Issue 24 - April 2009 - Ideas for the honeymoon (2.3 MB)
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Pragati - The Indian National Interest Review
Apr 5, 2009, 6:06:13 AM4/5/09
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Dear readers
India goes to the polls in a few weeks' time. A new government will be in place in a couple of months.
The ‘honeymoon’ period of the first hundred days offers a new government the opportunity to implement important reforms that might otherwise face the greatest resistance. Of course, follow-through is important, but setting the momentum early is crucial. Most importantly, the honeymoon comes but once in a government’s life: so it is important to have a plan of action to make the most of it. Plan ahead, as they say, to avoid disappointment. This issue outlines a honeymoon agenda for the new government in three vital areas: economic reforms, national security and education.
Some of you are involved in preparing policy agendas for political parties. A few of you are even contesting the elections. We hope reading this issue will help you make a difference.
Our proposals are ambitious. How can they not be? But we are also realistic about how much a government can accomplish. Our recommendations, at the least, will allow readers to see how far the actual performance falls below our benchmarks.
This leads us to the other theme in this issue: the importance of voting. At an individual level you will make a difference when you vote. Don't wait for the perfect candidate to come along---please vote for the best of the existing lot, and encourage your friends to do so. The articles in our perspective section make the case for voting as the necessary condition to effect change.
In addition to the other regular features, we present the results of our reader survey in this month's issue: we had asked you if you'd subscribe to a print edition of Pragati. Two-thirds of the respondents said "Yes", but those who said "No" gave some good reasons. Your feedback was extremely useful: we're acting on it. More on this later.
Read & Share as usual. And for our readers in India: don't forget to vote!
best regards
The Pragati team
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRAGATI - THE INDIAN NATIONAL INTEREST REVIEW
Issue 25 | April 2009
Contents
PERSPECTIVE
Vote!
Because ‘No Vote’ is no solution
Barun Mitra
Institutions and votebanks
Where’s the new politics going to come from?
Aadisht & Ravikiran Rao
READER SURVEY
Would you subscribe to our print edition?
FILTER
Essential readings of the month
Ravi Gopalan
IN DEPTH
Reforms during the time of crisis
Selected priorities for the next government
Mukul G Asher & V Anantha Nageswaran
Start by burying Lord Ismay
Defence and internal security initiatives for the first 100 days
Nitin Pai
Liberalise education
More than additional funds, education policy needs structural reform
Atanu Dey
ROUNDUP
Asking the right question
Free and compulsory education cannot happen by fiat
Naveen Mandava & Gautam Bastian
Kashmir pending
Lift the AFSPA in a calibrated manner
Rohit Pradhan & Sushant K Singh
Reconnecting with Iran
India must reassess its drift away from Iran
Rohan Joshi
BOOKS
Readings in foreign policy
On contemporary debates and the future with China
M Rajkumar
Fourteen centuries later
Two journeys from China to India
Samanth Subramanian
India goes to the polls in a few weeks' time. A new government will be in place in a couple of months.
The ‘honeymoon’ period of the first hundred days offers a new government the opportunity to implement important reforms that might otherwise face the greatest resistance. Of course, follow-through is important, but setting the momentum early is crucial. Most importantly, the honeymoon comes but once in a government’s life: so it is important to have a plan of action to make the most of it. Plan ahead, as they say, to avoid disappointment. This issue outlines a honeymoon agenda for the new government in three vital areas: economic reforms, national security and education.
Some of you are involved in preparing policy agendas for political parties. A few of you are even contesting the elections. We hope reading this issue will help you make a difference.
Our proposals are ambitious. How can they not be? But we are also realistic about how much a government can accomplish. Our recommendations, at the least, will allow readers to see how far the actual performance falls below our benchmarks.
This leads us to the other theme in this issue: the importance of voting. At an individual level you will make a difference when you vote. Don't wait for the perfect candidate to come along---please vote for the best of the existing lot, and encourage your friends to do so. The articles in our perspective section make the case for voting as the necessary condition to effect change.
In addition to the other regular features, we present the results of our reader survey in this month's issue: we had asked you if you'd subscribe to a print edition of Pragati. Two-thirds of the respondents said "Yes", but those who said "No" gave some good reasons. Your feedback was extremely useful: we're acting on it. More on this later.
Read & Share as usual. And for our readers in India: don't forget to vote!
best regards
The Pragati team
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRAGATI - THE INDIAN NATIONAL INTEREST REVIEW
Issue 25 | April 2009
Contents
PERSPECTIVE
Vote!
Because ‘No Vote’ is no solution
Barun Mitra
Institutions and votebanks
Where’s the new politics going to come from?
Aadisht & Ravikiran Rao
READER SURVEY
Would you subscribe to our print edition?
FILTER
Essential readings of the month
Ravi Gopalan
IN DEPTH
Reforms during the time of crisis
Selected priorities for the next government
Mukul G Asher & V Anantha Nageswaran
Start by burying Lord Ismay
Defence and internal security initiatives for the first 100 days
Nitin Pai
Liberalise education
More than additional funds, education policy needs structural reform
Atanu Dey
ROUNDUP
Asking the right question
Free and compulsory education cannot happen by fiat
Naveen Mandava & Gautam Bastian
Kashmir pending
Lift the AFSPA in a calibrated manner
Rohit Pradhan & Sushant K Singh
Reconnecting with Iran
India must reassess its drift away from Iran
Rohan Joshi
BOOKS
Readings in foreign policy
On contemporary debates and the future with China
M Rajkumar
Fourteen centuries later
Two journeys from China to India
Samanth Subramanian
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