Harvard professor Tarun Khanna wants a political role, keen on an ‘unpaid’ role

NEW DELHI: Harvard University professor Tarun Khanna says he will actively consider joining politics, but in an “unpaid” role. He says he had turned down “some feelers” a few years ago.

“I am willing to contribute to public ways at an appropriate juncture,” he told ET on the phone.

He, however, didn’t disclose further details or indicate any immediate foray into Indian politics where, according to him, the quality of debates is very low. Khanna clarified that he “absolutely and explicitly did not refer to any particular speech”.

Khanna also didn’t reveal the names of political parties that had approached him. He merely said that “there were many”.

Khanna said he is already active in India through organisations such as Aspiring Minds (a business entity that hires people from the disadvantaged section to corporate positions) and PRS Legislative Research, a non-profit organisation, which, according to him, seeks “to improve the quality of democratic discourse in India by providing research input to members of Parliament”.

Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at the Harvard Business School and a member of the school’s faculty since 1993, didn’t go into the logic behind going for an “unpaid” position, saying it was his choice.