Skip to main content

Will Niti Aayog plan to announce woman leadership is crucial for economic revival?

Open letter by Prof Mansee Bal Bhargava, entrepreneur, researcher and educator with the SaciWATERS, Hyderabad, and is Environmental Design Consultant, Ahmedabad, to Niti Aayog and PMO on the need for a chief strategist and not chief economist for the Niti Aayog:
***
I’m writing with great passion regarding professional concerns over the vacancy position of chief economist cum sr lead at Niti Aayog which is also published now in regular news.
My concerns are two-folds with a concluding remark more as a suggestion:
Qualification sought for the Position: It is worrying that the qualification asked is biased asking for a PhD in Economics. Planning is not about Economics alone! We have seen over the decades since the inception of the predecessor of Niti Aayog, the Planning Commission, that doing only Economics has not brought us to a good state of Economy rather Development.
Therefore, here is a chance to Rethink! The position should rather call for a person with a qualification of Multi-Trans-Disciplinary Background (with a PhD) who has a Vision and Mission to Take India to a Right Path of Development, which at this moment should be GREEN GROWTH-DEVELOPMENT which India too is a signatory as an International Agenda and that needs to be reflected on national policies and on ground activities.
The person then a ‘Chief’ sought must have a Complex Thinking Approach unlike a Linear Thinking Economic Approach, so that the Country can be directed towards optimising (not maximising) its resources while including the human and bio-diversity wellbeing besides ensuring security for the future generation and environment.
Let the Vision-Mission of a Healthy and Happy State be the Goal of the nation-state and let the Economy be a Strategy to achieve so. As a Thinker-Visionary, you may agree that the Economy as the Goal for decades now has not succeeded in providing a healthy and happy society a. A lot of things are changing in the country at this moment, so turning the goal around should also be Discussed and a Choice for once since the Independence of India.
Gender in the Position: I like to start with congratulating Niti Aayog for making the call for the position a Gender Neutral thing to Chief Economist. The Chief Executive Officer also sounds a Gender Neutral position. I like to bring to your notice the position of Deputy ChairMAN. The Deputy ChairMAN position of the Planning Commission from the first, Gulzarilal Nanda, to the last, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, has been bestowed to MEN only for the reasons best known to the late Planning Commission.
NO WOMAN has had the opportunity to lead, among the 24 ChairMEN of the Planning Commission spanning from 1950-2014, the most important organisation of the country that is Charting a Path for its Development-Growth. Ironically, a similar pattern also seems to be prevailing in the Vice-ChairMAN and CEO of Niti Aayog so far. The word -MAN is the problem here as the recruitments and peoples psychology too have been manly. So, not only the nomenclature of the Vice-ChairMAN needs changing to something more gender inclusive, the appointment also requires to reflect that gender parity.
I’ll be surprised if Women are not claiming Candidature. Since, India produces a substantial number of highly qualified Women Thinkers and Visionaries even after the massive brain drain we suffer. I shall refrain from naming any women for the position to respect all gender and at the same time claim thyself to be also competitive for the position. Meanwhile, there are ample examples all over the world now to justify that women leadership is crucial for economic revival, overall wellbeing and even health issues like addressing corona. I shall remain hopeful that Indian institutions like Niti Aayog, Supreme Court, RBI, ED, EC, Defense, etc., show the gender parity in leadership positions sometime in my lifetime.
Combining the above two aspects, here I conclude with a suggestion and request that Niti Aayog and PMO call especially for more Women Visionaries with Multi-Trans-Disciplinary Background (with a PhD) for the position of Chief (not Economist but something else like Strategist) of Niti Aayog. I’m aware that by concluding with a gender biased suggestion is likely to weaken the above arguments. The matter of fact is that Women by default are complex thinkers and have more empathy towards the environment besides valuing cooperation over conflict which have made them better and progressive leaders since history till date. Such position requires a person who knows Economics indeed but importantly has a knack for Ecology and Empathy.
I’ll not be shocked but saddened if the concerns are interpreted from feminist perspective.
As we all know that the Niti Aayog and PMO have long been masculine which is seen as Normal in the Highly Patriarchal and Hierarchical society that we live.
NitiAyog renaming itself from the Planning Commission is a good time also to redefine the vision-mission of Niti Aayog, which can be done better by gendered leadership change into Woman Chief. Time to Try for a New Normal!
I shall be keen to know if the ‘Chief’ position is still calling for applications.
I shall be also keen to know how the Niti Aayog plans to convey in the announcement that the position welcomes Women Leadership.
Thank you.
Sincerely, Jai Hind!

Comments

TRENDING

Right-arm fast bowler who helped West Indies shape arguably greatest Test team in cricket history

By Harsh Thakor*  Malcolm Marshall redefined what it meant to be a right-arm fast bowler, challenging the traditional laws of biomechanics with his unique skill. As we remember his 25th death anniversary on November 4th, we reflect on the legacy he left behind after his untimely death from colon cancer. For a significant part of his career, Marshall was considered one of the fastest and most formidable bowlers in the world, helping to shape the West Indies into arguably the greatest Test team in cricket history.

Andhra team joins Gandhians to protest against 'bulldozer action' in Varanasi

By Rosamma Thomas*  November 1 marked the 52nd day of the 100-day relay fast at the satyagraha site of Rajghat in Varanasi, seeking the restoration of the 12 acres of land to the Sarva Seva Sangh, the Gandhian organization that was evicted from the banks of the river. Twelve buildings were demolished as the site was abruptly taken over by the government after “bulldozer” action in August 2023, even as the matter was pending in court.  

Tributes paid to pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, who 'dodged' police for 60 yrs

By Harsh Thakor*  Jagjit Singh Sohal, known as Comrade Sharma, a pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, passed away on October 20 at the age of 96. Committed to the Naxalite cause and a prominent Maoist leader, Sohal, who succeeded Charu Majumdar, played hide and seek with the police for almost six decades. He was cremated in Patiala.

United organisations oppose privatisation of health services in Madhya Pradesh

By Our Representative  In a strong show of opposition, multiple health associations under the umbrella of the United Organisations for Action against Privatisation of Health Services have condemned the Government of Madhya Pradesh’s recent moves towards privatising public health facilities. They argue that these actions, including outsourcing and the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, will compromise the availability and accessibility of essential health services for the state’s citizens.

Outreach programme in medical education: Band-aids for compound fractures

By Amitav Banerjee, MD*  Recently, the National Medical Commission (NMC) of India, introduced two curricular changes in medical education, both at the undergraduate and the postgraduate levels, ostensibly to offer opportunities for quality medical education and to improve health care accessibility among the underserved rural and urban population.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah  The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Will Left victory in Sri Lanka deliver economic sovereignty plan, go beyond 'tired' IMF agenda?

By Atul Chandra, Vijay Prashad*  On September 22, 2024, the Sri Lankan election authority announced that Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) alliance won the presidential election. Dissanayake, who has been the leader of the left-wing JVP since 2014, defeated 37 other candidates, including the incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP) and his closest challenger Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. 

Will Bangladesh go Egypt way, where military ruler is in power for a decade?

By Vijay Prashad*  The day after former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka, I was on the phone with a friend who had spent some time on the streets that day. He told me about the atmosphere in Dhaka, how people with little previous political experience had joined in the large protests alongside the students—who seemed to be leading the agitation. I asked him about the political infrastructure of the students and about their political orientation. He said that the protests seemed well-organized and that the students had escalated their demands from an end to certain quotas for government jobs to an end to the government of Sheikh Hasina. Even hours before she left the country, it did not seem that this would be the outcome.