Beginning this year, the Indian Institute of Management- Ahmedabad will start a course in constituency management. The participating students will be engaged with a Member of Parliament to profile his constituency and prepare a report including recommendations to introduce effective management practices in the constituency.
The idea for such a programme germinated after Krishna Chepuri, an IIM-A alumnus did his internship with CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechuri a couple of years ago. “The idea was floated after I returned to the campus and the students put together a proposal in this regard. Mr. Yechuri was also interested in the management of MPLAD scheme while some other MPs had other requirements,” Chepuri said. He said the idea behind the exercise was to expose the students to the ground realities in the country.
“We have been toying with this idea for quite some time now,” said Srijan Pal Singh, Chief Coordinator, Public Policy Group, and a second year student at IIM-A. He said, as of now, IIM-A has roped in three MPs for the programme. “We had approached Sitaram Yechuri, Harin Pathak, BJP Lok Sabha MP from Ahmedabad; and Madusudan Mistry, Congress Lok Sabha MP from Banaskantha district. We are also holding talks with Murli Deora, MP from Mumbai,” he said.
Three IIM-A faculty members, Prof. Anil Gupta, Rajnish Das and Navdeep Mathur will oversee the course. Prof. Anil Gupta said: “We cannot sit on the fringe and complain about the system. The idea is to engage with the system and do something about it. This is where we felt this course will have a role to play where as academicians we will actively engage with the system and try to find out ways to make it better.”
Yechuri said: “Among the MPs, I was the first to have an IIM-A student as an intern last summer. But the process needs to be institutionalised.” He said he will continue working with the IIM-A students.
He added: “I had told them that while everyone blames the politicians, tomorrow, the next generation will blame them. Even I would blame them. At the end of the day, it boils down to the issues of management; how to manage the constituency with limited resources at hand and this is where I see the management students playing a role.”
He said he would like the students to look into the issues of spending the fund available to MPs under the MPLAD scheme.
Harin Pathak said the IIM-A students had approached him sometime ago and had expressed the desire to work in his constituency. “This is a welcome deviation from the corporate orientation and it seems there is a paradigm shift in the approach of the students, who are now taking an interest in public institutions as well. We are yet to finalise which area they will be engaged in,” Pathak said, adding that while this would be an educational exposure to the students, as a public figure, he would benefit from the introduction of the current management practices in his constituency.
Madusudan Mistry said the process will be mutually beneficial. “When they got in touch with me, I readily agreed to their request as it would help the future corporate leaders understand the ground realities of our country better. Conversely, it would help us introduce new elements in our constituencies brought about by these young minds,” he said.As part of the programme, the participating students will have a meeting with the MPs in mid-September. “We are forming a group of about 10 students from diverse backgrounds who will be participating in the course,” Srijan Singh said. He said the members of the group will be assigned specific MPs and their constituencies to work with, and there will be an exchange of information among the group, as well.
“We are approaching an MP from South Mumbai. On the other, Yechuri would probably want us to work in Bengal. Then we have areas like Banaskatha in Gujarat also. Deora wants us to work on an Internet communication management system. All this will diversify the programme,” he said.
“We will also make a few field visits to understand the ground realities and then revert with a report along with our recommendations. The entire process will take about five months,” he added.
Ritesh Pase, a participant said: “Though I am looking forward to join the corporate world at the end of my tenure at IIM-A, I feel it is important to have a larger perspective and a deeper understanding of the ground realities which I hope to get from this internship.”
“I am interested in the course because there are a lot of women specific schemes that have been brought out by the government. I will be in a position to look at them both from a manager’s as well as a woman’s perspective,” added Nisha Agarwal, another participant.
Courtesy : www.indianexpress.com
The idea for such a programme germinated after Krishna Chepuri, an IIM-A alumnus did his internship with CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechuri a couple of years ago. “The idea was floated after I returned to the campus and the students put together a proposal in this regard. Mr. Yechuri was also interested in the management of MPLAD scheme while some other MPs had other requirements,” Chepuri said. He said the idea behind the exercise was to expose the students to the ground realities in the country.
“We have been toying with this idea for quite some time now,” said Srijan Pal Singh, Chief Coordinator, Public Policy Group, and a second year student at IIM-A. He said, as of now, IIM-A has roped in three MPs for the programme. “We had approached Sitaram Yechuri, Harin Pathak, BJP Lok Sabha MP from Ahmedabad; and Madusudan Mistry, Congress Lok Sabha MP from Banaskantha district. We are also holding talks with Murli Deora, MP from Mumbai,” he said.
Three IIM-A faculty members, Prof. Anil Gupta, Rajnish Das and Navdeep Mathur will oversee the course. Prof. Anil Gupta said: “We cannot sit on the fringe and complain about the system. The idea is to engage with the system and do something about it. This is where we felt this course will have a role to play where as academicians we will actively engage with the system and try to find out ways to make it better.”
Yechuri said: “Among the MPs, I was the first to have an IIM-A student as an intern last summer. But the process needs to be institutionalised.” He said he will continue working with the IIM-A students.
He added: “I had told them that while everyone blames the politicians, tomorrow, the next generation will blame them. Even I would blame them. At the end of the day, it boils down to the issues of management; how to manage the constituency with limited resources at hand and this is where I see the management students playing a role.”
He said he would like the students to look into the issues of spending the fund available to MPs under the MPLAD scheme.
Harin Pathak said the IIM-A students had approached him sometime ago and had expressed the desire to work in his constituency. “This is a welcome deviation from the corporate orientation and it seems there is a paradigm shift in the approach of the students, who are now taking an interest in public institutions as well. We are yet to finalise which area they will be engaged in,” Pathak said, adding that while this would be an educational exposure to the students, as a public figure, he would benefit from the introduction of the current management practices in his constituency.
Madusudan Mistry said the process will be mutually beneficial. “When they got in touch with me, I readily agreed to their request as it would help the future corporate leaders understand the ground realities of our country better. Conversely, it would help us introduce new elements in our constituencies brought about by these young minds,” he said.As part of the programme, the participating students will have a meeting with the MPs in mid-September. “We are forming a group of about 10 students from diverse backgrounds who will be participating in the course,” Srijan Singh said. He said the members of the group will be assigned specific MPs and their constituencies to work with, and there will be an exchange of information among the group, as well.
“We are approaching an MP from South Mumbai. On the other, Yechuri would probably want us to work in Bengal. Then we have areas like Banaskatha in Gujarat also. Deora wants us to work on an Internet communication management system. All this will diversify the programme,” he said.
“We will also make a few field visits to understand the ground realities and then revert with a report along with our recommendations. The entire process will take about five months,” he added.
Ritesh Pase, a participant said: “Though I am looking forward to join the corporate world at the end of my tenure at IIM-A, I feel it is important to have a larger perspective and a deeper understanding of the ground realities which I hope to get from this internship.”
“I am interested in the course because there are a lot of women specific schemes that have been brought out by the government. I will be in a position to look at them both from a manager’s as well as a woman’s perspective,” added Nisha Agarwal, another participant.
Courtesy : www.indianexpress.com