MAKING IT HAPPEN: SUCCESSFUL MANAGEMENT OF COVID FALLOUT

May 11, 2021

Imparting health services to the tribal population in a District like Nandurbar (Maharashtra) is a stupendous task because of the poverty, illiteracy, remoteness, unwillingness to mix with the mainstream of the society. Mountainous terrain and the lack of proper roads in the inaccessible regions make the problems more severe. Most...

MAKING IT HAPPEN: NENDRAN BANANA TO EUROPEAN UNION

May 4, 2021

Among many commercial varieties of banana, Nendran is very unique as it is the only variety that is consumed in many forms and at different stages of ripening. It is a popular variety of Kerala and Tamil Nadu with a share of 50 per cent in these states and is...

MAKING IT HAPPEN: ROBUST EVALUATING MECHANISM

April 27, 2021

While examining the efficacy and utility of Right to Education Act in “Ethical Dilemmas of a Civil Servant, I had commented that “The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 (RTE) did precious little to improve the state of affairs. In fact, the legislation made the task...

Making it happen: INDCOSERVE

April 20, 2021

This was 2017. A discussion in one of the Committee Rooms of the Parliament House was underway. I was present as Secretary, School Education and Literacy. As it was inter-departmental discussion, there were Ministers and officers of the other Ministries as well. What is etched in my memory is the...

Making it happen: Balance between solar and thermal energy

April 14, 2021

Focus on the Green Energy Sector is extremely laudable and India appears to be is on its way to achieving its target of 100 GW of solar energy by 2022. Other latest developments in the Sector have also been very encouraging. Tariffs of solar energy have plummeted to Rs 1.99...

Making it happen: Water conservation

April 6, 2021

Importance of water conservation is gradually getting recognised by one and all. There is a realization that this aspect cannot be postponed anymore. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Government of India (GoI) launched ‘Catch the rain’ campaign to prioritize and speed up water conservation works. When Mayur Dixit, a young IAS...

Making it happen: Shajapur experiment

April 1, 2021

Transgenders have been at the receiving end of all societies over ages and even in the surreal world of the “idiot box”. In one of the episodes of Netflix’s TV show, Designated Survivor, Sasha, a transgender and sister-in-law to President of the United States of America faces backlash for using...

Making it happen: Attracting investments

March 23, 2021

First the good news. Recently conducted survey by FICCI reveals that the Overall Business confidence Index is at a decadal high of 74.2. Now, the bad news. COVID keeps coming back and we may have to live with it. The world is already undergoing a change but it is difficult...

Making it happen: Akshara Foundation

March 16, 2021

In my recently released book, “Ethical Dilemmas of a Civil Servant”, I point out that when I was posted as Secretary, School Education Government of India in 2016, “I was the most ‘uneducated’ person to handle this sector” for want of experience in this field. Word soon went around about...

MAKING IT HAPPEN: UNDERSTAND THE ‘WHY’ OF THE PROBLEM

March 9, 2021

“In 2014, both coal and power sector were faced with crisis. It needs to be examined why and how coal came out of the mess but power sector continues to languish.” All governments face problems. Perhaps one of the reasons for existence of governments are such problems, though they may...