Ashwin MaheshJun 15, 20192 minThe Federal Manifesto1. Federalism must be a first principle of organising administration, resources, responsibilities, powers, etc. between different levels of government. Whe...
Ashwin MaheshSep 5, 20182 minCarpenters can't fix your leaksIf there's a leak in the water line in your building, you'll call the plumber. You won't call the carpenter and hope that by a combination of luck, brute for...
Ashwin MaheshApr 18, 20172 minSwaraj in actionIf swaraj is the USP of new politics, then how can we implement it meaningfully, so that individual citizens and communities feel empowered by it, and demand...
Ashwin MaheshJul 18, 20161 minDevelopment is urban, formal and industrial.The contours of development include higher levels of urbanisation, a shift towards more industry, and integration with formal aspects of the economy. For M...
Ashwin MaheshJun 19, 20162 minWith the government, within the government, and as the government.Over the last two years I have written extensively about the emerging new idea of governance around the world. Historically in democracies, we paid a lot of ...
Ashwin MaheshOct 13, 20153 minA new arthashastraWe need a new arthashastra. The conventional view of this treatise is that it a manifesto for kingship. But equally it is a manifesto for economic developmen...
Ashwin MaheshAug 29, 20153 minKeep it local, keep it accountableWho should run the government schools in the city - the Education department of the state government, or the BBMP? Who should run the public health centres a...
Ashwin MaheshAug 23, 20152 minA bankable truthBanks make profits by taking depositors' money and lending it to borrowers. For a very long time, public sector banks' deposit rates were very low (2-3 per c...
Ashwin MaheshAug 3, 20155 minThe President's turnLooking back at the struggle to improve governance in Bengaluru, it is painful to see how many opportunities we have missed. Each time, when it seemed that a...
Ashwin MaheshJul 10, 20151 minThe whole state is criminalisedWhat Vyapam tells us is that the whole state is criminalised. It is true in every state. After all, we are fighting the exact same scam here in KA too - jobs...
Ashwin MaheshJun 17, 20152 minWhy don't ALL schools do what the BEST ones do?Why don't ALL schools do what the BEST schools do? It seems quite straightforward. At least, why don't all the public schools do what the better ones are doi...
Ashwin MaheshMay 30, 20153 minPromote the principle, not the programThere are two or three ideas which, if the government embraces, we can easily have a great run of economy and society. (1) Promote the principle, not the pro...
Ashwin MaheshApr 17, 20152 minIs decentralisation the way ahead?"Can everyone lead?" The question can seem like a contradiction in terms, but increasingly around the world, people are asking whether the current model of "...
Ashwin MaheshOct 30, 20143 minThe publicly managed cityEven a cursory look at some of the problems in urban governance will reveal that the current structure of public administration and governance is inadequate ...
Ashwin MaheshAug 20, 20144 minThe accumulation of opportunityFor a few months in 2000, I used to live in Hampton, Virginia - original home of the great space missions of NASA. But apart from this, Hampton is famous for...
Ashwin MaheshOct 30, 20133 minSeven 4-letter words you can be proud ofAbout two years ago, I said to a few young people that 'if you do the following seven things EVERY WEEK without fail for the next FULL YEAR for only A FEW MI...
Ashwin MaheshSep 15, 19993 minSchool's out, life's in.Of all the things I treasure about my education, I value most what Dr.Anjeneya Swamy taught me in one course at B-school. He is a small man, made a little in...
Ashwin MaheshJan 15, 19997 minThe promise of a different lifeThirty three years ago, in the spring of 1970, my mother and father took their infant son to the Christian Medical College Hospital in Vellore, Tamilnadu, in...