wasted my 3 years just to get a Grad. degree with no real learnings. My past exp. with a college has made me reluctant to study further, instead i have been reading books on various subjects from History to marketing.
What i fail to understand is in our school days our parents wants us to join the best Private school available, but while choosing a college they push hard to get us in a Govt. college.
If a private school can provide much better education then the government one, why cant we trust a private University for higher education.
I believe that their should be a single regulatory body just like CBSE in Schools and it should have the power to recognize and de-recognize the universities. A single curriculum should be taught across all the universities and a central body should be responsible for the examinations.
IF CBSE can do it for thousands of students each year why cant there be a similar body in higher education?