Thaindian News

By Arun Kumar
Washington, June 19 (IANS) A group of Indian parliamentarians representing various parties Saturday begin the third edition of India-Yale Parliamentary Leadership Programme focusing on global political-economic affairs and the challenges of leadership.

Among the 2009 participants of the programme at the prestigious Yale University are Abhishek Manu Singhvi, national spokesperson of the Congress party, Prakash Javadekar, the official spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and six newly elected members of the Lok Sabha.

Other participants are: Shruti Choudhry, Priya Dutt, Mausam Benazir Noor, Mohammad Hamdullah Sayeed and Ijyaraj Singh (all Congress); Anurag Singh Thakur (BJP), Jayant Chaudhary (Rashtriya Lok Dal); Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo (Biju Janata Dal); Naresh Gujral (Shiromani Akali Dal), and H.D. Kumaraswamy (Janata Dal-Secular).

The parliamentarians will be accompanied by Ramesh Chandran, executive director of the India-US Forum of Parliamentarians, and advisor of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

The parliamentarian will come to the Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut, Saturday to begin a four-day leadership programme with Yale faculty. This will be complemented by a three-day programme of meetings, discussions, and interactions with US politicians, policy analysts and senior US government officials in New York City and Washington, D.C.

More than 30 members of India’s parliament have participated in the programme since it was launched in 2007 in collaboration with the India-US Forum of Parliamentarians and FICCI.

“The India-Yale Parliamentary Leadership Programme underscores Yale’s longstanding commitment to educating our students for service and leadership,” Yale president Richard C. Levin stated.

“We have now gone a step further to include emerging and mid-career leaders. The programme 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.”

FICCI secretary general Amit Mitra stated: “The India-Yale Parliamentary Leadership Programme encourages greater understanding of public leadership, accountability, transparency and parliamentary oversight amongst the parliamentarians.”

“It is designed to provide the parliamentarians capacity building and skill development and greater engagement in public policy discussions. The programme is aimed at making an important contribution to their leadership capabilities to prevent and manage challenges through effective parliamentary governance.”