This post is on the basis of Prime Minister’s lecture on Transforming India. In addition, I am adding my ideas along with. Many dignitaries were present on this occasion. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore was the chief guest. In addition, there were many Ministers, Chief Ministers, Speakers, and celebrities. Earlier developments were on the basis of the quantity of capital and labor. But gradually dependency is on the quality of institutions and ideas. And this is quite apparently true in all respects. There are a number of engineering institutes in the country. But all of them are not successful despite huge building and best of the facilities. It is also a question of discipline. Those having no norms in place do not strive for long.
Photo credit: Abode of Chaos via VisualHunt.com / CC BY
Last year, the central government created a new institution. The purpose of the National Institution for Transforming India or NITI is to amalgamate think tank in order to guide the Transforming India mission in the right direction. As a matter of fact, this think tank is forming on evidence basis rather than influence or fluke.
Transforming India
The prime function of National Institution for Transforming India or NITI is to inculcate external excellent ideas into Government policies. As a matter of fact, the government is ready to collaborate with national and international experts. In addition, NITI will be the Government’s window to the outside world including experts, and practitioners. Lastly, NITI will be instrumental in incorporating external ideas into policy-making.
India has a rich past. Its tradition of accepting good ideas is a part of its glory. The administrative policies are always open adopting good ideas to strengthen it. That is one of the reasons of preserving democracy and federalism, unity and integrity, in a country of glorious diversity. In fact, these are not minuscule achievements. This is the age where age is constant and we have become variables.
Inter-dependency and interconnect are the keys in today’s world. Change has become important for all countries of the world. Whatever resources and strengths it has, a country needs to look out for best ideas and practices to grow. No growth and development are possible in isolation. If you want to grow and develop, collaboration is the key. As a matter of fact, it is important for a nation as well as for an individual. Moreover, benchmark and adopting global standards is important. It helps in syncing easily with best practices.
Transforming India
Change is also important for various reasons. The youth of the country is growing in a different environment. The aspirations of the millennial generation are different. The country needs to gel with them to move together. Sticking to old traditions and orthodox practices is useless. The digital generation knows more and works better. There has to be a transformation in the whole setup and mindset to develop at a faster pace. As our Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, “That is why my vision for India is rapid transformation, not gradual evolution.” The three major takeaways from his lecture are – The transformation of India can happen only with the transformation of governance. In turn, the transformation of governance can happen only with transformation in mindset. And a transformation in mindset is possible only with inculcating and transforming ideas.
Finally, he quoted a verse from Rigveda – “आ नो भद्राः क्रतवो यन्तु विश्वतः”, which means, let us welcome noble thoughts flowing in from all directions.
