For public policy to become a recognised discipline we need more players — the more people discuss the topic and the more people teach it, it becomes a discipline. We need people with different points of view — people from samaaj, bazaar and sarkaar. People on the left, people on the right and people in the centre. All of these places would require graduates from ISPP. I would like to see our graduates going out to do different things — be it in politics, government departments, corporates, NGOs, think tanks or academia.
ISPP is imagined as a 21st-century academic institution. It will focus on excellence and deep specialization in public policy. It will be talent heavy and asset-light i.e. it will invest in students and source the very best faculty from around the world and avoid making heavy infrastructural investments. It is also the institutional successor to several years of public policy programs that our founding council have conceptualized and run in various forms in colleges and universities across the country. Across these programs, we have trained 8000 students who have gone on to successful policy careers in India and the world.
The approach to public policy that the ISPP is taking and pushing for, is that we are trying to make public policy for the citizens, not for oneself or a group or a particular leader.
The Indian School of Public Policy was formally launched on 23 October, 2018 at the Constitution Club of India, New Delhi by dignitaries including Shri N.K. Singh, Shri Rajiv Mehrishi and Shri Gurcharan Das. Notable experts from TISS, Twitter Inc. India, Brookings Institution, Uber India and GMR established the urgent need for a new generation of policy professionals through a panel discussion.
The ISPP's launch was received generously by mainlines including Hindustan Times, Financial Express, Times of India, Indian Express, Business World Online, UNI, The Hindu and The New Indian Express.
ISPP was conceived as the first school of public policy focused on the design and management of institutions and rules that govern society. It has been set up by an eminent council of senior academicians, policy experts, administrators and philanthropists with a vision to develop a new class of policy leaders for India and the region. It is designed as a year-long post-graduate certificate programme in Policy, Design & Management.
ISPP is the institutional successor to several years of public policy programmes that founding member’s organization, Centre for Civil Society, has conceptualized and run in various forms, in colleges and universities across the country. Across these programmes, we have had many students who have graduated, who have gone on to embark on successful policy careers in India, and across the world. Today, the Centre for Civil Society remains a strong promoter of ISPP.
Founded on the commitment to world-class faculty, extensive industry linkages and innovative approach towards design and management of policy, ISPP aims to transform the art of policymaking. The institution reimagines the approach towards public policy pedagogy, research and practice.
