My segway to 2012,

Welcome to 2012! As the year wound down, I finished reading Nanden Nilekani’s inspirational and optimistic book “Imaging India” which really helped me understand some of the critical choices facing India today.

Nilekani spends very little space on the contrasts and clichés that fill the other books I’ve been wallowing in over the past 4 months. He does identify India’s key assets (the demographic dividend, a large “democrazy”, relatively high English literacy, entrepreneurial prowess, technology and a global presence – “the sun never sets on the Indian diaspora”). These are discussed in the context of the equally impressive challenges (a country younger than my father, caste, religion, regionalism, class, inadequate infrastructure and primary education and a plethora of challenging policies). 

But what really resonates with my diminishing understanding of India (I feel I know less each day I’m here!) was the importance that the interplay between the state, markets and civil society will play in its future. The scope of the Indian government is staggering - as is the still palpable legacy of colonization, paternalism and socialism. I found Nilekani’s optimism about the capacity of appropriately regulated markets to increase efficiency, accountability and initiative a source of great hope. He identifies the most critical task as empowering people’s Jugaard, a word that can be (poorly) translated as informal innovation, of people at the local level to take charge and innovate. For health in particular, he argues that success depends on unique and innovative approaches to put health funds in the hands of citizens and using IT to build a competitive model with multiple options for care. For me this is an optimistic Segway into 2012.

Peter