Shankkar Aiyar > Quotes

“The challenge confronting leaders in the 21st century is less about what to do and more about how to get it done.”
― Shankkar Aiyar, Aadhaar: A Biometric History of India's 12-Digit Revolution

“Government,’ Ronald Reagan, fortieth president of the United States of America, said, ‘is like a baby’s alimentary canal, with a healthy appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.”
― Shankkar Aiyar, Aadhaar: A Biometric History of India's 12-Digit Revolution

“Political mandates matter, but delivering on promises requires institutions. And it takes individuals to build those institutions, so expertise matters, as does the system’s openness to lateral induction of talent. For an idea to succeed, no matter how worthy on its own, all these elements must come together to form a unique constellation.”
― Shankkar Aiyar, Aadhaar: A Biometric History of India's 12-Digit Revolution

“India's political economy is replete with tales of how things did not happen. The lament is preceded by the ubiquitous 'if only', about how solutions were thought of but the ideas did not translate into action.”
― Shankkar Aiyar, Aadhaar: A Biometric History of India's 12-Digit Revolution

“Five out of ten middle-class Indians born in the nineties scarcely know of an India that languished in want.”
― Shankkar Aiyar, Accidental India

“India established a record of sorts in squandering a series of early-mover opportunities, especially when it came to software development. In 1973, the government established the Santa Cruz Electronics Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ) in Bombay. SEEPZ was the perfect vehicle to propel software exports. This didn’t happen. The policies of SEEPZ were lopsided, unrealistic, and built around the belief that foreign exchange could be earned without spending any. Its primary function should have been promoting exports; instead, it was controlling imports.”
― Shankkar Aiyar, Accidental India