India’s Parliamentary Leaders Discuss Society, Governance and Globalization at Yale

“A rare opportunity to reflect and think” is how Baijayant (Jay) Panda, MP for Kendrapara, Orissa and Chairman of the India-US Forum of Parliamentarians, summed up the purpose of the India-Yale Parliamentary Leadership Program.  Panda was one 13 members of India’s Parliament who took part in the 6 day leadership program in June.  Panda described the program as “a chance to step away from the everyday rough and tumble of Indian politics, the glare of the media and the demands of constituents and gain exposure to the latest current thinking”.  This year’s program convened sessions on topics as diverse as India and the United Nations, the Sustainable Design of Cities and Buildings, the Arab Spring, Global Economic Governance, and the Future of Europe.  In these intensive sessions, parliamentary leaders had the opportunity to interact with faculty from across Yale’s academic departments and professional schools, including Political Science, Economics, the Yale Law School, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, the School of Public Health, the School of Architecture and the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. 

Following a session on the Future of Europe, Sachin Pilot, India’s Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology remarked that the program afforded leaders and policy makers an important opportunity “to fashion a larger canvas on which to put different perspectives and issues in place”.  Bhakta Charan Das, Lok Sabha MP for Kalahandi, Orissa, echoed the sentiment by noting that the program allowed participants to “develop mental horizons” which he believed would lead to stronger policy. 

The India - Yale Parliamentary Leadership Program was developed in consultation with the parliamentarians and the India - U.S. Forum of Parliamentarians and reflects the belief that exposure to new fields and ideas can offer insight, perspective, and new ways of thinking for one’s own work.  The India - U.S. Forum of Parliamentarians is a body of leading Indian parliamentarians representing the broad political spectrum of India from both Houses of Parliament – the Lok Sabha (Lower House) and the Rajya Sabha (Upper House). The Forum was created six years ago with the support of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.  The Forum, constituted on the lines of “Senate Friends of India” Group and the “India Caucus” in the United States Congress, today, has more than 130 lawmakers cutting across party lines, with many of its members heading or serving in vital policy planning parliamentary committees.  Complementing the curricular activities of the three day program at Yale, this year’s participants in the program also attended meetings and discussions with leaders in government, research, media and the private sector in New York City. 

Yale President Richard C. Levin stated that “The India - Yale Parliamentary Leadership Program underscores Yale’s longstanding commitment to educating our students for service and leadership. We have now gone a step further to include emerging and midcareer leaders. The program will provide the parliamentarians with opportunities to critically think about the challenges of leadership and to explore freely, away from the legislative arena, the issues facing India.”

Since its inception, the program, now in its fifth year, has brought more than sixty members of India’s parliament to Yale.  The participating 2011 parliamentarians included: Bhakta Charan Das (Lok Sabha – Indian National Congress - Kalahandi, Orissa); Piyush Goyal (Rajya Sabha - Bharatiya Janata Party - Maharashtra); Sanjay Jaiswal (Lok Sabha - Bharatiya Janata Party – Paschim Champaran, Bihar); Jose K. Mani (Lok Sabha - Kerala Congress (M) Parliamentary Party - Kottayam, Kerala); Baijayant Panda (Lok Sabha - Biju Janata Dal - Kendrapara, Orissa; and, Chairman, India-U.S. Forum of Parliamentarians); Anand Prakash Paranjpe (Lok Sabha - Shiv Sena - Kalyan, Maharashtra); Ranjitsinh Vijaysingh Mohite Patil (Rajya Sabha - Nationalist Congress Party - Maharashtra); Sachin Pilot (Lok Sabha - Indian National Congress - Ajmer, Rajasthan; and, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology); Prem Das Rai (Lok Sabha – Sikkim Democratic Front - Sikkim); Rajiv Pratap Rudy (Rajya Sabha - Bharatiya Janata Party - Bihar); Supriya Sule (Lok Sabha - Nationalist Congress Party - Baramati, Maharashtra); Ashok Tanwar (Lok Sabha - Indian National Congress - Sirsa, Haryana); and Manish Tewari (Lok Sabha - Indian National Congress - Ludhiana, Punjab). The parliamentarians were accompanied by Ramesh Chandran (Executive Director, India - U.S. Forum of Parliamentarians, and Advisor, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry).