Vol 2, Issue 3-b, 2022
Welcome to another issue of Communique! Bharti Institute of Public Policy is delighted to share with you the latest developments in its education and training initiatives, research projects, and the new collaborations by the Institute during the past quarter. All this, amid some new engagements and promising endeavours to set the tone for the next year!
HIGHLIGHTS
Bharti Institute Holds First “Public Policy Dialogues: Bridging Research and Practice”
In a first, Bharti Institute of Public Policy held Public Policy Dialogues on the theme “Bridging Research and Practice” at ISB Hyderabad Campus and provided a unique platform to delve into multiple public policy issues focusing on challenges and innovations, facilitating collaborations and interactions and bringing a congregation of policy researchers, practitioners, thinktanks, policymakers, media and academia under one roof.
From Public Policy design to mitigating policy friction; presenting innovative solutions in implementing public policy to taking a critical look at the open data ecosystem in India; discussions on emerging policy issues such as data privacy to telecom frauds and regulatory issues; Public policy debates on climate change and environmental issues to India’s transition to alternative sources of energy—the conclave was all-encompassing.
During the inaugural plenary of the three-day conclave, Prof. Ashwini Chhatre, in his keynote address, said, “The Public Policy Dialogues bring together a plethora of stakeholders including researchers, policy makers and practitioners to scan for future possibilities in public policy design and implementation. This is a platform for an exchange where people with different voices in the same room have come together to express their opinion as equal stakeholders.”
Adding another feather to its cap, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, will now be holding the Public Policy Dialogues annually as a space to forge new, as well as strengthen the existing collaborations on Public Policy. To know more about the event, click here.
Learning Exchange
Indian School of Business (ISB), in partnership with Society for Rural, Urban & Tribal Initiative (SRUTI) and Vasundhara, hosted a two-day Learning Exchange event towards strengthening and building a robust and sustainable forest economy, anchored in secure tenure. The event saw over 150 key representatives from the government, forest-based communities, industry, academia & research, civil society organisations, and NGOs, who interacted, deliberated, and networked to collaborate towards building a sustainable forest economy that will benefit the people and the planet. This Learning Exchange facilitated a first-of-its-kind active engagement of the key stakeholders of the forest economy on a common and a neutral platform, leading to several promising collaborative pathways.
Participation from the Industry included senior representation from AAK India, Shree Cement, BGPPL, Biofuel Circle, 3F Industries, HDFC & Kotak Mahindra Bank. The event witnessed participation and involvement from communities across the country including leaders of the federations of communities in districts of Chhota Banghal - Himachal Pradesh, Malkangiri & Kalahandi - Odsiha, Gadchiroli – Maharashtra, Narmada – Gujarat, & Dharamjaigarh – Chhattisgarh besides government representatives from State Rural Livelihood Mission, Integrated Tribal Development Authority, Forest Department, District Administration from multiple states and representatives from IIT Bombay and the Centre for Policy Research.
To read more about, ISB’s initiative on Forest Economy, visit: https://forestgovernance.in/
EDUCATION
Advanced Management Programme in Public Policy
The second residency of the AMPPP Co’ 23 (Batch 7) comprising 38 participants was conducted from 4th November to 13th November at the ISB Hyderabad campus. Seven courses were covered in the Term 2 (Macro Economics; Financial Sector Regulation and Law; Quantitative Methods; Gender and Development; Behavioural Economics; Ethics in Public Policy; and Public Private Partnership).
A networking dinner was organised during the residency which saw participants interacting with the alumni of the programme, transcending the inhibitions of lectures and classroom discussions, at the residency venue.
Expert Sessions and Special Visits During Residency
The residency included two expert talks and a fireside chat.
- A Fireside Chat was heldwith Manjari Jaruhar, the first woman IPS officer of Bihar, and author of the book, Madam Sir.
- An expert talk was delivered by J Satyanarayana, Chief Advisor of the World Economic Forum on “Digital Transformation: Opportunities and Challenges”.
- Another expert talk was delivered by Dr Srinivas Yanamandra, Group Head-Regulatory Affairs & Policy at One97 Communications Limited, on “RBI Concept Note on Central Bank Digital Currency: Design, Technology and Policy”.
Special Visits
The participants also visited the T-Hub, an innovation intermediary and business incubator based in Hyderabad, which aims to boost the start-up ecosystem.
The participants also went on an excursion around the city of Hyderabad and visited various historic sites wherein in many team building exercises were also organised.
To read more about the residency, click here: AMPPP
EVENTS IN FOCUS
Collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
To support agriculture-nutrition convergence through a technical assistance facility, a project towards improving nutrition outcomes amongst low-income households, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare will be collaborating with an ISB-led consortium. A project monitoring unit will be set up at the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, New Delhi. With this, a policy support research facility will be set up along with the University of Sheffield and London School of Hygiene&Tropical Medicine in collaboration with the Indian School of Business(ISB) to anchor this collaboration further.
Roundtables on Forest Governance and Industry Partnerships
Bharti Institute hosted a series of Roundtable discussions to establish further the Forest Economy Model, which is being built on partnerships amongst the industry, forest-dependent communities, and the government. As part of the series of discussions, industry experts from across sectors discussed opportunities from the Forest Economy as secure and sustainable sources of energy & fossil fuel substitutes and the role of opportunities from finance, technology & design in enabling a robust forest economy. The Initiative on the Forest Economy (IoFE) is a landscape-scale initiative of BIPP, ISB aimed towards building a robust forest economy to transform the livelihoods of over 200 million forest-dependent citizens and to enable sustainable management of forest landscapes across the country.
Along with the team at ISB-BIPP, the participants discussed the key enablers to harness the forest economy opportunity across the respective sectors and the potential that the forest economy holds for India’s national economy and decarbonisation targets as well.
The Roundtable discussions were held on the following broad-based topics:
- Forests as secure and sustainable sources of energy and fossil fuel substitutes
- Technology in the Forest Economy
- Design in the Forest Economy
- Finance in the Forest Economy
TRAINING IN FOCUS
Training to Officials of the Department of Water Resources, Government of Punjab
The Department of Water Resources, Punjab collaborated with Bharti Institute of Public Policy, for a series of workshops on capacity building intervention for its senior officials, to train them in the areas of Leadership, Ethics, and Emerging Issues concerning Water Resources Management. The series of in-person workshops were aimed at equipping government officials with contemporary management concepts and enhance their motivation and leadership skills, along with imparting research-driven knowledge on water management, security, and agri-water conflicts resolution. Three batches of senior officials from the department of water resources, government of Punjab have already been trained at ISB, Mohali campus. Some of the key resources persons for the training workshops include Dr Aarushi Jain, Policy Director, BIPP; Prof Anjal Prakash, Research Director, BIPP, ISB; Dr. Abhishek Jain, IAS, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, GOI; Karan Avtar Singh, IAS (Retd); Rajeshwar Upadhyay, CEO, Par Excellence; Shweta Rajput, Imageimpakt; Prof. Purnamita Dasgupta, Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi; Vivek Atray, IAS (Retd); Krishan Kumar (IAS), Principal Secretary, Department of Water Resources, Punjab.
COLLABORATION IN FOCUS
Census Data Research Workstation at Bharti Institute
The Census Data Research Workstation was formally inaugurated for the faculty and researcher community, at ISB’s Mohali campus in collaboration with the Directorate of Census Operations, Punjab and Chandigarh. The workstation facilitates research on anonymised aggregate data at various administrative levels, from Census 2001, 2011 and onwards, and is maintained by Bharti Institute.
The workstation will help researchers to access micro-level data from the department of Census. The microdata is available at the individual level from both rural and urban areas across districts and states in India. The workstation provides a consolidated platform for researchers, academicians, and data-enthusiasts to analyse (anonymised) record-level Census data at micro and macro level. The project allows greater and efficient utilisation of this data by quality researchers from various disciplines to yield valuable insights on relevant socio-economic dimensions of the country.
As part of the project, a steering committee has also been appointed, and the findings and studies published using Census data from this workstation will be shared with the government.
UPDATES of STATE GOVERNMENT ENGAGEMENTS
Mission Shakti, Government of Odisha
Bharti Institute, Indian School of Business (ISB) and the Department of Mission Shakti, Government of Odisha signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to unlock women's economic empowerment and rural prosperity through a robust forest economy.
The MoU was signed by Prof. Ashwini Chhatre, Executive Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy (BIPP), Indian School of Business, and Sujatha Karthikeyan, IAS, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Department of Mission Shakti, Government of Odisha in the presence of the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Odisha, Shri Naveen Patnaik, at the Make in Odisha Conclave in Bhubaneswar.
Under this three-year MoU, ISB and Mission Shakti will collaborate to build a prosperous and sustainable forest economy in Odisha through women-led community enterprises, starting with the districts of Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabrangpur, Rayagada, Mayurbhanj and Kendujhar. Along with facilitating technology development and direct market linkage, ISB will work with Mission Shakti to operationalise security of tenure through Community Forest Resource Rights’ (CFR) titles, capacity building, financial inclusion and skill development of Women’s Self-Help Groups (WSHGs), so that successful women-led community owned enterprises are established by the end of three years.
Government of Meghalaya
Meghalaya Legislative Research Fellowship Programme
Under the ongoing Meghalaya Legislative Research Fellowship (MLRF) for which Bharti Institute of Public Policy serves as a knowledge partner in association with the Meghalaya Institute of Governance (MIG), Government of Meghalaya, 12 fellows have successfully completed the first year of their training. The fellows have been working with all 60 members of the Legislative Assembly including the Hon’ble Chief Minister and Ministers of state. During the training, they focused on learning quantitative and qualitative research techniques besides attending sessions on policy writing and legal issues. The fellows along with the staff of Meghalaya Institute of Governance (MIG), visited remote villages across the state of Meghalaya for public consultation regarding the development of various tourism projects and to generate awareness among stakeholders for the proposed projects, promoting further clarity and understanding. As part of the fellowship, the fellows will now be working with the Election Commission duties for the upcoming legislative assembly elections in the state.
Government of Jharkhand
Initiative on Forest Economy
As part of the Initiative on the Forest Economy (IoFE), Bharti Institute organised three large scale block-level meetings in Kolebira, Jaldega and Bano in Simdega district. All three block meetings were attended in huge numbers by village leaders and members, and key district administration stakeholders. The potential from the forest economy was discussed at length and the first steps for operationalising Community Forest Resources Rights (CFRR) were initiated at scale. In conjunction with the government stakeholders and community representatives, operational plans to implement CFRR in the area were discussed and laid out.
Bharti Institute, ISB signed an MoU with Tata Consultancy Services, to monitor and estimate tropical forest carbon stocks in the sub-tropical forest ecosystem using TCS’s Sky-Earth convergence technology approach. The pilot will start with Simdega district, Jharkhand.
Government of Himachal Pradesh
Initiative on Forest Economy
Engagements with the government of Himachal Pradesh continue on the forest economy project along with initial discussions on proposed collaborations.
As part of the ongoing engagement with the state government under the Forest Economy Initiative, the first set of 38 CFRR claims were submitted to the Sub divisional Level Committee (SDLC) in Pangi Valley, Chamba District, Himachal Pradesh. Following the pilot sale of Hazelnuts from Himachal Pradesh, a premium retail store in Hyderabad (Dry Fruitz Basket) placed 2 repeat orders with the recent purchase order being 10 times the pilot sale’s quantity.
Other Engagements
Development, Monitoring and Evaluation Office, NITI Aayog
Bharti Institute has been engaging with Development, Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), NITI Aayog on various fronts. Prof. Ashwini Chhatre, Executive Director, Bharti Institute and Dr. Aarushi Jain, Policy Director, held a meeting with Suman Bery, Vice-Chairperson, NITI Aayog to discuss a new collaboration for an upcoming series of case studies.
WRI-NUIA Collaboration
Bharti Institute of Public Policy, in association with the World Resources Institute and National Institute of Urban Affairs, had designed and developed a programme to build a pool of 4000 – 5000 climate leaders across India. During the reporting period, the programme facilitated a group of city managers and staff of the Administrative Training Institute, Mysore for Phase 1 and 2 of the programme. The training focused on a better understanding of climate change and how India’s economic growth can move ahead in a climate-friendly way in urban areas.
ISB Signs MoU with AAK
The Indian School of Business (ISB) and AAK India Pvt. Ltd. (AAKIPL) have signed an MOU to work together in enabling the key steps towards a robust forest economy. The MoU was signed by Prof. Ashwini Chhatre, Executive Director, Bharti Institute and Dheeraj Talreja, President, South Asia at AAKIPL. The newly formed partnership will formalise the participation of communities with secure tenure in the economy and facilitate capacity building at grassroots level. This partnership between ISB and AAK will spotlight the model of competitive and sustainable forest product supply chains anchored in the security of tenure. AAK will also partner with the Bharti Institute of Public Policy in constituting a working group under the Initiative on Forest Economy by the end of this year.
NEW GRANTS
Technical Assistance to Advance India’s Agri-Nutrition Convergence Agenda
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given a new grant to Bharti Institute, in order to support the government of India to improve nutrition outcomes amongst low-income consumers in underserved geographies. The pilots of the project will be held in the states of Bihar and Odisha wherein Bharti Institute will work closely with these respective state governments. The Technical Assistance Facility is led by ISB-BIPP, with its implementation partners as MicroSave Consulting, Collectives for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives (CInI, TATA Trusts) and Policy Development and Advisory Group (PDAG). Bharti Institute will support governments in identifying convergence opportunities in policy and undertake rapid support through pilot studies in understanding challenges to convergence in implementation of public interventions and use sophisticated communications and outreach strategy for effective dissemination of knowledge generated through these efforts.
Supplementary Financial Inclusion Grant (FI) to India Data Portal
Bharti Institute under the India Data Portal (IDP) project received a supplementary financial inclusion grant (FI) from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to further the potential of the India Data Portal (IDP) and propagate usability among its stakeholders in the broader financial inclusion ecosystem. The new supplement will focus on outreach to targeted stakeholders in the financial inclusion ecosystem, will build greater awareness, and will drive usage of the platform among users in the financial inclusion ecosystem. The key audiences would include relevant government stakeholders; NBFCs; credit bureaus; banking correspondent aggregators; think tanks; private research firms; and BMGF’s partner network. The outreach efforts will be enabled by the most updated financial inclusion data on the India Data Portal.
UPDATES ON EXISTING GRANTS
India Data Portal
India Data Portal organised a roundtable discussion for Open Data Ecosystem in India in the Public Policy Dialogues at ISB. The Open Data Ecosystem attracted panelists in leadership roles from CABI, How India Lives, Media Nama, Open Data Kerala, Stats of India, Swaniti Initiative, Factly, The Hindu, DPAR (Govt. of Karnataka), Omidyar Network, NASSCOM, Sattva Consulting and faculty members from ISB. Prof. Ashwini Chhatre, Executive Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, moderated the session and discussed the challenges that are faced while using an open data ecosystem and how these can be mitigated. The panel discussed one of the well-known issues of data not being in a machine-readable format which becomes a bigger challenge for users analysing the data. The key components of the discussion were how to better access the data that is consumption worthy for the public, including open data portals, data standards, and data literacy programs. The discussion furthered the challenges of Open Data Processing and future collaboration possibilities to resolve these challenges collectively.
Upscaling Community Forest Resource (CFR) Rights Recognition and Governance in India
The Tenure Facility’s grant for ‘Upscaling community tenure rights in India” entered its third phase. The grant agreement was officially signed off by Tenure Facility and ISB in December 2022. Also, the new website on the Initiative on Forest Governance can be viewed at https://forestgovernance.in/
OUTREACH
- Students from IIFM worked at four different geographies (in Odisha, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh & Maharashtra) for documenting case studies on sustaining and securing forest tenure. As part of their winter internship at ISB, the students spent eight weeks interacting with multiple stakeholders at the communities and documenting their journey and struggle for secure forest tenure, and the success stories of collective sale of seasonal forest products by communities with secure tenure to large buyers.
- ISB’s team presented a panel on ‘Securing forest tenure through multi-stakeholder partnerships’, where the team shared its experiences of coordinating with multiple government stakeholders and partners to secure CFR titles at the landscape level, design technological solutions to increase efficiency and reduce drudgery, create community-owned women-led enterprises for seasonal forest products, and enable formal linkages between communities and large-scale industrial buyers of forest-based raw materials at competitive prices. The India Land & Development Conference (ILDC) is the only annual inclusive Land Convergence platform in India and South Asia.
- Indian School of Business (ISB), in association with the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), organised a district-level workshop in Malkangiri, Odisha, on bamboo harvesting, business orientation and management plan. Malkangiri, an abundant bamboo belt in the state, is one of the pilot locations for the Forest Economy initiative by ISB-BIPP that aims to build a sustainable forest economy and boost the livelihoods of local communities. Over 70 participants attended the workshop. The GS leaders also benefitted from business planning and operational experience shared by community leaders from Kalahandi’s Mahasabha, a federation of 100 gram sabhas with CFR Titles that have experience in managing their community owned forests and sustainably harvesting Bamboo for sale.
BHARTI INSTITUTE IN NEWS
Team in News
Prof. Ashwini Chhatre
Prof. Ashwini Chhatre co-authored an article with Sushma Kattamuri, on how nurturing and caring for the forests—the green powerhouses, can be a triple-win opportunity—good for profits, the planet, and the people. Read here: Forbes
Prof. Ashwini Chhatre, in an article on Digital Minismalism, said, “Communication, and payment travel apps, for example, are valuable digital resources. Use them to simplify your life rather than complicate it”. Read here: The Times of India
Prof. Ashiwini led an e-discussion organised by India Data Portal, hosted by Newslaudry on “How Data can Help Journalists Capture and Convey India’s Caste Dynamics”. Watch here: Newslaundry
Prof. Ashwini Chhatre gets quoted in an article on Bharti Institute facilitating a partnership between a SHG and Dry Fruitz Basket, Hyderabad, and how enabling a direct relationship among the local communities, industry, and retail creates a win-win for all under the forest economy initiative. Read here: SocialNews
Prof. Ashwini Chhatre gets quoted on Ministry Of Agriculture And Farmers Welfare announcing the collaboration with ISB-led consortium to strengthen agriculture-nutrition convergence Read here: India Education Diary
Prof.Ashwini Chhatre gets quoted in a news article announcing ISB’s collaboration with the government of Odisha for women empowerment and rural prosperity through a sustainable rural economy under Mission Shakti. Read here: Orissa Diary
Prof. Ashwini Chhatre gets quoted in a news article announcing the MoU with producers of specialty vegetable oil, AAK India Pvt Ltd (AAKIPL), to formalise participation of communities with secure tenure in the economy and facilitate capacity building at grassroots level. Read here: Bizzbuzz
Prof. Anjal Prakash
Sharing his thoughts about the Maharashtra state that is reeling under severe impacts of climate change year after year, Anjal Prakash said, “the recent floods in Sangli and other areas have actually exposed the vulnerability of Maharashtra. We have seen the monsoon patterns have changed and have been impacting agriculture a lot more.” Read here: The Times of India | Deccan Herald | FPJ
Prof. Anjal Prakash co-authored an opinion piece, stating- Agreement on the L&D fund is, to conclude, a major achievement of COP27. It provides, for the first time, a financial mechanism to address the climate injustices lived by communities in the Global South. Read here.
Prof. Anjal Prakash shared his thoughts on the report on Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) tabulated by a Europe - based consortium highlighting that India is a leading player on climate action. Read here: India Narrative.
Prof. Anjal Prakash was interviewed exclusively on climate change by UN News.
Prof. Anjal Prakash wrote a guest column titled– ‘Is there an attempt by the global north at greenwashing their own wrongdoings’ in The Times of India.
Prof. Anjal Prakash shared his thoughts on the report titled, 'WMO Provisional State of the Global Climate 2022', released by the World Meteorological Organisation. Read here.
Prof. Anjal Prakash was quoted in a news article on climate change leading to extreme weather conditions published in Deccan Chronicle
Events in News
The three-day ‘Public Policy Dialogues: Bridging Research and Practice, organised by the Bharti Institute of Public Policy (BIPP) was extensively covered by national and vernacular media outlets including newspapers, TV channels, web portals, etc. Read the news in The Hindu | Times Now| Telangana Today | Deccan Chronicle | Navbharat Times | Namaste Telangana | The Hans India | Deccan Chronicle | Namaste Telangana | ThePrint | Maharashtra Samachar| Odisha Post | Rajasthan Ki Khabar | UP Today | Kashmir Newsline | ANI
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Prof. Ashwini Chhatre, Executive Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, talks about forest economy and how to make it more visible by bringing it into the formal sector. He also touches upon creating economies of scale, community forests, sustainability and more in this episode of Inside India series, an initiative of the Indian School of Business. Watch here:
Dr. Aarushi Jain, Policy Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, ISB, led a session on Constitutional Framework and Decentralisation, shedding light on the Indian constitution, parliamentary democracy, the genesis of policymaking in India, federalism and good governance during the “54th Capacity Building Programme in Field Administration for the Civil Servants of Bangladesh” organised by the National Centre for Good Governance.
Prof. Anjal Prakash participated in a panel discussion on ‘Key Takeaways from COP 27' at the India Climate and Development Partners meet co-hosted by the Government of Kerala and The World Bank in Trivandrum.
Prof. Anjal Prakash spoke at a seminar on “Leading to Greener Hyderabad: Context, Challenges & Opportunities”, organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Chapter) and International Finance Corporation.
Dr.Sharique Manazir, delivered a lecture during a session titled "Digital Regulations & Democracies: An analysis of People Participating in Consultation Process for the Personal Data Protection Bill Draft in India at the Alexander Von Humboldt Institute of Internet & Society, Berlin.
Ms. Nimisha Jain presented a paper on "An inter-district analysis of Infrastructural disparity in Karnataka" at the 105th Annual Conference of the Indian Economic Association at Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Ms. Nikhat Khalid presented a paper titled “The Nuances of India and Singapore Trade in Manufactured Goods: An Empirical Examination” at the Eighth International Conference on Empirical Issues in International Trade & Finance (EIITF), Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi.
Ms. Nikhat Khalid presented a paper titled “Determinants of India’s Manufacturing Sector Trade with ASEAN Countries: An Empirical ARDL Analysis” at the 4th Rajagiri Conference on Economics and Finance organized by Rajagiri Business School and the University of Economics and Human Sciences at Warsaw, Poland.
It is for the relentless dedication of our amazing team that Bharti Institute keeps on scaling new heights and flourishing even when times get pandemically tough. We thank our researchers, associates, managers, writers, and coordinators for their contribution and noteworthy effort to Bharti Institute’s innovative programmes, change-oriented collaborations, and dynamic pursuits. Miles to go, together!
About Bharti Institute of Public Policy
The Bharti Institute of Public Policy is an integral part of the Indian School of Business. Functioning as an independent think-tank, the institute engages with policy makers by providing them with critical, evidence-based analysis of public policy rooted in data. The institute works on policy challenges across diverse domains, the main ones being Agriculture and Food, Environment, Education, Financial Policy, Governance and Digital identity.
