[Reader-list] News Items posted on the net on Multipurpose National Identity Cards-96

[Taha Mehmood]

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/when-we-think-policy-we-think-capacity-not-ideas.-hardware-not-software.-thats-wrong/389451/0

'When we think policy, we think capacity, not ideas. Hardware, not
software. That's wrong'

Mihir S. Sharma Posted: Nov 23, 2008 at 0122 hrs IST

New Delhi, November 22: Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is a man of
many parts. An "accidental entrepreneur", a determined philanthropist,
and, as is clear in his new book Imagining India, a deep thinker about
policy. He's convinced he needs to get new ideas out there, and he
told The Sunday Express what some of them are.

On his book:

It's about India, and ideas... I wouldn't have written it if it didn't
have something nobody has previously said in each chapter. I'm a
value-for-money guy. This book is value for money — and for your time
in reading it. It would have to be, or it wouldn't be value for my
time in writing it. I would have watched Rock On instead.

On philanthropy in India:

The Tatas, the Birlas — Mahim causeway in Bombay was built by Lady
Jeejeebhoy in the 19th century. That stopped during the socialist era
— no new wealth was being created, so who'd give it away? People don't
do that with wealth they inherit, because they don't think it's theirs
to give away. Now, we need some serious philanthropy to start, not the
little driblets we see. Society will let you make money only as long
as it thinks you are valuable. You don't contribute, society will take
your right to make money away. Look at the US, a hundred years ago.
They had robust capitalism. Carnegie, Mellon, Morgan — these men were
dadas. But they gave it all away. So capitalism was made palatable,
and survived.

On how to create new wealth:

We need first-generation wealth. We don't have any Horatio Alger
stories, about blue-collar guys making good in the system. We don't
have that mythology, because our labour system is dysfunctional. We've
created a monster. 93 per cent disorganised, 2 per cent unionised. It
helps every interest group, and shafts the common worker.

On failing to sell reform:

We haven't presented reform as a matter of access for the common
worker. It's about opportunities opening up, about destroying vested
interests. This is a failure of communication.

On lessons from the crisis:

What we really need to see in this crisis is that we've worked around
more fundamental reform. We've been lulled by 8 per cent growth for
years into thinking that we don't have anything left to do. But
actually, we had cheap credit, liquidity coming in. Now that's gone.
So back to basics. Learn the right lessons, not the wrong ones, like
in Sonia Gandhi's speech yesterday.

On youth and reform:

There's no going back on reform. The genie's out of the bottle, young
people expect it. In any case, policy under-reflects our youth. They
are so hugely aspirational. In my book, I tell this story: my wife
asked in several villages what the kids wanted to do when they grew
up. Not one said "farmer". They want a new life. They watch TV,
they're connected, so of course they will.

On the urgency of Indian demographics:

We're a young country. We need to take advantage of the bulge of young
people, because if we miss it then we're in trouble. Here's an idea
you won't find somewhere else: our demographic bulge is actually
double-humped, like a camel. The South had its burst of young people
already. The North is starting now. The central challenge for the
country is opening up reform there, spreading access, giving those
youngsters opportunities.

On Nehru:

I did a frequency analysis on the book. I ran the algorithm, and one
name stood out: Nehru's. This is a book about ideas, and he created
our ideas. Universal access to politics. Secularism. Not recognising
class. Planning. Yes, this is a book about our future, but we can't
get there without looking at the past.

On empowering cities:

I care about cities. We recognise their importance now, but it wasn't
always so. For two reasons: the first was the idea that the ideal was
the village republic, that the true India was rural. The second was
that the cities were associated with the British. So we got accidental
cities. And they were starved. I use the hourglass metaphor in the
book: state-level politicians were scared of a strong centre and a
strong local level, so they strangled cities and panchayats. The third
level always got shafted. Besides, cities are where the money is made,
which CM would give that up? Disempower them politically and
financially, and they can't manage anything, and we get a mess. So
what happens? Our public utilities don't get built, our public spaces
disappear. Look at Bangalore. All the lakes are going. I remember when
Shivaji Bus Stop was a lake.

On planning confusion:

Take ID cards. We need a universal system. The finance ministry has
PAN cards, Home has MNIC, the planning commission has the unique ID
project. We need to get sensible, stop thinking in silos. I'm writing
a book, not a design document, but I can lay out the steps. For
example, get every person a bank account. Then benefits can be direct.
No more PDS wastage.

On what he brings to policy thinking:

When we think of policy, we think of capacity, not ideas. We think of
hardware, not software. That's wrong. I know how much the back-end
matters. We need new ideas, and we need to leverage our technical
know-how to get there. Once we do, we'll see democracy's a comparative
advantage. An open society is one where information flows freely,
where access is easier.