DRAFT PLAN FOR ESTABLISHING CONSERVATIVE THINK TANK IN

INDIA
INTRODUCTION
India is undergoing massive transformation due to the youth bulge and economic growth. Two
trends are discernible. While on one hand aspirational youth want to change their own condition
radically, at the same time they want the social order to be stable. The survey after survey
suggest the attitudes of Indias aspirational youth as someone who prefer joint families to
nuclear ones; reverence towards their elders , preferring to get married in traditional style with
elaborate rituals and not formalise it in court. Indias aspirational youth is tradition-bound and
conservative. But, they are also showing the symptoms of regressive behavior. They like to deny
women the gender equality, they are fiercely opposed to the LGBT rights, they love to demand
dowry. Majority of them get easily motivated to participate vociferously in religious and
community issue without reasonable deliberation. Since it is the aspirational youth who
contribute to the building of the Middle Class that steer the destiny of the nation, it is imperative
upon the intelligentsia to target the aspirational youth with right path that balances their present
and the nations future. BHAKT(Bachelor High-Tempered Aspirational Know-All Traditional)
syndrome ought to be provided with a purposive direction.
A Think Tank with clear objective of promoting conservative virtues is required at this juncture.
Though, there are plethora of Think Tanks in India, most of these are focused mainly on defence
and foreign policy. A few think tanks are one- man show and do pursue the economic dimension,
but without much influence in the society. The vacuum can be filled by establishing an allcomprehensive Conservative Think Tank in the heart of the political capital of India, Delhi.
Cognitive linguist George Lakoff has argued in his classic work, Moral Politics(1996) the
propensity of human brain to create two concepts of the family that are mapped onto two
contrasting political concepts, which reveal two kinds of systemic morality: a hierarchical, strict
and disciplining father morality of conservatives on the one hand, and an egalitarian, nurturing
parent morality of progressives or liberals on the other. Some social scientists argue that
conservatisim is a temperament of distrust of human nature, of rootlessness, of untested
innovations; and a corresponding trust in unbroken historical continuity and in traditional
frameworks within which human affairs may be conducted.
During the time of radical
transformation of society brought about by the accelerated technological innovations, the
rootedness as an urge trumps over the desire for further change. This might stem from human
condition for nostalgia of bygone days which itself is a byproduct of our mnemonic self.
Sometimes religion, sometimes caste identity and sometimes nationhood itself become the
framework for articulating conservative worldview. Peter Robert Edwin Viereck writes in his
Conservatism Revisited( 1949) that , these chains (society's traditional restrictions on the ego)
fit man into a rooted, durable framework, without which ethical behaviour and responsible use of
liberty are impossible.

The term "conservatism" is derived from the Latin "conservare" (meaning to "protect" or
"preserve") and from the French derivative "conservateur". Conservatism does not reject change
per se, but does not encourage accelerated change . For a conservative, the change ought to be
organic and gradual rather than radical break from past as often the radical break to serve some
abstract doctrine has often fallen into the trap of the law of unintended consequences and/or
of moral hazards. The Liberals and the progressives claim to consciously articulate abstract
blueprints(ideology/Utopia), the Conservative mind unconsciously reiterate concrete traditions.
Thus in a way, the Liberals are Ortho-doxic(Right Knowledge) , the Conservatives pursue
Ortho-praxis( Right practice). Since, Conservatism embodies rather than argues, its best insights
are almost never developed into sustained theoretical works. They are attacked for lacking a
properly articulated worldview by the progressive. This also necessitates establishing a
Conservative Think Tank.
Indian condition is unique and quite complex. We have different icons from our tradition each
depicting a liberal or conservative framework from the point of our situatedness. Fierce
Goddess Kali is conservative from the framework of rational thinking, but Krishna is liberal;
Rama is in-between. If we consider the ritual worship, Kali is liberal and Krishna conservative
since Kali worshippers are allowed to partake no-vegetarian meals while Krishna devotees are
extreme vegetarians. Between Kali and Krishna, Indian conservatives require to articulate a
rational framework for the contemporary global condition and Indias positioning.
The
articulation must encompass manifold dimensions like: culture, social, religious, fiscal and bioconservatism.

MISSION
Our mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of
critical rationality, traditional compatible values, minimum government, strong national defence,
private enterprise, protecting egalitarian principles as part of Constitutional tradition;
transparency, accountability of the government, bio-cultural-spiritual preservation and
regeneration .

RESEARCH AND PROGRAMS

Economics
Foreign and defense policy
Health policy
Political Theory
Classical Hindu-Buddhist-Jain Philosophy

Education
Environment
Folk culture studies
Name of the Centre shall be :
ABHINAV CENTRE FOR NEW INDIA
Office of the Institute shall be:
New Delhi or NCR of Delhi
Objective of Abhinava Centre for New india
1. Pursuing quality research in Economic policy;
2. Pursuing quality research in foreign and defense policy;
3. Basic research on Conservative philosophy based upon India tradition;
4. To preserve, develop and promote Indic tradition of knowledge;
5. To coordinate with other Think Tanks to enrich and develop a conservative philosophy for
building Strong India;.
6. To foster cultural, religious and emotional integration with the national mainstream.
7. To inculcate awareness about healthy body, healthy mind, healthy community and healthy
ecology through holistic adoption of integral Indic philosophy;
8. To prepare young researchers through workshops for higher learning and research in the
fields of nation-building with pedagogic methods using knowledge of modern research
methodology;
9. To promote traditional Indic system of knowledge and contemporary political thoughtcurrents for facilitating economic self-sufficiency and sustainable development and
preservation of national identity within the framework of national unity;
10.

To promote human values and ecologically sustainable living

Modalities of Think Tank

The Think Tank can be initially

started with
the
support of the
.which has been in the forefront for more than
.decades
in philanthropy . The Leader( ???) has already connected the donorsand experts across
India and is the best resource centre at present in India to support the Think Tank.

1)

The modalities of establishing the ABHINAV CENTRE FOR NEW INDIA(ACNI)

will start with signing agreement with the , a well-known entity in the public
sphere as the associate organization to push start the project and then establish it
as an independent Centre.

2)

., Delhi can provide the knowledge base, literature, local support and the
Socio-economic dynamics of India at present to make ABHINAV CENTRE FOR
NEW INDIA(ACNI) fully national in character.

3)

, Delhi can be assigned the task of preparing Detailed Project Report

(DPR) on the subject of establishment of the ABHINAV CENTRE FOR NEW
INDIA(ACNI) .

FINANCIAL INFORMATION
ABHINAV CENTRE FOR NEW INDIA(ACNI) will be a non-profit organization under the Societies
Registration Act,1860.It will receives a substantial part of its support from governmental and the
corporate grants or the general public. Any charitable donations to this organization are deductible.

REQUIREMENTS
1. Leader/ leaders: good communicator, subject expert and networker; imaginative and committed for 23 years;
2. Board Member- at least 7 members of repute
3. Researchers: Starting with 2-3 focusing on foreign and economic policy;
4. Funder: That should be sufficient for next three years of formative phase;
5. Executive Director
6. Turnover: Blogs, Newsletter, website, Policy Briefs, Policy Papers
7. Digital Infrastructure: Cost-saving
8. ICE(Information, Communication, Education )Activities: Op-Ed by the leader in newspapers,
participation in TV debates, press release etc.