25 June, Bangalore: The Office of the Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management (PGPPM) at IIMB hosted a talk on ‘Tax Challenges in India’ by Dr. Hasmukh Adhia, currently Non-Executive Chairman of Bank of Baroda, former Finance Secretary to Govt. of India, and Distinguished Alumnus of IIMB.
Dr. Adhia emphasized the need for strong fundamentals for the growth of the economy, remarking that there are no sustainable shortcuts to growth. He also stressed upon the need to create an environment necessary for growth.
One of Dr. Adhia’s key contributions as a policymaker is the Goods and Services Tax. “Even GST needs further tweaking to weed out fake invoicing,” he observed.
Talking on the heated issue of “lateral entry into the country’s civil services,” Dr. Adhia argued that the current motivation level of a significant proportion of Government employees are not satisfactory. “This calls for reforms in human resource management within the Government machinery,” he said, lauding the “bold” move of the Government. “Talent and fresh perspective of the private sector should be synergized with the Government machinery to create a positive sum game for all,” he added.
Stating that policymaking is a role to be played by many stakeholders, he explained that it requires equipping people not only from Government but also from the private sector with tools and knowledge to participate in and constructively contribute to policy formulation and evaluation. “The Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management, offered by IIM Bangalore, provides such a platform, to both public and private sector participants, to not only upskill but also learn the culture, expectations, and perceptions that go with such a role,” he said.
Harsh, is an IRS (C&IT) officer and a student of the one-year Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management (2019-20) at IIM Bangalore. He is Thoreauvian at heart, and his interests include hiking, traveling and experiencing cultures.