India's 8-member National Knowledge Commission has the following composition: 1. Mr Sam Pitroda (Chairperson), 2. Dr P.M. Bhargava (Vice-Chairperson), 3. Mr Nandan Nilekani, Member, 4. Dr. Deepak Nayyar, Member, 5. Mr Ashok Ganguly, Member, 6. Dr. Andre Beteille, Member, 7. Dr. Jayati Ghosh, Member, and 8. Dr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Member.
It is a reasonably sized commission, neither very small nor unwieldy, thus capable of carrying out its deliberations as a coherent team in time-bound professional manner. It is also well balanced in its composition reflecting a diversity of expertise and critical frontiers of knowledge. Hopefully, the deliberations of the commission will bear the expertise of Mr Sam Pitroda (telecom), Dr P.M. Bhargava (molecular biology), Mr Nandan Nilekani (information technology), Dr. Deepak Nayyar (higher education), Mr Ashok Ganguly secondary education), Dr. Andre Beteille (sociology), Dr. Jayati Ghosh (economics) and Dr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta (political science).
A notable omission is that of Secretary or Member-Secretary of the commission. It is not known as to how the commission proposes to conduct its business in his absence or without a secretariat or office. So far no public announcement has been made about the location of commission's office or its contact person. As a result those desirous of making contributions to the deliberations of the commission are disappointed. Notable official websites like India Image or that of Planning Commission are also silent about it. It is high time the commission launches its website which should also have an open discussion forum as the commission, among other things, proposes to build a more open society and more open economy.
Dr D.C.Misra
June 11, 2005
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