- This event is over. However, time travel possible through our Audio & Video! See upcoming events
South vs. North
India’s Great Divide
Speakers
Is India’s federalism viable in the 21st Century?
South India finds itself in an impossible bargain. Is it even an equal partner? How and why the southern states are outperforming the rest of the country and what are its consequences in an increasingly centralized India? In his presentation, Nilakantan reveals how south India deals with a particularly tough set of issues – its triumphs in areas of health, education and economic growth are met with a policy regime that penalizes it; its success in population control will be met with a possible loss of political representation. How will the region manage such an assault?
Why is South India doing so much better than the North? And what does that mean?
Author Nilekantan RS will engage in a conversation with Prof. Govind Rao and Pranay Kotasthane which will be followed by a Q&A.
Speakers
Nilakantan RS
Nilakantan RS works as a Data Scientist and is the author of South vs North. He trained as an engineer at Clemson University and is the Chief Data Scientist for one of India’s largest fintech firms. His primary interest is designing stable decentralized systems – be they political entities or business-related processes. He has written on India’s federal structure for publications such as The Caravan, Wire.com and The Hindu.
Govind Rao
M. Govinda Rao is an Adviser, Centre for Public Policy, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and Counsellor, Takshashila Institution, Bangalore. He was a Member of the Fourteenth Finance Commission (2013-14), Director, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (2003-13) and Director, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore. He was a Member of Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (2004-2013), Chairman, Expert Group on Taxation of Services, Chairman, Expert Group on VAT Compensation, Member of Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC); Member, High Level Expert Committee on Universal Health Coverage and Member, High Level Expert Committee on Efficient Management of Public Expenditure. His research interests include, tax policy and reforms, public expenditure management, State and local finances, fiscal decentralisation and federalism.
Pranay Kotasthane
Pranay Kotasthane is deputy director of the Takshashila Institution. Pranay’s current research includes high tech geopolitics and the politics of radically networked societies. Pranay teaches public policy, international relations, and public finance at Takshashila’s graduate and post-graduate programmes.
Pranay co-writes Anticipating the Unintended, a newsletter on public policy ideas and frameworks and co-hosts Puliyabaazi, a popular Hindi-Urdu podcast on politics and policy and technology. He has co-edited India’s Marathon: Reshaping the Post-Pandemic World Order.
A concept he wants to popularise is societism — the idea that the society, like markets and States, has a distinct role in any human community. Pranay has contributed opinion pieces and essays in several Hindi and English outlets.
Pranay started his public policy career at the Takshashila Institution in March 2014. He is an alumnus of the fifth cohort of Takshashila’s Graduate Course in Public Policy (GCPP). He was conferred with the Gomtibai Govindji Award for the best student of his batch.
Pranay graduated from the National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, with a B.Tech degree in Electronics and Communication. He had stints with two Fortune 500 companies working on integrated circuit design for mobile processors after that.
