Dileep Ranjekar at TISS convocation : We need radical reform not Lipapoti

6 May 2016, Mumbai : Dileep Ranjekar (Co-CEO) has been an integral part of the Azim Premji Foundation, right from its inception in 2001. He addressed TISS M.A students in the 76th convocation.

He stressed that issues are systematic and structural issues should be radically reformed. System does not need Lipapoti. We need developing professionals to work in the trenches and not in the corporate bodies.

We have very poor government institutions with no management. Prof. Parshuraman made government accept, that they need professionals to work in healthcare, and it is very large system and managing it is not easy and the course of hospital and healthcare management was started.

We have a Ulta thing. There is poor quality of services provided by government school and hospitals and for higher education there is big competition to go to govt. medical college or engineering college.

Now you have graduated from here. You should give commitment of values which you have promised to Prof. Parsuraman and to the institute in his formal address. But it cannot be like government commitment. Commitment in India is the easiest thing. Everyone is committing. Problem is in execution to the last man.

Build expertise in one domain and area. Get into the depth and remain connected to people. Our policies are determined by keeping upper middle class which affects other 70% of the population. People who do not understand ground realities are making policies. You job is to connect the policy to the people and fill this huge gap.

Belief in pluralism and diversity. I don’t want to get into that debate of intolerance. Bottom line is we are different people with different views and under constitutional framework, there is enough provision to keep the spirit of plurality in policy making. Our minimum responsibility is to listen to other person carefully with patience.

And the last thing is to work with Passion. We have to work with a belief that basic desire of every human being is to contribute positively to society. Your commitment to the Director of the institute, the institutional commitment has to convert into social commitment with values.

Institution like this which has autonomy comes under different government with different ideology with thought process. Alumni must take ongoing interest and contribute their part of the salary to keep running this institution. You are a product of certain thought agenda and we have to continuously pump this thought into the society. Alumni in USA keep pumping billion of dollars to their institutes, we should do it here too,to keep the institute running with autonomy.