The public announcement of the Young Global Leaders 2008 was made on 11th March 2008. Interestingly out of the 17 Indians on the list, two have an IIM, Ahmedabad connection - Trilochan Sastry and me. Trilochan is of course more famous by his deeds than by his name. He along with Prof. Jagdeep Chhokar and 10 others (7 professors of IIM-A, two alumni of IIM-A, and one professor of NID), filed a writ petition seeking transparency in politicians filing nominations for elections, particularly with regard to criminal records of those filing nominations for elections, as also implementation of Law Commission's recommendations of the issue. The vehicle for the reform and the Petitioner – the Association for Democratic Reforms has since achieved several other reforms.
Prof. Chhokar once told me that their initial expectations were quite low when they filed the writ petition and how it snowballed into a big transparency issue with criminal records, assets etc being mandated for disclosure by politicians filing their nomination forms. India should thank them for introducing transparency and disclosures in the political arena. As a US Supreme Court justice said in the securities regulations arena – sunlight is the best disinfectant and electric light the most efficient policeman. But has transparency improved the quality of candidates? Over to you for comments.
3 comments:
How can that old prof who is in his fifties be called a young leader!
Trilochan Sastry may be in his 40s - I don't think he's in his 50s. Be that as it may, when I called him, he did not even know what this award was. As this is not based on self nomination, I don't think you can blame him for not being young enough.
Having not seen him or heard him, one doesn't have the right to pass such comments. Having been his student I know the metal he is made of and how he feels about the country. He chose to do something for the country when he could have driven some of the most luxurious cars!!
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