News and views from the Blavatnik School of Government community 
India, long the world’s largest, most diverse and most hopeful democracy, is officially no longer a democracy. For the first time in almost fifty years, the world’s foremost democracy assessor, Freedom House, downgraded India’s rating from Free to Partly Free. The change this marks is considerable. For nearly three quarters […]
As a civil servant working in the state of Kerala, India, for the past seven years, I have been on the foreground while the state has dealt with various challenges – from severe flooding in 2018 and 2019 to the outbreak of Nipah virus in 2018. However, dealing with a […]
By abruptly revoking the special, constitutionally protected status of Jammu and Kashmir, India has become the latest major democracy to act against a minority community for short-term political popularity. Kashmir will henceforth be ruled more directly from the government in New Delhi, and Hindu nationalists are thrilled. Carefully maintained constitutional […]
When I first suggested the topic of this blog to a friend, he said it was an oxymoron. Design and government? Thinking and government? If design thinking is all about putting people first, many do not believe that policies really put people first. The design thinking process involves many steps […]
First up, I can’t do what Marie Kondo does. Discard. In her new Netflix series, people who have accumulated clothes over time are seen decorously breaking down and seeking the help of Marie to check whether their shopping sparks joy. If not, the alternative is one: discard. Discarding is so […]
As a fresh faced civil servant on her first posting to Bangalore in 2003, it thrilled me to bits to read the motivational etching on the Vidhana Soudha, Bengaluru’s postcard monument that houses the State Legislature. It says in native Kannada first: Sarkarada kelasa Devara Kelasa and below it, the […]
It is not an overstatement to call India as the generic drug supplier of the world. A recent study indicated that India is the largest exporter of generics (by volume) in the world, accounting for 20% of global export volume. Low prices, strong scientific ability and high quality are the […]
Darjeeling is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal which shares the border with Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. A globally renowned destination right from the days of British colonisation, its landscape, toy train, tea gardens, and timber resource made it a popular destination for visitors throughout the 20th […]