The FINANCIAL — The Bharti Institute of Public Policy at the Mohali campus hosted Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda, Member of Parliament (MP), Kendrapara (Odisha) for a Public Policy Workshop, according to ISB.
This event was organised in association with Young Indians (Yi) a non-government, not-for-profit, industry led and industry managed organisation under Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The workshop was meant to provide a platform for youngsters to develop an understanding of important policy issues, the role of MPs, the working of a political offices, approaches to public policy, opportunities in the field and ways for citizens to engage with elected representatives.
The workshop began with an introduction by Panda where he urged youth to take keen interest and play pro-active role in politics and various socio-political processes. He added that he was holding such workshops to meet young entrepreneurs, young professionals, intellectuals, industrialists, students and academicians from across the country who want to do something for the nation but do not know how. “The aim is to discuss and implement certain small systematic changes and tools which can bring about a lot of change in near future," said Panda. His emphasis was on the questions of how and where citizens can contribute to the country’s governance.
The first session of the workshop focussed on “Understanding governance better: Our constitutional structure”. Rohit, the head of policy making in Panda’s office explored issues of Distribution of Powers: checks and balances, the working of the Centre, States and the Panchayati Raj and the working of the Legislature during the session.
Yashita Jhurani and Gaurav Goel from Samagra Development Association in their session on “The MP and his people” explained the nature of work and engagement in the constituency, monitoring and reviewing of projects and schemes such as the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS).
In the following session on “Public policy – Challenges and Opportunities” Professor Matthew Hull and Professor Kaushiki Sanyal spoke about issues such as approaches to policy. They also presented insights from some projects being undertaken at the Bharti Institute of Public Policy.
In the afternoon Panda explained to the participants the “Important Institutional and Systemic Reforms” required in India with specific references to Federalism: Distribution of powers and resources, Electoral reforms, Parliamentary reforms and Judicial reforms. "There is a dire and urgent need to bring in parliamentary reforms in order to avoid deadlocks on the House floor on various crucial issues and bills, if our nation has to progress fast like the UK and the US," Panda said.
The last session explored the “Dynamics of the Interaction between the Legislature and the Executive” through a conversation between Panda and Vini Mahajan IAS, Principal Secretary, Government of Punjab and moderated by Professor Rajesh Chakrabarti, Executive Director of the Bharti Institute of Public Policy,
Over 100 participants from diverse backgrounds attended the workshop. This was the 3rd in the series, after Delhi and Bhubaneswar with workshops in Pune and Bangalore next in line.
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