ISB starts training of fellows for Meghalaya Govt

Shillong: As a knowledge and executing partner for the Government of Meghalaya’s unique and ambitious fellowship programme, the Bharti Institute of Public Policy today started the five-day orientation and training workshop for the maiden cohort of legislative fellows in Shillong, Meghalaya. The Meghalaya Legislative Research Fellowship (MLRF) programme is the first-of-its-kind initiative envisaged by a State Government in North East India, in partnership with the country’s premier business and research institute, the Indian School of Business (ISB), to facilitate support for research and data analysis for legislators.

Inaugurating the programme at Meghalaya Administrative Training Institute, Sampath Kumar, IAS, Principal Secretary to the Govt of Meghalaya and Director General, Meghalaya Institute of Governance (the nodal agency for MLRF), along with Project Leads Aiban Swer and Stephen Anurag P, talked about the how the programme not only paves way for data-driven governance but also provides lucrative career opportunities for the State’s youth to contribute to policy- making and practice. Under MLRF, the fellows will work in close coordination with selected legislators of the Meghalaya State Legislative Assembly and agencies of the Government of Meghalaya, providing research inputs and evidence-based policy insights in legislative, procedural or other anticipated issues of interests in the Assembly.

“Intensive training in political science, public policy, public administration, international affairs coupled with research methodologies, governance and public management will be facilitated through multiple workshops across the fellowship period, supplemented by various expert sessions,” informed Dr Aarushi Jain, Associate Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy. After the first week of orientation and training, the fellows will begin to interact with various stakeholders within the different structures of the government. A weekly deliverable plan would be shared with the fellows and followed up by ISB, she added.

The five-day training workshop will focus on the understanding of public policy and governance issues in general; and legislative, legal, socio-economic and implementation issues in Meghalaya, particularly. The fellows are being trained and mentored through a structured two-year programme by the Bharti Institute Public Policy.