Mohali: In a first, the Bharti Institute of Public Policy at the Indian School of Business (ISB), organized a four-day leadership training programme, ‘Public Policy Workshop for Legislators’, to strengthen the legislative institutions and explore leadership challenges and solutions for policymakers, which concluded on Thursday at ISB’s Mohali campus with 28 Meghalaya legislators , including three ministers, besides officials of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly and state agencies in attendance.
The workshop was organized in furtherance to Bharti Institute’s multi-point collaboration with the Meghalaya government, wherein the Institute is the exclusive knowledge and training partner for the Meghalaya Legislative Research Fellowship programme (MLRF), a first-of-its-kind initiative to aid research and advocacy in the north-eastern region.
The programme also helped build and improve rapport among the members, who despite their different political affiliations, were seen working, engaging and learning together inside and outside the class through group projects and studies, an official statemen said
With sessions focusing on policy challenges for India in general and Meghalaya in particular, the workshop facilitated Meghalayan legislators with insights to research-oriented policy formulation
and implementation, through case studies, group assignments and team-building activities.
“Programmes like these help refine the dynamics of legislative discussions, and strengthen the leadership at the helm,” Executive Director of Bharti Institute of Public Policy, (BIPP Ashwini
Chhatre, said.
“For a country like ours, these workshops, when expanded to all state assemblies, can prove to be game-changer, in terms of top leadership development, evidence-based policies, and leveraging of contemporary management principles for implementation of policies,” he added.
In addition to class engagements, the legislators also visited Punjab Legislative Assembly to interact with state legislators on Thursday, even as Governor Banwarilal Purohit hosted dinner for the Meghalaya legislators.
“Meghalaya is the first north-eastern state to start with a legislative fellowship programme, with young and highly motivated fellows assisting legislators in research and data analysis on issues of state importance and urgency. However, we noticed there exist gaps in terms of legislators’ understanding and perception of evidence-backed policy formulation. The workshop is a significant step towards filling such gaps,” Director of Meghalaya Institute of Governance and Project Lead, Aiban Swer said.
