How can the government help me? Challenging the “mai-baap sarkaar”

Over the last few days, I have had the extraordinary opportunity to address literally hundreds of students and youngsters at workshops across the country on entrepreneurship. Can you guess the one common refrain that has taken me by surprise? It is a question that invariably gets asked in during the open Q&A session – tentatively at first – then supported by more voices.
The question is simple: “What can the government do for us?” My instinctive response to such a question is to relate the Reagan quip, “I am from the …