CBPS@25 | Building & Sustaining Independent Institutions: A Discussion among Institution Builders

A panel discussion on building and sustaining independent institutions by some of key institution builders in different spheres. Shyam Menon (Vice Chancellor, BML Munjal University, Gurgaon and former Vice Chancellor, Dr BR Ambedkar University, Delhi) shares his experiences regarding how he negotiated the challenges of establishing a state university dealing with the Delhi government and Lieutenant General that earned the University high reputation in no time. Siddharth Varadarajan (Journalist and Founding Editor, The Wire) talks about his experiences of setting up an independent media and sustaining it. N V Varghese, (Former Vice Chancellor, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi), shares his approach of managing and carrying out the duty of leading a public academic institution without fear or favour. Jayna Kothari (Co-founder and Executive Director, Centre for Law and Policy Research, Bengaluru), discusses the tension that emanates from being both a practising lawyer and a researcher while building a team of legal researchers. Watch them reflect on the importance and challenges of independent institutions which they draw from their role and experience in establishing and running such institutions while answering the questions posed by M S Sriram, Faculty Member, Centre for Public Policy, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.