About Mr R. RadhakrishnanMr R. Radhakrishnan is currently serving as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Chairman, Telangana Council of Higher Education, Hyderabad. With over twenty-three years of experience spanning teaching, academic administration, research and policy analysis, he has previously worked as faculty in reputed institutions, a political analyst providing governance and foreign policy inputs to Parliamentarians, and a researcher in a Ford Foundation-supported project on alternative security approaches. He has taught courses on Indian politics, international relations, political theory, foreign policy and socio-political issues, while also contributing to curriculum design, academic planning, publications, institutional development (International Cell, Student Council) and cultural initiatives.
Interview questions
1. Kindly introduce yourself to our readers.
Many thanks Akshitaa, for inviting me to share my views through this interview.
Greetings to one and all. I am R. Radhakrishnan and as stated earlier, presently I am working as the OSD to Chairman of the Telangana Council of Higher Education. It is big shift from my work as a faculty for Political Science and International Relations, which I had been for more than a decade. I had done my schooling in different parts of the country, pursued my graduation from Panjab University, Chandigarh and higher studies from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. I am happy to mention that I have had an eclectic work experience (Think tank, political office, Media School, leadership School, Liberal Arts School to Law school) to some extent a nomadic profile in professional sense, which has been very fulfilling and learning experience to me. I am stating this as I had worked in different capacities and at different places — from New Delhi, Bhopal, Pune to Hyderabad.
2. Your work as a political analyst and researcher involved providing insights on governance, security and foreign policy. How did those experiences shape your perspective as an academic and administrator?
This is a very important question as one may rightfully ask as to how was I able to teach political theory, political thought or international relations (world politics to Indian foreign policy) more than a decade ago with a different academic profile at the very outset. My present experience in academic administration is equally exciting and challenging.
Firstly, my experience at a Think tank (Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi, from 2002-2005) wherein I had worked in a project on Alternative Approaches to Security funded by the Ford Foundation, which not only equipped me to collect and study literature on socio-political dynamics of India but also of various regions of the world. An opportunity to work under a retired senior IAS officer who had also headed the IDSA (now known as Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses) and under a retired Major General who had headed a Think tank in Sri Lanka after having retired from the Indian Army, provided me with valuable insights on governance and security. It also provided me with an opportunity to interact with serving and retired members of the Indian Armed Forces, Indian Bureaucracy and Foreign Services, scholars from universities and other research organisations, apart from members from media and civil society. The project culminated into a publication in 2005. My work profile from 2002-2005, consisted of maintaining India portal in the Think tank’s website, write short opinion articles of topical nature; organising seminars, drafting seminar reports and posting relevant news items and documents pertaining to Indian politics and its foreign policy.
Secondly, my stint at a political office from 2005-2008, helped in understanding the finer nuances of Indian politics and the challenges faced by our political leaders/parliamentarians while negotiating with our society and polity. The daily monitoring, analysis and identifying trends in India’s domestic politics, identifying issues for political discussion and debate, inference of probable issues that could be raised in the Parliament was a challenging and interesting assignments for me.
These two professional engagements prepared me for a long-term engagement in academic institutions as a faculty as they had provided me insights from the field beyond theories and out of box experience, when I moved into teaching in 2008. I gathered administrative skills over a long time which begins from my first employment — it involved organising seminars, drafting responses to official communication, proposals, writing reports, documenting to handling internal examinations, student placement and training, International Cell to being associated with student centres and the Student Council.
3. As OSD to the Chairman, Telangana Council of Higher Education, what do you see as the single most important reform needed in higher education to align with India’s global aspirations?
The most important suggestion would be to revise the curriculum of our graduate and postgraduate programs in our country. It has been found that there is mismatch and it has been a hurdle as it needs to equip our youth with requisite skills for making them employable and to negotiate with a globalising and fast changing world. This calls for a timely response as our nation also has an advantage of a demographic dividend. India has to brace up to respond to the global needs through a well-trained human resource.
4. Over the years, you have worn the hats of teacher, analyst, researcher and administrator. Which role has been the most challenging, and which has been the most rewarding for you personally?
I feel happy and blessed to have got an opportunity to have worn many hats. Academic administration is a very challenging job as it requires lot of background research and analysis. I personally feel that all of these roles are enriching and rewarding in their own way. However, I feel a combination of teaching backed by reading, writing and some experience of academic administration is very exciting as it provides a wonderful opportunity to learn along with the students. I could try to update my knowledge base, know more from students about the prevailing trends and perspectives and as well as respond in terms of remedial measures and address their concerns. I had been a faculty for political science and international relations for a long duration. The last was the assignment at the Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad which was for around a decade, and it involved teaching papers on political theory, political thought, international relations and public administration. I would also like to mention that it is a continuous process of working on your communication skills and articulation along with subject knowledge.
5. In your Ford Foundation project on alternative approaches to security, what was one idea that challenged conventional thinking on security, and do you think it holds relevance today?
My stint at a Think tank was an eye opener for me as I like many others believed that we face challenges from our neighbourhood whereas I was oblivious of the seriousness of the internal challenges till then, which arose from within our nation — namely, conflicts based on social and cultural identities, class conflicts, crises of governance, non-military threats in form of corruption, drug trafficking and cybercrimes which was at its infancy two decades ago.
6. During your transition from academia to working in a Think tank and later in a political office, what was the biggest mindset shift you had to make, and how did it influence your outlook on governance?
As I had earlier mentioned that it certainly helped me understand various issues and their idiosyncrasies beyond the theories and learning in the classroom. One of my earliest field visits in the rural region of Tamil Nadu in 2003, deeply affected me in terms of seeking to understand issues beyond the surface level. I had been exposed to writing articles for the website in 2002 and it proved to be helpful for me later for my online posts in form of comments in newspaper, blogposts and as well commentaries in student run broadsheet between 2010-2019 in the political office I was able to gather adequate information on governance, public policy and security, and utilise them along with the conventional knowledge in assisting parliamentarians on identifying pros and cons of a given issue, their impact and relevance when those issues are raised in the Parliament. The most notable part of this assignment was the opportunity to interact with various stakeholders on a one-to-one basis.
7. How do you see the role of State Council of Higher Education evolving in ensuring both quality and inclusivity in education?
I wish to state that the Telangana Council of Higher Education (TGCHE) under the dynamic leadership of Prof. V. Balakista Reddy, Chairman, supported by Prof. E. Purushotham, Vice Chairman- I, Prof Prof. SK. Mahmood, Vice Chairman – II and Prof. Sriram Venkatesh, Secretary, TGCHE are committed to both quality and inclusivity in education. They strongly believe in providing quality education to the needy, at an affordable cost with no compromise in quality. They also play a significant role in framing of policies and recommendation to the public universities. Recently the TGCHE has been working on providing learning materials to the students of remote regions free of cost. Inclusiveness has been an inalienable aspect of its mandate and it has played an important role in empowering the students of Telangana with skill development, internship and scholarship.
8. From your time working closely with parliamentarians, what have you observed about the realities of Indian politics that students or the general public rarely get to see?
Yes, what we see on television and read in print are at times diametrically opposite from what one sees and perceives on site. Politics operate at a very different level and we must not get enamoured or swayed away by strong feelings nor nurture any particular opinion on any issue on an ideological basis, without cross-checking the facts and strong academic understanding. The society and polity have multiple layers backed by divergent thoughts, narratives and discourses wherein political class, power elites and influencers in the present times seek our consent on a range of issues. So, it is prudent that students ascertain finer details about any issue related to socio-political, cultural or economic domain rather than simply going by the views of some celebrity or people who wields influence political sphere or economic sphere or through mass media.
9. You have taught Indian Kaleidoscope (Culture and Communication), a rather unique course. What inspired its design, and how have students responded to such an interdisciplinary approach?
It is a very interesting course and had elements from different streams of Social Science (Political Science, Sociology, History, Cultural Studies) and sought to showcase Indian polity and society in a nutshell. I had handled this paper and found some degree of similarity with other papers taught in other institutions as it also straddled into the domain of current affairs from history. This was helpful to students particularly those who had non-social science background in their last years in school or had pursued their graduation in science/commerce or management, in understanding the sociocultural and political and economic dynamics of India. I began my career in teaching two papers — namely, culture and communication and globalisation, media and identity to students of communication management in Bhopal, in 2008. It had a fine mix of storytelling, audio-visual aids like documentaries, movie clippings, advertisements, news reports along with the conventional text and study materials. It also helped me learning the finer nuances given the heterogeneous identity of the student community of our country and also in the selection of study materials for diverse audience. I carry very fond memories as this course could bring the entire classroom to think, debate and articulate divergent views on any given topics of the course.
10. Lastly, what advice would you like to share with students aspiring for careers in academia, research or policy analysis?
All of us co-learners and with the experience based on my own journey so far, I believe that we must strive to be meticulous when it comes to reading and writing, documentation of papers, study materials, correspondence, notes, videos (folders in desktops and laptop and as well as some in the form of hard copies) and open to divergent and differing viewpoints. I personally even to the extent of being perceived as invoking an old school of thought would call for adhering to the practice of maintaining handwritten notes. Additionally in a technology-centric world order when we are able to access online resources due to the globalisation and democratisation of knowledge and information, due emphasis must be given for an in-depth review of literature and exchange of ideas.
I also wish to take this opportunity to thank the student community especially those with whom I had the privilege of being associated through my role as a faculty in different institutions at Bhopal, Pune and in Hyderabad. I owe it to them for my growth and transformation in multiple roles crisscrossing teaching and academic administration.
1. Officer on Special Duty to Chairman, Telangana Council of Higher Education.
2. EBC-SCC OnLine Student Ambassador, Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad.