Need to adopt, develop appropriate public policies: President

President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday stressed the need to adopt and develop appropriate public policies in view of the unprecedented "scale and speed of changes" in the world, and the new challenges they throw up.

"The scale and speed of changes happening around us today are unprecedented and so are the challenges. This dynamic nature calls for adopting and developing appropriate public policies," Mukherjee said while addressing participants of the Indian School of Business, Mohali, management programme in public policy at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Focusing on the importance of public policy, he termed it an area of study which has great relevance to continuing task of nation building.

"Human capacity has been a key determinant in the rise of nations. Even today, the race among nations is not necessarily won by those with immense resources, but by those who have the capacity to make the most effective use of those resources for building the nation," he said.

"That capacity is directly related to the ability to make effective public policies and to implement these policies effectively. A good public policy with poor implementation is of no value and significance to society and nation," he added.

Mukherjee pointed out that Chanakya's treatise on public policy "has always been a guiding force in the area of public finance, urban governance, security and diplomacy".