Ep 341: The Steady Determination of Yamini Aiyar
The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma
The Politics of State Capacity
Aksham Angla's study of Indian bureaucratic norms makes this very interesting distinction between legalistic norms and deliberative norms. He finds the state of Himachal Pradesh has a lot more of these than other states like UP or Uttarakhand. When your politics becomes polarized and veers towards authoritarian control it closes off the space for these forms of deliberation you don't get a state that is genuinely able to empower itself, he says.
She's one of our finest thinkers, and has devoted her life to public policy and building this country. Yamini Aiyar joins Amit Varma in episode 341 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss her life, her learnings and how the Indian state can be reformed. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Yamini Aiyar at Twitter, Deccan Herald, Hindustan Times and Center for Policy Research. 2. The Curious Case of the Powerful yet Powerless Bureaucrat -- BSC Seminar with Yamini Aiyar. 3. Rules Vs. Responsiveness -- A talk by Yamini Aiyar at IIM-A. 4. The State of the State: Strengthening India's Governance Capabilities -- Panel discussion featuring Yamini Aiyar and moderated by Amit Varma. 5. Rewriting the Grammar of the Education System: Delhi’s Education Reform (A Tale of Creative Resistance and Creative Disruption) -- Yamini Aiyar et al. 6. The Post Office Paradox: A Case Study of the Block Level Education Bureaucracy -- Yamini Aiyar and Shrayana Bhattacharya. 7. Rights, Accountability and Citizenship: Examining India’s Emerging Welfare State -- Yamini Aiyar and Michael Walton. 8. Citizen vs labharthi? Interrogating the welfare state -- Yamini Aiyar. 9. The Looking-Glass Self. 10. Wanting — Luke Burgis. 11. René Girard on Amazon and Wikipedia. 12. Luke Burgis Sees the Deer at His Window -- Episode 337 of The Seen and the Unseen. 13. The Overton Window. 14. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah). 15. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 16. Understanding Indian Healthcare — Episode 225 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 17. Karthik Muralidharan Examines the Indian State — Episode 290 of The Seen and the Unseen. 18. Ashutosh Salil and the Challenge of Change — Episode 312 of The Seen and the Unseen. 19. India’s Far From Free Markets (2005) — Amit Varma in the Wall Street Journal. 20. Pure Magic -- Kumkum Chadha on Shankara Pillai Krishna Kumar. 21. The Tragedy of Our Farm Bills — Episode 211 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah). 22. India’s Greatest Civil Servant — Episode 167 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Narayani Basu, on VP Menon). 23. Caged Tiger: How Too Much Government Is Holding Indians Back — Subhashish Bhadra. 24. Subhashish Bhadra on Our Dysfunctional State — Episode 333 of The Seen and the Unseen. 25. A Life in Indian Politics — Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jayaprakash Narayan). 26. Jayaprakash Narayan Wants to Mend Our Democracy — Episode 334 of The Seen and the Unseen. 27. The RISE Programme. 28. Population Is Not a Problem, but Our Greatest Strength — Amit Varma. 29. Is the Singularity Near? -- Episode 2 of Everything is Everything. 30. My Hero, Oppenheimer -- Episode 5 of Everything is Everything. 31. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ramachandra Guha: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 32. What Have We Done With Our Independence? — Episode 186 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pratap Bhanu Mehta). 33. The Gentle Wisdom of Pratap Bhanu Mehta — Episode 300 of The Seen and the Unseen. 34. In Service of the Republic — Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah. 35. The Art and Science of Economic Policy — Episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen. 36. Missing In Action: Why You Should Care About Public Policy — Pranay Kotasthane and Raghu S Jaitley. 37. The Long Road From Neeyat to Neeti — Episode 313 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane and Raghu S Jaitley). 38. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 39. Making Bureaucracy Work: Norms, Education and Public Service Delivery in Rural India -- Akshay Mangla. 40. Is India a Flailing State? — Lant Pritchett. 41. James Manor on Amazon. 42. The Hedgehog And The Fox — Isaiah Berlin. 43. Vajpayee: The Ascent of the Hindu Right, 1924–1977 -- Abhishek Choudhary. 44. Planning Democracy: How A Professor, An Institute, And An Idea Shaped India — Nikhil Menon. 45. The History of the Planning Commission -- Episode 306 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Menon). 46. Nehru's India -- Taylor Sherman. 47. Hindutva and Violence -- Vinayak Chaturvedi. 48. The Thursday Murder Club -- Richard Osman. 49. Lessons in Chemistry -- Bonnie Garmus. 50. Agatha Christie on Amazon. 51. Dahaad, Kohrra, Scoop and Crash Course in Romance. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘Build It’ by Simahina.
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