The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Moily makes out a case for `inclusive growth'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 09, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Moily makes out a case for `inclusive growth'

Special Correspondent

Bangalore: How do teams from some of the poorest nations in the world manage to showcase their talent in the FIFA World Cup championship? Because FIFA has divided the world into eight zones and has a selection system in place that ensures "fair representation" to all zones.

This system has, over a period of time, ensured that talents from the most backward countries in the world not only participate, but also excel in the game, argued M. Veerappa Moily, former Chief Minister and chairman of the Administrative Reforms Commission.

Delivering a lecture at Bangalore Social Sciences Forum on "Social justice," Mr. Moily made a case for changing both the perspective on the notion of social justice and the language we employ to speak about it.

Extending his "soccer theory," he said institutions of higher education such as IITs were being "underused and caged" by refusing to tread the path of "inclusive growth."

Inequality in education was the worst in India and a section of people were being denied access in the name of merit, he added.

It was important, he said, to "broaden the talent base and facilitate diversity" for "expansion, inclusion and excellence" in all fields.

Even a country like the Unites States had discovered that "affirmative action is good business." In India, the discourse on social justice was yet to get beyond the conservative mindset on merit, he said.

It was no coincidence that States with the highest GDP in India were those that had strictly enforced reservation policy, Mr. Moily said.

A.J. Sadashiva, former judge of the High Court of Karnataka who heads the commission to review internal reservation, presided over the function.

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