Re: Getting started on policy statements

[Sanjeev Sabhlok <sabhlok@almaak.usc.edu>]

Dear  Puneet,

Thanks for the suggestion. Let me suggest a small thing at this stage. 
India_policy needs to be completely a discussion group, and not make any
policy statements. That would distract from the purely academic task of
involving the best people on this list for preparing an ideal manifesto/
agenda.

If any sub-group of people here or elsewhere wish to issue a policy
statement, that should be a separate exercise carried out under the
separate umbrella of that sub-group. Of course this ideal manifesto/
agenda of india_policy is prepared in good faith as a public property for
use by any and every Indian, or any other developing country anywhere,
including our South Asian neighbors, and therefore if any one wishes to
borrow it or even adopt it entirely, that would be a great thing. But that
is not the direct intention of this group. We shall simply prepare a
manifesto as if there were an ideal polity with ideal policies. Its
implementation is a separate task not related to india_policy.

Hope that sounds OK?

Reverting to the concept of how the collective opinion is to be
"recorded,"  there is plenty of time for that. We have not even explored
the fringe of the excellent points put forth by Utkarsh and other members
so far. The web archive which is being set up soon, will enable members to
read the relevant mail on a particular topic by simply typing in that
topic on the concerned web page. Thereafer each of the members should see
if he/ she has anything to add/ subtract or suggest. 

You have rightly indicated that "someone" should "summarize the objectives
of this forum in terms of

	what we do once we collect enough opinions, 
	how do we decide when we've settled down to an agreement 
	how do we address differences in proposed solutions/opinions

I think that I am not a "moderator" or anything else; simply one of the
participants. So I am not going to judge the needs/ methods you propose.
But if you have thought of a "need" for us - and I think many of realize
that this is an absolutely essential need, then you are obligated to
specify your proposal on how the need will be met. In other words, please
take up this task of formulating a proposal to meet the needs proposed
above.

By the way, I must once again express my complete happiness at being
associated with this group and though I took up the task of starting this
discussion list, it was clearly the work of people like Utkarsh and others
who had gone far into many topics earlier, that has provided the
justification for such a list. 

Go India_policy group!

Watch out eternity!  
Here we come to change the future of India for the better!

Each of us holds the power, individually, to provide only our best
thoughts to the process of building an ideal polity and policy framework
for India.

Sanjeev
***************************************************************************

On Tue, 14 Apr 1998, Puneet Singh wrote:

> Hi Sanjeev,
> 
> Good to see you've archived all responses on the subjects so well. Going
> ahead we will have to capture our collective opinion in a concise policy
> statement. It is not a minor task and I propose we take volunteer ownership for
> the items, or some form of collective group work where we all share part
> of the responsibility. To start with can someone summarize the objectives of
> this forum in terms of
> 
>         what we do once we collect enough opinions,
>         how do we decide when we've settled down to an agreement
>         how do we address differences in proposed solutions/opinions
> 
> In other words we need someone to regulate and cordinate the topics,
> someone to capture the final agreement... even this task needs to be
> looked into.
> 
> Let me know what you all feel about these issues.
> Again, thanks for the energetic start.
> Looking forward to more proactive participation,
> Puneet
>