Widening horizons of public policy

S K Tapasvi

The nature and content of higher education is changing the world over. The focus on design and delivery of programmes and courses has a direct impact on social issues. Critical thinking and creative problem-solving are increasingly getting integrated into newly emerging areas of knowledge. 

Among several such innovative programmes, Public Policy Management, both at the undergraduate and post graduate levels, has emerged as one of the most sought after majors in developed countries. 

Skill set

Contemporary public managers require competencies that are not only compatible with increasing use of technology in everyday life, but also the ability to engage with multiple stakeholders. They need to be emotionally intelligent, personally impactful and leader-like, problem solvers and innovative thinkers. The ability to forecast patterns in political, economic, social and technological domains impacting civic lives is another prominent feature of modern public managers. 

With the involvement of private sector in the public domain in the form of public private partnerships (PPP), several companies that do business with the government and/ or co-produce public goods and services, need professionals who are trained in public policy areas ranging from infrastructure, finance, healthcare, education, skill development, agriculture, legal services, banking, tax advisory, corporate governance and social responsibility, insolvency resolution, public order management, e-governance, cyber security, climate change and several other newly emerging  work domains. 

Even professionally managed NGOs and voluntary organisations need policy professionals, who can contribute to advocacy and research on very specific areas of public welfare such as access to education and healthcare, environmental conservation, livelihood creation, protection of land rights, access to public utilities, protection of human rights, prevention of atrocities on weaker sections, prevention of child labour, protection of rights of women against domestic violence, work-place discrimination and sexual harassment, etc.

India is a constitutional democracy and it is the right of citizens to understand public policies that have enormous impact on their lives. Knowledge and awareness of constitutional rights are a must, therefore, begin with public policy teaching at the school level in the form of liberal arts subjects. 

Liberal education is the key to nation-building efforts and laying the foundation of New India. As technology is an influential enabler in this process, promoting scientific temper and mathematical ability needs to be done at the school level itself. However, these objectives can be achieved only when trained and qualified teachers are engaged at the primary and school education level.  

Robust demand

Public Policy students in western developed countries are offered internships from federal, state and local levels of government apart from work offers from policy think tanks, multilateral organisations of the United Nations system, non-profit organisations, development NGOs, consulting firms, political parties, and now even corporate sector organisations. Among the several differentiated aspects of public policy knowledge and skills, the major distinguishing aspect of teaching and research in this domain is the inter-disciplinary understanding of issues and problems related to societies and inhabitants. The students of public policy are, therefore, in great demand in developed countries. In India, inter-disciplinary programmes of public policy, public governance, public management and public affairs are of recent origin. In the past, the public administration scholarship was well entrenched into the university curriculum at undergraduate as well as postgraduate levels. However, with the changing nature of public domain and increasing complexity of issues to be tackled by public managers — including both political executives and civil servants, the demands on knowledge, skills and attitude have multiplied several folds. 

— The writer is professor & chairman, Public Policy & Management Area Management Development Institute, Gurugram