'What causes change?'

Policy Change Agent
M S Ahluwalia

After one PC (P Chidambaram) had the audience in splits, it was the other man from PC (planning commission), Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who had to pick up the gauntlet of matching the wit of the sharpest mind in North Block. And Mr Ahluwalia stood up to the challenge, be it the wit or the repartee.

“After hearing the finance minister’s delightful account of all the thinking that went behind whether he should come or not, I took the invitation at face value. Like him, I am not entirely sure what policy change agent means.

Actually in the Government of India, an agent is marginally more disreputable than a broker. In some parts of the government, they are not even allowed.

However, as the finance minister said, it is with great humility that I accept the award; having worked for a long time in the government, I know that even those inside the government do not know what causes change.

We always wonder how it happens. I think, therefore, it would be appropriate to say that I am probably accepting this on behalf of the innumerable colleagues without whose active involvement in pushing the change, any of this for which the award is being given certainly would not have happened. So, in that sense I am not exactly an agent but a representative. Thank you very much.”