Message from the President and the Vice President

As Pune International Centre (PIC) proudly enters its eighth year, the memory of the years gone by is still fresh in our minds. It seems like just yesterday we were setting the stepping stones for our path ahead. Today, the role of PIC as a unique think tank has made its mark not just in Pune but across the country. With this, the expectations from us have definitely increased and we are poised to fulfil them all. To help achieve this, PIC has planned a series of programmes this year which would bring forth newer ideas and thoughts that aspire to make a positive difference to the society.

We believe that our members are the soul of this organisation and their commitment towards PIC has helped us in coming up with unique programs and in achieving newer goals. We are delighted that we have succeeded in retaining the quality and diversity of our members with people from various sectors joining PIC.

As we look at the collaborations that we have had in the past few years, we feel honoured to be associated with prestigious institutions like Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), India Development Foundation (IDF), Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML), Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE), Symbiosis International University (SIU) and many more. The confidence shown by these institutions in PIC’s mission and their continued support is an integral part of PIC’s growth story.

PIC also has to its credit some unique flagship programmes which were started to make a positive impact. These include the National Conference on Social Innovation (NCSI), Pune Dialogue on National Security (PDNS) and the ‘Vichar Sphardha,’ organised with the rural students. These programmes have come a long way by spreading their wings of influence and deepening their reach. This year, PIC began a collaboration with Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India (GOI) for a series of programmes. As part of this, a Round Table was held to discuss the manner in which Ministry of External Affairs could secure India’s economic interests through diplomacy. After the success of this programme we look forward to more such collaborative efforts in the time to come.

With a firm belief on research, PIC has widened its scope by establishing five verticals under its public policy research division. These verticals are namely: ‘Social Innovation (SI),’ ‘Pune Dialogue on National Security (PDNS),’ ‘Environment Energy and Climate Change (EECC),’ ‘Urbanisation’ and ‘National Innovation Ecosystem and Growth.’ These verticals will ensure that PIC continues to focus on the most pertinent and relevant issues in these sectors, hold discussions and come up with public policy research papers highlighting solutions.

As we know, policy writing remains a key focus area for PIC. This year, we saw two policy documents being published. The first one is, ‘List in India: Towards FDI 2.0’ and the second one is, ‘Innovating India 20192024: Public Policy Agenda’. The objective of ‘Innovating India 2019-2024: Public Policy Agenda’ document was to provide actionable policy ideas to policy makers and influencers. The document was circulated to all the major political parties and was released in their presence at an event in New Delhi on 26th March 2019, before the start of the 2019 manifesto writing process. We are looking forward to the release of a PIC policy paper on Gifted Children, Aftercare of Young Adult Orphans, Agriculture and Progressive

Maharashtra. Also, we look forward to organise conferences on Migration and Energy and Environment very soon.

It is extremely important to mention that the success of PIC’s programmes and research is supported by our distinguished members of Governing Council (GC). The guidance of the sub-committees which include Programme, Membership, Finance and Infrastructure and its members have made PIC’s initiatives a success. We thank all the members of the GC and the sub-committees for their continued support and participation in the governing of PIC. We also would like to welcome our new members, institutional, corporate, and individual and look forward to collaborating with them in the future.

Many of the initiatives of PIC have been made possible with the support from individuals and organizations, which share the same values and beliefs as PIC. We would like to thank our institutional and individual members for joining us in our endeavors and commend their collaborative spirit.

We also greatly appreciate the efforts of our Director and the PIC team which has been working hard to make every program and initiative a success.

For us, contributing to PIC for the past 7 years has been a very satisfying experience and it would be an honour to continue this journey for years to come. We look forward to achieving newer heights this year with all of you.

Dr. R A Mashelkar

Dr. V L Kelkar President Vice President