Empowering Development Sector Professionals through online learning platforms

Learning is unlikely to take place without first engaging the learner’s desire to learn - Peter Senge. 

In these transformative times, staying competitive requires acquiring relevant and new-age skills. I am committed to ensuring that my team remains ahead of their learning curve, especially as they take on new roles and responsibilities after promotions. Developing a thoughtful inventory of skills allows for effective hiring and performance evaluation.  Investing in skills is essential for upgrading self into a future-fit workforce.  In short, learning is as passive as learning to play chess. 

As a rural manager, I recognize the importance of continuously upgrading skills across a broad spectrum—from technical areas like agricultural practices and data management to essential soft skills such as communication, leadership, and compliance. Online courses provide the flexibility to learn at our own pace and schedule, enabling us to balance learning with our demanding work in the field. I will recommend and explain the rationale behind the following online courses tailored for rural management students, development sector professionals and Government & Public Sector Consultants: 

1. Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and Good (DPG) for Impact: Learn how digital infrastructure can be leveraged to create scalable, inclusive solutions for the public service delivery.

2. AI For Everyone: Understand introductory AI concepts to apply emerging technologies in development programs and prompts. 

3. The Economics of Agro-Food Value Chains: Gain knowledge on the Agri-Food Value chain, improving its competitiveness, producing high quality food and products and aiming to attain greater sustainability. 

4.  Microsoft Power BI Desktop for Business Intelligence: Acquire data visualization skills to analyze the datasets and presentation skills.

5. Business Case for Corporate Sustainability: Explore how sustainable business practices create long-term value for organizations and communities.

6.  Microsoft Excel: Data Analysis with Excel Pivot Tables: Master pivot tables in Excel to efficiently summarize and analyze large data sets, enhancing reporting accuracy and insight.

Caste Census and Public Policy

Public policy should be an outcome of democratic practice, a data-driven approach, and professional expertise. While data poverty has been attributed as one of the major challenges in framing policies for development, the democratic representation of the population can be attained through quota reservations in the decision-making process. Dealing with the thorny issues around quotas, meritocracy, social justice, inclusion, and opportunity leads to huge public debate with implications extending beyond the electoral politics realm. Since the social change is intrinsically political, data on caste is crucial because, in the absence of it, the only evidence we have is anecdotal.

Evidence-based policymaking based on caste census data is a better approach leading rather than arbitrary decisions lobbied by a dominant group and populist narrative. Caste-based data can reveal disparities in education, employment, healthcare, and other socio-economic indicators among different caste groups. This information is crucial for identifying marginalized communities and designing targeted interventions to address their needs.

What are the ‘natural’ building blocks of Indian society – gender, class, caste, region, and religion? The answer may vary but the development of Indian society be discussed without mentioning caste as the pivotal factor. Caste continues to be a determinant of educational opportunities, a robust indicator of economic status, and a gateway to decent employment opportunities. The commission, headed by B.P. Mandal, submitted its report in 1980, recommending a reservation of 27% of government jobs for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The reservation was implemented based on the 1931 caste census, which found that 52% of Indians were OBC and did not fall into the category of scheduled castes or tribes. Our reservation policy is based on caste data that is outdated by a century.  Having reliable data from such caste census can serve as a foundational element for developing targeted and effective public welfare schemes to address the diverse needs of different communities.

Even though politics is controlled by the prism of caste, public policy is often focused on the problems of market failure or state failure. By prioritizing human development and implementing meaningful social reforms, we can invest meaningfully toward unlocking democratic dividends. The primary purpose of reservation is to make public institutions more representative and diverse by including the voices of caste groups who don’t find inclusion due to entrenched discrimination. The most well-intentioned social interventions fail because of the ground realities that consultants /bureaucracy/ policymakers often fail to grasp due to a lack of data. Analyzing the state capacity with the data-driven approach can help us anticipate unintended consequences and help pick a context-appropriate policy instrument.

In urban India, the debate on caste, especially among educated classes, revolves around the quota. While very conveniently, its other aspects - mental isolation, stigma, discrimination, bullying, etc. are ignored. Representation, inclusion, and diversity are all liberal progressive ideas. Only through intelligent use of caste census data can contribute to public reasoning. There are two opposing perspectives, one by Yogendra Yadav and the other by Pratap Bhanu Mehta worth reading.  

जातीय जनगणना होनी चाहिए या नहीं? Pros and Cons of a Caste Census | Puliyabaazi Hindi