The Policy Walk was conducted for the fifth batch of the Advanced Management Programme in Public Policy from 22nd September to 25th September at New Delhi. The three-day event hosted eminent formulators, practitioners and influencers of public policy from diverse sectors, interacting with participants on issues of political, cultural, economic, educational and technological dimensions of public policy. The participants visited the headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs; Ministry of Electronics and IT; Indian Council of Cultural Relations; UK High Commission; Invest India, along with several sessions at venue of stay, The Taj Palace, Chanakyapuri.

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Day 1:

Mr Ram Madhav, Member, Board of Governors, India foundation, talked about the significance of comprehensive policymaking and its implications for India's democracy and institutional strength, stressing upon the authenticity of policies, in context to the country’s present and past scenarios.

Ms Katy Budge, Minister Councellor, Political Strategy and Communications, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, discussed policy aspects of trade, economics, education and climate in Indo-UK relations, talking majorly upon the need of ‘People to People Connect’ in public policy, making the country-to-country collaborative programmes more effective and flexible.

Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Atomic Energy, Space, and Minister of State for Prime Minister's Office; Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, had in-depth interactions with participants wherein he advocated for an #integrateddesign in policy management and an holistic approach to policy making, calling for orientation to dynamism in policy areas of science, technology, atomic energy, science education, medical education, health and training sectors.

Mr Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises; Dr Sanjaya Baru, Distinguished Fellow, United Service Institution of India; Dr Shyam Saran, Former Foreign Secretary; Mr Vinod Duggal, Former Home Secretary, and Mr RP Singh, Former Chairman, Punjab & Sind Bank, shared their valuable life experiences and insights during a special dinner session hosted by Mr Rakesh Bharti Mittal for the participants of the Policy Walk. The evening saw a blend of colloquial interactions and formal engagements with the policy practitioners, creating lifelong memories and learnings for the cohort.

Day 2

Lt. Gen. SL Narsimhan, Director General, Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies, Ministry of External Affairs, shared nuances of Indo-China relations and various other aspects of foreign policy, with the participants of Policy Walk at the Ministry headquarters in New Delhi. He gave interesting, research-driven and experiential policy insights into complex, but significant policy foreign relations like those in case of China.

Dr Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, President, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, explored the cultural dimensions of policymaking and talked about the Council’s role in advancing India’s soft power through cultural policy, which becomes highly intricated given the country’s diversity in languages, traditions, cultures and identities.

Mr Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, informed about the Digital India Programme and its contribution to bringing about the digital transformation in India, enhancing the reach and development of Information Technology

services and infrastructure across the country. He had enlightening conversations with the participants on the national digital policy.

Day 3

The young professionals from Invest India, Government of India’s investment, promotion and facilitation agency, assisting foreign investors as well as Indian Start-Ups to transform business scenario in India, detailed about leading the investment planning and implementation in the country. Through a multitude of evidence-based investment insights, the team elaborated upon formulating and channelising investment strategies; government’s diverse initiatives for investment ease and promotion, and bringing in visible transformation through multi-faceted processes for investments in India.

Ms Seema Bansal, Partner and Director, Boston Consulting Group, gave valuable insights into various development initiatives in the education sector; challenges at grassroots level in public education in India and how those were overcome by series of transformative efforts by private and public stakeholders. She also shared real-life success stories demonstrating the need for certain changes in education policy in the country