Madhya Pradesh: 3-day Bhopal Lit Fest ends

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Former deputy chairman of Planning Commission of India Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said that Indians are good at making slogans, not policies. “We need to know the target. Programme and policy are different. We have too little of the latter and too much of the former,” he added.

Ahluwalia was speaking on Sunday, the concluding day of three-day Bhopal Literature and Art Festival at Bharat Bhavan in the city.

Ahluwalia, who is the author of Backstage: The Story Behind India's High Growth Years, talked about his book and discussed economic reforms in India. He was interacting with ex-Niti Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar.

About 1991 financial planning, Ahluwalia said former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's speech as a Finance Minister in 1991 was historic. “Dismantling controls sanctioned by the Britishers was revolutionary,” he added.

Divyabhanu Chavda spoke on cheetahs. About cheetahs brought from Namibia at Kuno National Park in Sheopur district, he said, "Many questioned the difference between the environmental factors of India and Namibia. However, I had a different perspective. They are cheetahs and they know how to survive under any circumstances.”

The event also saw sessions on The Earth Spiner by Anuradha Roy and Billionaires, A Peek into Minds of People Like Gautam Adani by Free Press Journal’s RN Bhaskar.

Author Bibek Debroy discussed the Essence of Ramayana, Mahabharata, Upnishads, and Puranas in conversation with event director Raghav Chandra. Authors from different walks of life discussed the thought-provoking topics on the concluding day of the event.