A lecture series titled “Practitioner’s approach to Public Policy”, first of its kind was organised by the Indian School of Public Policy (ISPP) in Delhi. The lecture series comprised of three parts and covered aspects of the role of public professional and career prospects in industry, research, not for profits, government and media.

The sessions covered the art of policy making and advocacy in emerging markets vis-à-vis developed ones and stressed on the need for practitioners to be up-to-date on policy issues and thought processes of stakeholders. It also covered advocacy tools, narrative building, media, and third party advocacy, followed by multiple case studies.

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The workshops were conducted by Rameesh Kailasam, CEO of Indiatech and also considered as the emerging voice of the Indian startups in the internet space on policy issues.

“With India at the cusp of a regulatory evolution triggered by globalisation, geo-political and national issues, further driven by disruptive innovations in consumer technology, and industrial as well as social spaces, it is imperative for India to evolve a segment of public policy professionals to support such regulatory challenges,” Kailasam said.

“The workshop was aimed at helping the students experience and understand real-life practical approaches towards public policy,” he further added.

“The three-part lecture series conducted by Kailasam provided fascinating insights into contemporary policy issues in India. Several case studies pertaining to corporate firms and government institutions were explored that helped our batch expound two policy issues, in a nuanced manner, during the concluding session,” said Rahul Menon, public policy scholar.

Another scholar at ISPP, Tushar Meshram said, “during the series, one important takeaway, among many others, was to understand the crux and nuances of advocacy; advocacy is a hard sell and one must be aware of the ‘bargaining power’ of the other party as well. Discussions must be carried out in such a manner that one’s personal preferences don’t get in the way; awareness about the environment in which, and the regulations within which policy discussions happen, can enhance the position of the policy professional.”

ISSP is an initiative by the Foundation for Reinventing Governance and was started by some of India’s leading businessmen, bureaucrats, and academicians.