 |
ISB Holds 'Leadership Summit 2006: India Next'
The opening keynote address had Tejendra Khanna setting the tone for the first panel discussion that followed. He spoke about the need for Indian youth to preserve "certain unique aspects of Indianness", which included our "tradition of intellectualism", seeing the "goodness in all", and our "global adaptability" that allowed us to be absorbed into other cultures.
The first panel discussion was moderated by Rajendra Pawar who laid down the framework for the panellists to speak on the following points: -
What does it mean to be in politics? The panel had several interesting perspectives: Mudit Kapoor felt that one could make significant contributions to society by being politically aware and working to make the administration deliver. Chandan Mitra saw concern in the declining number of youth (aged between 25 and 40) who are MPs - from 162 in the 2nd Lok Sabha, to 60 in the current one. Jayaprakash Narayan said that politics, despite its disrepute, provided the only platform to the nation on which diverse and conflicting issues could be resolved. "The only antidote to politics is more politics, and better politics," he said. He said that politicians were victims of a vicious circle, and saw optimism in India's future, as a "third wave" comprising of aware and active citizens, would work with like-minded politicians caught in the vicious circle, to bring about a revolutionary change because change was now inevitable. He exhorted students to be active participants in that change. Sandeep Dikshit gave a first-hand account of what it was like being an elected politician. He said that as a politician, he had little choice in deciding who his "foot soldiers" were - a reference to the party workers who were the "middlemen" forging and managing the relationship between the politician and his electorate. Contributed by - |
 |
|
|