The Idea of Nīti - Public Policy in Context

Why is the idea of Nīti in Rājanīti crucial?

We begin with an understanding that looking at politics and policy-making as two different exercises is a failed approach to Governance.

We also realise politics and policy-making are mostly a matter of persuasion of the people. Decide, Choose, and Legislate as they will, policymakers must carry people with them if their determinations are to be implemented with complete force.

Therefore can we conclude that when a policy is rooted in the ideas of the people that it is being synthesized for, it manifests with greater impact?

Public policy lies at the centre of good governance. In essence, it strives to define common problems that affect society and implement strategies that produce desired results for the people of a nation.

Policy is therefore not a neutral or abstract concept. Instead, it reflects the values, beliefs and norms of the people who create and implement it.

Hence we present the premise that policy should be rooted in culture, in order to respect the diversity and dignity of different groups and communities, especially when we speak of a civilization as diverse and ancient as India.

A policy that is culturally responsive can foster inclusion, equity and social justice in real terms. At Bṛhat therefore, we surmise that the growing consensus within public policy rejects the assumption that its formulation and analysis can be entirely removed from the interests, values, and cultures of the context.

Instead, this appeal places culture at the core of public policy and its making. For it is culture that shapes us as human beings, our innate nature, attitudes and dispositions. Furthermore, social and cultural factors, including behaviours and attitudes, can either help or hinder the implementation of policies, based on their alignment with local culture. To comprehend complex institutions such as birth, marriage, family, education to their total depth, it is essential to consider the cultural context in which they exist.

Can we then evolve a structure of policy-making that is Sanatana in principle and cause?

Nītividhāna - Developing Culture-Compatible Public Policy

To initiate a contemplative tryst with civilizational public policy, Bṛhat Educational Trust in association with Chinmaya International Foundation (CIF) welcomed a cohort of 26 enthusiastic, young participants to Nītividhāna, at the sacred premises of Ādi Śaṅkara Nilayam, Kerala.

As with every element of the 4-Day immersive workshop on Civilizational Public Policy, the venue came with a purpose of its own. Ādi Śaṅkara Nilayam, the birthplace of the immaculate philosopher, Jagadguru Śrī Ādi Śaṅkarācārya was designed to offer a deeply reflective space for every participant to absorb, realise and practise.

It served as a reminder of the hallowed heritage of Bhāratavarṣa, nourishing the Bhāratīya within, spurring an urgency to protect all that is at stake today. What better space to launch into contemplations seeking to fulfil a larger Dhārmika purpose?

Animated conversations preceded the opening of the event, as participants prepared themselves to gain an in-depth understanding into today’s most pressing issues. Through the next four days, they would embark upon a journey into the roots of Political Philosophy, examining foundational texts and thinkers from both Eastern and Western traditions.

The program offered an incisive perspective into how the different intellectual traditions developed, evolved and came to dominate within specific contexts owing to the political climate of each era.

Such a foundation was essential because contemporary public policy texts and practices both globally and within India draw heavily from these intellectual traditions.

To transform the policy discourse and re-contextualize them for a rapidly changing world and its complex problems, discussions spanning core Western and Eastern traditions were imperative.

Within the next four days, participants would therefore discover the models and frameworks of public policy-making, the art of policy analysis and most importantly gain a civilizational lens to articulate for policy issues close to their own hearts.

Ārambha - Laying the Foundations | Day 1

The camp began on an auspicious note with Prof. Gauri Mahulikar (Academic Director, CIF), a renowned Sanskrit scholar elucidating the importance of the hallowed birthplace of Śrī Ādi Śaṅkarācārya. She highlighted the 7 essential virtues for a policy-maker from the Arthaśāstra, amongst which the most prominent were a total mastery of the mind and an attitude of striving for the welfare of the people.

In his Anugraha Bhāṣaṇa, Pujya Swami Advayananda (President, CIF) elaborated upon the goals of policy-making from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.

These goals are to:

• ensure protection
• enable livelihood of the people
• empower the person to pursue activities in alignment with their Dharma and
• offer a Dhārmika education for complete flourishing of the personality and the nation.

Swamiji concluded by saying that the highest goal of public policy is to ensure that all people are at peace, free from challenges that question their survival and empowered enough to see auspiciousness everywhere. He heralded a future where such rich, ancient strategies could come together with contemporary lenses to tackle the complex, volatile present-day world issues.

Taking the discourse further, Shri Raghava Krishna (Founder, Bṛhat), a Policy thinker with a civilisational rooting walked the participants through the fundamentals of public policy and 8 thought models of policy-making.

He began with some pertinent questioning - How do we wish to engage with public policy and why we as people with civilizational awareness, need to answer these fundamental questions at every turn in the tale:

• What is our biggest concern?
• Have we framed our questions yet?
• How does something become a policy issue?
• How can we intervene to create a new policy?
• How can the state be an enabler to protect culture and sacred spaces?
• How can the public be a part of the process?
• What kind of a state action do we recommend?
• Do we have a way to think about policy from our own lens?

Contextualising the Dhārmika lens to the volatility we face today, he emphasised upon the need for a continuous process of self-reflection where we become aware of who we are, anchored in our core vision for bringing about positive change with the people.

Following that, Dr Indradeep Ghosh (Executive Director, Dvara Research) offered key insights on the why and how of economic reasoning in public policy. He highlighted how one of the key aims of economy-centric public policy today is market creation and regulation of product prices, and why we need to understand its functioning to transform it.

Next, Dr Pankaj Saxena (Co-Founder, Bṛhat) defined Dharma as that which sustains the cosmic order and restrains us for our own well-being. He also highlighted the primal origins of policy, the very need for it and why that arose, through the concepts of ṛta and dharma.

While contrasting the Western and Indian civilizational worldviews, he laid out a cohesive argument for why we urgently need a Dharma-based society and political philosophy. He emphasised that we were originally a duties-based society rather than the present-day rights-based one. The civilizational narrative of “kartavya” or the fulfilment of one’s duties, once ensured well-being for every being, animate and inanimate.

Madhyama - Tools and Frameworks for Policy Making | Day 2

The next day centred on the ‘habits of mind’ of a civilizational thinker and using a Systems Thinking framework to deal with complexity.

Shri Raghava Krishna detailed why a synthesis of the traditional and modern, subjective and objective is the civilizational project we have today through an exercise based on Donella Meadows’ Leverage Points framework. They are deep policy strategies to intervene and transform narratives in the policy system.

Participants engaged in picking policies that caught their interest, identified the leverage points used to make the policy viable and contemplated upon the infusion of civilizationally-rooted leverage points into the same policies to make them culturally compatible.

Continuing the thread of dialogue from speakers of the previous day, Raghava ji also offered a framework of looking at the cultural traditions of Bhāratavarṣa, such as our festivals, dinacaryā, the ideas of ṛṇa and tapas, etc as deep leverage points to be deployed when framing culturally rooted policies.

Shri Anurag Shukla (Director - Policy & Education, Bṛhat) further led us through the impact of colonisation that continues even today, and the urgent need to reclaim indigenous models of thinking and doing. Decades after independence, we continue to retain colonial artefacts within our law and police systems in the form of both the attire and the laws. While we make an attempt to reclaim education from colonial clutches, it is imperative that we extend the same to a central component of effective governance: policy-making.

Paryanta - Synthesis of The Dhārmika Worldview | Day 3 & 4

The third day began with an impromptu excursion to ancient Kerala temples near the campus. While participants soaked in the bliss that each temple offered, Shri Pankaj Saxena offered all his knowledge from years of research into Hindu temples.

Upon return, Smt. Suparna Diwakar, an experienced educator working with the National Curriculum Framework offered insights on various ideas of sustainable and regenerative development. Sustainable development is a more traditional method which seeks to utilise resources to improve societal well-being in a way that does not harm support systems needed for the future. Regenerative development goes a level further to use resources in a manner that not only enables societal well-being but builds the capacity of the support systems needed for future growth.

The conversation steered towards development anchored in the Dhārmika worldview where use of resources for societal welfare is aligned with protection of the natural cosmic order.

Next, Dr. Indradeep Ghosh in his address on “Public Policy - A Brief History” focused on the outcomes of unfettered growth, principles and policies surrounding financial inclusion and the psychic costs of rapid economic growth in past and present times. He also elaborated upon the critical concept of a fundamental paradox where economic theory posits a sovereign subject and also aims to uncover the laws by which this subject behaves. The resolution of the paradox is attempted by positing a utility function for the subject but without specifying what goes inside that function.

Ultimately this is a counterfeit resolution because it doesn’t resolve the question of ends, specifically the ends that are worth pursuing for the subject or the user. Owing to the absence of this discussion, the theory devolves to money as a measure of ends because that is a convenient bypass of the difficult question about ends. That is where we find ourselves presently, in an economics-dominated policy framework.

Dr Pratheep Kumar, Assistant Professor at Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth, offered perspectives on the Concept of State and policy-guidelines from the Arthaśāstra.

Throughout the three days, the component of spiritual transformation as an aide to the vision of Nītividhāna was offered by Br. Ved Chaitanya through his lucid 1-hour satsangs. He gave us a guiding insight to navigate the Self and Policy Pathways with the mantra - Learn, Live, Lead. To summarise: when you do not have the knowledge, seek it. If you have the knowledge, act. If you have both, then strive to take it to others and build a civilizational dialogue.

Prof. Subhash Kak (Regents Professor, Oklahoma State University) addressed the participants on the “Idea of India - Bhārat as a Civilization” on the final morning of Nītividhāna. He made an erudite case for the propagation and reinvigoration of the glorious legacy of the Indian Knowledge Systems, providing a panoramic picture of what India meant to the Indian diaspora living in West Asia, Europe and East Asia. He also highlighted the contribution of Bhāratīya Civilization to Science and the influence it had on the geo-politics in the Indian Subcontinent and beyond.

Delegate presentations ensued for 2 hours marked by animated discussions on an analysis of impact and impediments in popular policies and reframing the policies from a civilizational lens.

The presentations were followed by a memorable valedictory ceremony with insightful feedback from participants, presentation of certificates, honorarium to delegates and speakers and a profound Valedictory Address by Dr. Sunitha Grandhee (Dean of Academics, CVV), aptly highlighting the concept of the Yajñā spirit of spiritual leadership in the Bhagavad Gītā.

We conclude this synthesis of the fulfilling and enriching four day immersive Nītividhāna workshop with the idea that to create something great externally, we first need to look within, work hard and generate spiritual surplus. It is with this Sanātana Dṛṣti, that we must approach the world of public policy.