Discussion on Democracy and Public Policy gets SCMC students thinking!

What could have been an otherwise dull afternoon, an interaction with Ms. Hamsini Hariharan turned the table around. The session was indeed an interactive and rather informative one. 

With a very tingling start as to why elections are integral to democracy or why are they necessary or the solution to a democracy, this particular meet made us think. While a few of us felt that the participation made people participate and feel guaranteed through this process, we did agree to that it was slightly flawed. However, despite its flawed nature, it is possibly still the best out there and we as nation are closer to standing a chance as opposed to complete authoritarianism.

Moving on, an interaction made us mull over how public policy was often shaped. We managed to ponder over ideas like consistency to a policy need not show how good of an analyst one is.  As the interaction progressed, we recalled a few instances as to what opportunities lead to the 2014 BJP win. Despite the differences many of us might hold, we all could convene to PM Modi being a good orator.

Through all this politically and ideologically charged discussions, the best takes away was that no matter who was in power or what policy is in place, politics, just like history, provides you with narratives. It could be different narratives, polar at best, but each view and belief are based on certain narratives, that one may or may not be fed but chose to stand by.

And though we were miles away, the session didn’t make us feel rather disheartened by the pandemic rather with the polls and quizzes quite the opposite. It was indeed a session that got us to thinking and be more aware of the narratives that often engulf us.

- Pranjal Nangare, Batch of 2022