The secondPinarayi Vijayangovernment takes oath with an unprecedented mandate. It has a chance to rewrite the HISTORY ofKeralalike no other government in the past 50 years. Here is my humble advice for the newly-elected CM.
Minimise interference: Kerala has been immensely successful with a decentralized, participatory model of Governance. But, from time to time, bureaucratic bungling, in the form of interference in pushing the rule of the ruler ahead of , has caused much misery.
2. Make Health, Education, and wealth creation key governance issues: Kerala has the potential to be the number one state in India in all three parameters. Although it has done exceedingly well on wealth and wellness, it lags behind its potential in education and Entrepreneurship.
Do not make great ideas a prisoner of ideology: Despite his ideological underpinning, Vijayans government has maderemarkable progressin investing in techno-commercial enterprises that has helped raise the quality of lives of its people. One hopes that he will continue to embrace and act on good ideas irrespective of their origin.
Kerala for All: Kerala cities will need to become more cosmopolitan and multilingual to compete in the changing world. This government should encourage professionals from different parts of the world to work and live here.
Strike a balance between stability and change: Governance is not the same as a government. Government is a blunt instrument designed to enforce the will of the many over the few. All living systems have this tension between being conservative and progressive. By swearing in a young cabinet, the government has taken the first progressive step. The young leaders should be allowed to implement some of their change ideas.
Start CMs research fellowships: The one-year fellowship programme follows a field research and forum approach, wherein, researchers spend six weeks in the field in their respective districts, following which they gather together at IIM campus inKochi,Kozhikodeto collate their findings, brainstorm solutions and prepare their presentations to the CM. Their work is further structured into three essential workstreams Modules, Capsules and Pilots, each designed or facilitated by IIM and other academic institutions.
Open and share data transparently for Good Governance: The story of governance, at least in the past few hundred years, is also that of a move towards democratization and transparency. Data in general, but government-produced data in particular is and should be on a path towards democratization.This means that data should be open. Open data from government-sponsored research projects can lead to advancements in healthcare or even in entrepreneurial activities.