Policymaking is nothing without give and take: CEA V Anantha Nageswaran | Economics & Politics News

During his speech on policy formulation at the launch of Ashoka University’s Isaac Centre for Public Policy (ICPP) in Bengaluru, Nageswaran emphasised the role of researchers in effectively highlighting trade-offs to capture the attention of policymakers.

“One example of how trade-offs were ignored globally was in court. Academic researchers, with a few exceptions, failed to do their job. The Great Barrington Declaration was an honourable exception. Public policies should be formulated by policy-makers, not epidemiologists,” Nageswaran added.

The Centre will introduce public policy programmes and commission advanced interdisciplinary research, contributing to accelerated, inclusive and sustainable growth, enabling India to become a $10 trillion economy by 2035.

The ICPP was established through a grant from the Ajit Isaac Foundation (AIF), an organization established by Ajit Isaac, founder and chairman of Quess. Ajit Isaac and his wife, who are founders and trustees of Ashoka University, have made significant contributions exceeding Rs 100 crore.

The CEA highlighted the importance of closer collaboration between academia and policymakers, and advocated for their formal integration into the policy-making process. It also proposed several key recommendations to address critical gaps in current policy-making initiatives.

“We often lack the time to read long documents with detailed background information on technical and contextual information. Summary and highlight pages that avoid academic and disciplinary jargon but focus on the meaning and implications of the research can go a long way in capturing the attention of policy makers,” Nageswaran said.

Nageswaran further stressed the importance of understanding the audience or potential consumers, and highlighted the need to study the policy readers with whom one intends to communicate. Furthermore, “The aim of ICPP has to be to make a positive difference to the public, as public policy is about public affairs. To make a difference, one has to be taken seriously by those who are directly involved in public policy.”

“The goal of ICPP is to create a research environment where experts from diverse fields help find scalable solutions to urgent and complex policy challenges in areas such as economic development, labour and employment, healthcare, gender and fiscal policy, to name just a few. AIF looks forward to this partnership with Ashoka University to create an exemplary Public Policy Centre,” added Ajit Isaac.

In a statement, Ashoka University further said that the Centre will collaborate with public, private and non-profit actors to identify gaps in research on policy formulation and implementation. The Centre will offer undergraduate programmes in Economics and Public Policy, along with graduate and executive-level courses targeting professionals from both sectors. Initial research efforts will focus on agriculture, rural economy, employment, labour, Indian regulators and public finance.

“Ashoka University has the distinct advantage of having a world-class faculty in the country, experts in fields such as economics, social development, behavioural sciences, biosciences, artificial intelligence and data science. The Centre will leverage this strength and collaborate with public policy experts to become a hub for research-based interventions that contribute to socio-economic development,” said Prachi Mishra, Director and Head, Isaac Centre for Public Policy.