OPINION: Do think-tanks matter?

from BUSINESS LINE, January 01, 2011 What role do think-tanks have in influencing public policy? The answer is - not enough, according to Mr Suman Bery, chief of the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

He was to have retired on December 31 but they couldn't find a successor in time. After 10 years at the helm, Dr Bery, who has been NCAER's longest-serving director-general, is in an introspective mood and critically evaluates the role of think-tanks and his own innings at NCAER. "Many of us in the economic space have been a little shy of becoming policy advocates," admits Dr Bery. With a shade of regret in his voice, he says this is so, partly, because "many of us have had to safeguard our own organisations' future".

In the end, it all boils down to funding. And, the debate about the role of economic think-tanks and their funding in India has sharpened ever since the South Asia launch recently of the Think …