HYDERABAD: Prof G Ram Reddy Social Scientist Award for the year 2015 was conferred upon Dr Sony Pellissery on Friday.
Receiving the award at an event held at the Centre for Economic and Social Sciences (CESS), Dr Pellissery said that there is an urgent need to redefine public policy as political responsibility, than technocratic tools.
According to him, this approach enables public policy to clarify the value-orientations of oneself and the direction to which the society should be collectively moving.
“At the same time, political responsibility is to enter into dialogue and persuasion with others who will have different value orientation and preference,” he added.
Delivering a lecture on public policies in India, he spoke about how the existing public policy processes in India are short from helping to realise moral worth of citizens.
“Anti-poverty policies may be providing material goods to the people, but they are not raising the self respect of the citizens. Orientation to the public policy as political responsibility shows a way out to enhance the quality of life of the citizens,” he added.
The Prof G Ram Reddy Memorial Trust, presented this award to Pellissery for his contribution to the public policy and development studies. He was given a trophy and `50,000 as the award. At present, he is working as Associate Professor at National School of Law, Bangalore. The award is given to people who made excellent contributions to the fields of public policy, rural development and distance education, which happen to be the interest areas of Late Prof G Ram Reddy.
Speaking at the event, Prof CH Hanumantha Rao, Chairperson of the Trust, recalled his memories with Prof Ram Reddy. He said Ram Reddy had a great interest in public policies and the political responsibility. Giving this award to a person like Pellissery was right decision, he added.
Prof G Haragopal, secretary of the trust, said, the public policies must be designed in order to cater to the people.