In 2015, I was summoned to the North Block from the office of the then Minister of State for Finance, Jayant Sinha. For somebody who worked in a bank, my first thought was that some hell had broken loose somewhere; I may have written something that was a slip-up or something. We ended up having a one-hour long conversation and that was it. Nothing happened; life moved on as usual. Then, in 2016, I received another call that I now think possibly changed the trajectory of my career path and maybe, even life. I was asked if I want to work with Mr Sinha as the Officer on Special Duty. After mulling over it, it was decided that I will work with him for 18-24 months—even after Mr Sinha moved from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Why? I wanted to explore the world of policy. Such opportunities are hard to come by. Besides, it’s where I learnt two of the biggest lessons that I now see panning out around us these days, especially during the debates on the #FarmBill20
Financial Express The new normal after Covid-19 requires a re-imagining of macroeconomics: we need to start defining the contours of, and measuring, the fourth sector. (First of a two-part article) “There are three estates in Parliament but in the Reporters' Gallery yonder there sits a Fourth Estate more important far than they all. It is not a figure of speech or witty saying, it is a literal fact, very momentous to us in these times.” Edmund Burke's quote highlighted the rising of the Fourth Estate as press and media became an important pillar of the society. A similar momentous time is upon us again, courtesy the pandemic, as we recognize what brings income and wealth to the society. In an earlier article , “ Getting India digitally ready: COVID-19 pandemic highlights urgent need to build digital cocoons for the whole population ” (May 15, 2020, The Financial Express), we had looked at the importance of and need to build “digital cocoons” for a large segment of India’s p
Financial Express Covid-19 highlights the importance of and urgent need to build ‘digital cocoons’ for the whole population The Covid-19 series of lock-downs have brought very different experiences for varied segments of society: the contrast cannot be starker than the social media posts of fancy meals at home compared to the long walks back to hometowns. What explains the difference? Those who have been able to weave a ‘digital cocoon’ have done comparatively better than the real-world migrants. A migrant moves location for economic activity, whether a job, business or studies. In case of a real-world migrant, her presence at the site of the economic activity is sine qua non – there is simply no way that the activity can be performed without the person being there. In the case of a ‘digital migrant’, however, a virtual presence suffices. Juxtapose the move of migrants to their hometowns with the initiatives that many companies are now running to empower their employees to ‘wor
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