OTT Conference 2022 – Becoming a Changemaker: Lessons from a Think Tank-Government Partnership in India

Organized by: Public Affairs Centre (PAC), Public Affairs Foundation (PAF) & On Think Tanks (OTT)

Welcome: Dr. Annapoorna Ravichander. Facilitator: Gurucharan G. Participants: Five Executive Directors from South Asian think tanks, two observers, and the Founder of On Think Tanks.

OTT Conference 2022 - Becoming a Changemaker: Lessons from a Think Tank–Government Partnership in India documents the Public Affairs Centre's participation in the OTT Conference 2022, where it showcased its experience of partnering with government institutions to strengthen public administration through evidence-based research and capacity building. The presentation highlighted PAC's governance approach based on social accountability, rights-based development, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a focus on its collaboration with the Administrative Training Institute (ATI), Mysuru. It outlined PAC's role as a knowledge partner in redesigning training frameworks, strengthening human resource capacity, developing competency-based curricula, introducing transparent recruitment processes, creating trainers' and trainees' handbooks, and promoting innovative, participatory pedagogical methods. The report also describes the use of continuous monitoring, feedback mechanisms, and external evaluations to improve training quality and institutional effectiveness. It concludes by demonstrating how sustained think tank–government partnerships can foster administrative reforms, build leadership capacity among civil servants, and contribute to more responsive, inclusive, and evidence-driven governance.