Indiabanao is an apolitical movement that aims to get the youth of India involved in public affairs debates and give them a platform. This is how we were introduced to IndiaBanao.org today. The initiative will go live on October 20 and in this post WATBlog takes a look at what the effort is all about.

What is IndiaBanao?

Essentially it is a networking community for those interested in the public affairs of our country.

India Banao! is a platform for young people to participate in public affairs.  Demographically India is a young country with millions of ambitious, hard-working youth seeking a better tomorrow.  However, many young people believe that neither India’s political system nor its leaders are addressing the issues that really matter to them.  The India Banao! initiative provides a channel for young people to engage with India’s political leaders on youth-related issues.

I like the concept. India has always had a very active and socially aware online community right from our blogosphere to various discussion boards and forums. The idea of IndiaBanao therefore extends on an existing sentiment which has never been tapped to its complete potential. Also with a growing youth population that demands exposure at every level to get ahead in the career race it can quickly attract a lot of active members if marketed well.

How Does One Go About Using IndiaBanao?

IndiaBanao offers a variety of resources on the state Indian public affairs to discuss and to know. So you have videos showcases, blog articles by eminent personalities and commentators, besides a member directory given the fact that it is a networking community primarily. The IB team also has on plans various events to make the effort a 360 degree initiative with both online and offline presence.

While majority of the content is available for all visitors to the website, interaction and involvement as expected is only for registered members. So commenting and participating in discussion threads requires you to register at the site. Personally I would have preferred all features to be kept open because registration unfortunately seems a little old school and could have been kept just for the offline events, which could have been then used to build the member directory.

While sticking to suggestions, I don’t know if the site layout is temporary given that the official launch is good 5 days away, however it can certainly do with a better look. Not that the layout isn’t neat, however, somewhere the site lacks an inviting appeal and some of the graphics used certainly seem outdated at the moment.

Who is Behind IndiaBanao?

IndiaBanao’s founding team consists of 3 distinguished personalities who to my mind form the backbone of the credibility and impact that IndiaBanao aspires to create. The founders of IndiaBanao.org are:

• Sanjeev Sanyal - Eminent economist and author, Sanjeev Sanyal is a respected authority in monetary economics and financial markets and environmental accounting (that’s three of the most pressing problems we face this hour).
• Jayant Sinha - Jayant Sinha was a partner at McKinsey before taking up the mantle of an investor and a columnist with some of the major Indian publications and has written extensively on Indian Investment. He is also former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha’s son, so his public affair leanings is not surprising given that fact.
• Sheetal Talwar - Though Mr. Talwar is perhaps known more as the movie Dharm’s producer, he is also an eminent banking and marketing professional. And has worked with some of the best Indian brands before venturing into film production with WSG Pictures.

Will IndiaBanao Work?

Or the appropriate question to ask is will IndiaBanao succeed in meeting its goals and objectives?

The answer doesn’t really lie in how good the website is or how many memberships it can drive. Its eventual success would lie in how close it has come to realizing the aim it has set. And that’s where the crux of the matter is.

The notion of making a better nation out of India is not new. Nor has there been a dearth of vision to get it done for that matter. And it didn’t just start 6 decades back when we found a new identity as a nation, the idea of India the way it should be is older than that. And throughout the course of history what we have seen is that old phrase that I once read in a friend’s MSN messenger status - When all is said and done, a little more is said than done. And that’s been the Achilles’ Heel for any effort at making a mass change in the country. We don’t really get things done.

A platform for discussion and debate is great, but if IndiaBanao like its predecessors has in Lead India and LeadIndia 2020 has to make a visible impact it will have to drive action and not just talks. Given the names involved , people who have got things done, the initiative has its first steps right. The trick is to build up the steam and sustain it beyond the buzz.

India Banao will be launched on 20th October, 2008 by L.K. Advani at the FICCI Auditorium, (Tansem Marg, New Delhi) at 6:30 PM. The launch event will also have a panel discussing the various questions the youth of the nation face and live. The Panel will also include Sanjeev Bikhchandani,  besides the three founders of India Banao.

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