An Entrepreneur Of Ideas

Nandan Nilekani’s book should help broaden participation in public debate, says DEVANGSHU DATTA

Autodidact Nilekani is well-traveled, well-read and brave enough to make projections Photo: SHAILENDRA PANDEY

FOR SOME unfathomable reason, a background in the sciences or in business has always been considered an automatic disqualifier when it comes to contributing to India’s public debate. As Nandan Nilekani points out, that makes two strikes against his massive doorstopper of a book being taken seriously.

The prejudice against social commentary from people with technological training or an entrepreneurial attitude may have something to do with the fact that Jawaharlal Nehru was both technoilliterate and morbidly entrepreneurphobic. The other possibility is that people with technological training have a distressing attitude of seeking concrete solutions, rather than merely debating problems and indulging in prolixity. It is especially strange when you realise that the actual agents of positive change in India’s socio-economic fabric have usually been entrepreneurs or technologists.

Imagining India should go a long, long way towards reducing that prejudice. Nilekani has obviously thought deeply about the socio-economic mega trends that shape the nation and discussed them with a wide range of thinkers. The book can be best described as a series of standalone but not disconnected essays on these mega-themes.

The author is old enough to have lived through the socialistic decades and he spent 10 years trying to run a business during that era of stasis. He is young enough to have been in the forefront of the generation that revelled in the opportunities created by the move to a semi-market economy. He is sufficiently widely traveled and widely read to have a global perspective on what has occurred and how it has brought about a sea change in attitudes. He is also brave enough to make intelligent guesses about future directions.

IMAGINING INDIA: IDEAS FOR THE NEW CENTURY Nandan Nilekani Penguin/Allen Lane 530 pp; Rs 699

Some of his projections and guesses must be wrong. Any futurologist has to abide by the fact that reality always turns out to be rather different from even the best-informed guesstimates. But he has done a pretty comprehensive job of covering the issues that are hotbutton and likely to remain that way.

The book is divided into four main sections. The first deals with ideas and attitudes that have already changed, such as the take on entrepreneurship (from revulsion to a positive embrace), the demographic dividend (earlier known as the population explosion) and usage of IT, communications and general ‘electronicfication’ (from the derision of the early years to matter-of-fact acceptance).

The second set of ideas are the ones in the process of gaining acceptance. These include attitudes to urbanisation, primary-level education, creating common domestic markets by erasing interstate barriers. The third set are the ideas generating violent debate. This includes labour reforms, infrastructure building, land reforms and attitudes to higher education. The fourth set consists of the ideas that are on the horizon and are starting to generate heat: the creation of public health systems that deliver, the creation of social security systems, energy policies and environmental policies.

Nilekani’s over-arching vision is simple: create access to health, education, infrastructure, IT, etc, for all citizens. He feels that India also needs to study the mistakes made in the First World and ensure that it doesn’t repeat those, and he retains a sense of optimism. This is a thought-provoking book written with a great degree of erudition and clarity. You may disagree with him about specifics, but you will definitely be forced to think about these issues.

In the 1940s, while establishing the UK’s public education system, meteorologist and novelist CP Snow stated that it made sense to teach science and technology early because it is relatively easier to pick up the social sciences as an adult. This book suggests that Snow was right. Nilekani’s auto-didactic example could open the door for other thoughtful techno-entrepreneurs to contribute to public debate.