The chat room: Why LSE in city? Improve existing institutions'

But then, a School of Economics is not a bad idea, admits G.K Karanth, faculty at the Institute of Social and Economic Change (ISEC). He tells rohan ramesh
that people like the Jindals, Narayana Murthy and Mohandas Pai should financially support such an intiaitve...

Bengaluru is still waiting to establish an institute on the lines of  the London School of Economics (LSE) as the government dilly dallies on the proposal, which has already hit a few road-blocks in the past. When first proposed years ago by the then Vice Chancellor of Bangalore University, Prabhu Dev, the idea was shot down by a few syndicate members and the Jindal Group which had promised funds for it, bowed out.

Now the present government has revived the proposal only to sit on it although the LSE has come forward to help establish the school in the city.  Ask faculty of the Institute of Social and Economic Change (ISEC), G.K Karanth, about his take on an International School of Economics for Bengaluru and he is not wildly enthusiastic about it.  His view? It wouldn’t hurt, but the city would do better to concentrate on improving its existing institutions.

“The Institute of Social and Economic Change is an institution that is moulded in the same pattern. There is also the National Institute of Advanced Studies in the city. If we look at the rest of the country there is the Delhi School of Economics (DSE) and the Institute for Economic Growth (IEG). These are top institutions in there own right,” he notes, and goes on,  “Instead of spending that kind of money on an exclusive  School of Economics in the city, we should ensure that existing institutions do not stagnate and see their standards fall.”  

But then he acknowledges that the School of Economics is not a bad idea. “Any institution with high standards is always welcome. People like the Jindals, Narayana Murthy and T.V. Mohandas Pai  should come forward to financially support such undertakings.”

And once it is established, he believes a School of Economics in the city should be handled by an institution like the ISEC or NIAS and not the Bangalore University. “If it handled by the BU it will become simply an extension of its economics department,” he warns, also underlining that the school should be autonomous. “No institution should be an extension of the bureaucracy. And this holds good for this school too,” he stresses.

 Having a school like the LSE in India will  be helpful to students, he concedes. “A school like this could give students institutional exposure,  making it easier for them to adjust when they go abroad. It is our socio-economic conditions and the way we raise our children, which makes going abroad a life-long dream for many students. A local institution will help ease adjustment problems to a large extent,” the professor observes.

As for banning politics on college campuses, he is quite clear in his views. “There should be meaningful and sensible politics on campus. There can’t be economics without politics and politics without economics,” he quips, signing off.