Nandan Nilekani on panel: Government should tap bright minds more

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Monopolies are bad. Digital monopolies more so since they have the power to control even thoughts, behaviour and action of individuals. The government has set up an eight-member panel who would help set up an open network for digital commerce that would hopefully prevent digital monopolies.

An unexpected but welcome decision has been the induction of Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani into the panel. It is a welcome step on two counts. Nilekani has the bandwidth and exposure to advise the government on the long-term implications of the steps that might be discussed in the panel. The bigger picture is that his induction aims at optimising the nation’s talent pool beyond the boundaries of government service to rise up to any challenge that the nation faces.

Significantly, the Reserve Bank of India has also flagged concerns about leviathans in fast emerging area of the digital financial services. These concerns are about monopolistic tendencies, data privacy and data security apart from other concerns. Big tech companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Amazon stride different segments and their networks have the capacity – and some already are – to control the very thought process of billions of individuals across the world. The virtual transnational empires can have so far-reaching consequences that they far outweigh the efficiency gains that these firms might produce.

Beyond this immediate challenge, Nilekani’s induction has broader lessons that the government must push forward. It must ensure that non-partisan faces are inducted into expert bodies set up to solve problems that impact the country. It should not be limited to any specific area but should permeate all activities of the government. India has exceptionally bright minds in different sectors and the nation cannot afford to keep them in the sidelines especially in these trying times. It would do well if co-opting talent becomes a practice rather than an exception.