ASHVINI A. writes from Bangalore: Scanning the headlines on the Deccan Herald website on Friday afternoon, I came across a Press Trust of India (PTI) report about Indian parliamentarians attending classes at Yale University on global issues and leadership challenges.
My first reaction was “Wow, good idea, will open their minds.”
But it took just a few seconds for my initial enthusiasm to come crashing down. As I scrolled down the report, the choice of MPs selected for the programme intrigued me, and then began plainly irritating me.
Leader of the pack: Abhishek Manu Singhvi, son of L.M. Singhvi.
The other members of the squad:
# H.D. Kumaraswamy: son of former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda.
# Naresh Goyal: son of former prime minister I.K. Gujral.
# Jayant Chaudhary: son of Rashtriya Lok Dal leader, Ajit Singh.
# Shruti Choudhary: daughter of Haryana tourism minister Kiran Choudhary, and grand-daughter of Bansi Lal.
# Priya Dutt, daughter of late Sunil Dutt.
# Mohammad Hamdullah Sayeed, son of the former Union minister P.M. Sayeed.
# Anurag Singh, son of the Himachal Pradesh chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.
# Mausam Noor: granddaughter of Congress leader A.B.A. Ghani Khan Choudhary.
In other words, eight of the ten members of the team (there is also Prakash Javadekar, who is just the son of his parents) are from political families. Sons, daughters, relatives of political leaders.
First, their family standing and surname helped most of them get tickets to contest the elections and enter Parliament. Now, they are getting preferential treatment for leadership courses!
Democracy zindabad!
In a house of 543 MPs, were there no other “young MPs” who were found worthy of being chosen for this high honour?
(For the record, the India-Yale Parliamentary Leadership program is aimed at “providing insight and perspective to young leaders by giving them the exposure of different fields and ideas.”)
Who selected the MPs?
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) or the Indo-US forum of parliamentarians? Does Yale know of the scam? Or is it a party to it?
How did H.D. Kumaraswamy get on the list? Did he serve as chief minister without these leadership skills? Or did his friend Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who headed FICCI till recently, swing it for him?
Off hand, I can think of at least three other MPs from Karnataka who have been elected on the strength of their own steam without any member of their family being in politics, who could have been on this trip: Dhruvanarayana (Chamrajanagar), Navin Kumar Kateel (Dakshina Kannada) and Janardhana Swamy (Chitradurga).
Looking at the number of “children” who were elected to the Lok Sabha, it seemed to me as if “We, the People” had internalised dynastic politics to the extent of becoming a Dynastic Democracy.
Looking at the Yale list, I am convinced.
Questions like whether leadership can be taught if not learnt in a classroom, and whether leadership for an Indian milieu can be taught by an Ivy League University, are evergreen.
But there are other questions bugging me:
# How is it that these “children” did not pick up leadership skills from their father, mother, uncles?
# Should a former chief minister like Kumaraswamy have been included in the list with first time MPs?
# Can an American university, howsoever great, really teach leadership for an Indian context?
# Are these first-time MPs in danger of being brainwashed and indoctrinated in the American way of thinking and learning?
# Should we not send delegations like these to places in India that are poor, disease-stricken so that they know the reality?
# Should not these MPs spend time with farmers, weavers, fishermen etc who face extreme hardships to make a simple livelihood and have little of no support from Goverment?
Going to Yale is good idea, but visiting different towns and villages at home in Bharat that is India will teach them more lasting lessons about leadership and challanges that an Yale can never teach.
Pretty soon, Parliament is going to take up the question of whether “foreign universities” should be allowed to set up shop in India. Is it reasonable to expect at least eight of the ten to have made up their minds?
***
Disagree with the choice of MPs?
Write to the president of Yale, Richard C. Levin.
Email: richard.levin@yale.edu
Phone: 203-432-2550
***
churumuri 
Kumaranna going to Yale-u??? Wowwuu? Is he going alone?
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Vijay, :D
Somebody tell him that international roaming rates are very expensive and he should not take his poor mobile which’s being stalked by a woman!
Most of these channels and newspapers while covering “Young Politicians” conveniently forgot featuring many deserving politicians like Janardhana Swamy(read about the electronic device that he innovated to remotely switch on water pumps, who get power only in unearthly hours. — http://66.34.165.181/js//politics/profile/Janardhana_Swamy_96dpi-16-8-LR_Page_3.jpg )
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I have sent my letter to Mr Richard C. Levin. Everybody, do the same. Otherwise, we will be left with all 543 people from political families the next time.
They say that the people who enter with a prominent political surname, have to work equally hard, and that dynastic politics is legitimized because they are elected by the people. But, this incident shows how they get extra benefits merely because of their family and connections.
We have to elect people who already have knowledge. This practice of dynastic politics reminds me of thins I read in my school. Some, small child would be made a kind after the death of his father(King). And there would be some Prime Minister to advice him and some other guys to teach him. What makes the present situation different from that?
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its an absolute waste of money ….its nothing but a junket , the same money could have been spent on sponsoring some meritorious students here in India
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Paid vacation to Amerikaa.
Sounds distinctly like the left-liberal version of the foreign trips ministers and their ilk used to make repeatedly to “learn” about phoren countries and how things work there.
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@ Vijay –
adu “Yale-u” alla saaru….
ello aa padada aksharagaLalli, the original “He” has been replaced ingeniously by “Ya” for marketing purposes to make it look like “Yale-u”!
Do you think, uneducated, grandsons of night soil, one who bunked classes while purportedly in college, going to “Yale-u” and study?? C’mon!
If you know and predict ingenuity of this Son of Night Soil, you can expect a “chinna veedu” setup in “Yale-u”. I strongly urge the Customs and Central Excise to see any cargo going out of Bangalore. There could well be onetime actress. Human Trafficking!!
Does anyone know if there is a detour of the return journey via Switzerland to do a peek-a-boo into the family safe vaults?
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HDK in Yale… hahahahahahahahahahahahaha…. what a joke.
Rather than writing to the president of Yale, lets all send a message to Homeland Security of USA, insinuating that these 8 people have links to terrorists. That is bound to cause a lot of discomfort to these 8.
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Politics in India is a lucrative profession. Which is why I read that 30 percent of politicians in India have criminal records–this is official–imagine the shady ones without official criminal records and that figure would be much higher.
What does Indian democracy show?
All humans are not equal. As in Orwell’s Animan farm “Some are more equal than others.”
No one is to blame for this than the passivity of Indians as to the truth! The current system is making them even stupider.
Any plans of the new government to build insfastructure or schools or Universities? None whatsoever. Just continuing the same old road with the same mean results.
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I emailed it to my friend Shivaji who is a research scholar in the dept. and also to Richard Levin.
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I haven’t any trouble with Kumaraswamy going on a junket to New Haven at the expense of the people who voted for him.
Just to shut up the uninformed ones here who are making fun of him, I would suggest that Kumaraswamy write a long essay in Kannada and English (without help from Datta or somebody like him) about what he learned at the institute when he comes back. Preferably he should produce the essay under the supervision of absolutely unbiased people. The essay should be printed in all of our newspapaers and yellow rags in its original form.
Since there is not likely to be somebody to translate everything for the former CM in the U.S., we should get him a competent instructor to teach him how to understand spoken American English before he leaves. Maybe it is enough to teach him the following sentences or phrases:
“What up, man?”
“Ow y’all doin?”
“I yam from Aasana.”
“Amrika good country.”
“Wanna buy some real estate in my hood (wood)?”
“Find me a bimbo, a real hot (aat) one.”
“Great leccher, profsar. I learn many thing.”
It may not be a bad idea to have the man fly out to California and have him be interviewed by Ravikrishna Reddy.
Finally, Akka should arrange a conference somewhere in Vermont and have our man deliver an inspiring speech about Karnataka and its rich history without notes. I am suggesting Vermont because it is not too hot or muggy in summer time. The former Chief Minister is said to perspire heavily all over his body and he definitely won’t agree to wear a burqa to keep his waterfall “bevaru” from public view.
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Levin does not have a direct role to play in this farce. I doubt he is even going to stick his head in to see what is going on. It’s best to learn from the local perpertrators to find out who is stitching the emperor’s new robe. The right know act may help us here.
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When FICCI is interested to send young MPs for training program, and they happen to be from established dynasties (8 out of 10), it only shows that young have no chance to come up in political arena today. is it possible there are equal number of young MPs who are not connected with established dynasty, that shows the bias of FICCI and also show that they are interested to “corrupt” or “buy” these MPs through foreign trip?
Does churumuri has data on other youthful MPs? Can it throw light on this?
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I had the privilege of attending the Yale leadership courses and let me tell, they are worth every second of time spent there. They are taught by some excellent professors with quality experience. The approach is unique too and is coupled with exercises. You just have to apply them in your profession to to get benefits.
With that that being said, I dont necessarily disagree with the list. The identified people seem like the young guns and future leaders of (whether you like it or not) of India and lets all hope that these kind of training moulds them to be better leaders. I guess thats all we can do. As for as the cost, lets not even get into the discussion. Its just a drop in the bucket of wasted money, but actually may have some results if they sit in the classes and not spend time shopping in US. Anyway, my $0.02.
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deve gowda is making sure that kumaraswamy gets the requisite credentials to play a major role in national politics. this exposure will make kumaraswamy familiar with nuiances of policy-making.
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As the (slightly modified) song goes….
aalalladaroo aaku, Yale-allaladaroo aaku…..
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There are no grounds to justify these people getting educated at Yale on taxpayer’s money. And talking about leadership skills, these 8/10 don’t even qualify as leaders because they did not come to the position they are in today on basis of their leadership skills.
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GK3S!
Superb!
That should be the song on all “Son-of-the ‘soil’ ” types!
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dr Ramesh…>> Bull Crap!
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by the way. is it tax payers’ money?
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Interesting article, I wonder whether Yale should reconsider renaming this class as ‘ Leadership programme for Indian political families ‘ . It is sad to see the Indian state patronizing such programmes with little or no regards to merit or suitability.
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Here is my 96 paisa worth of opinion after accepting the waqalat from the devil…..
Maybe there is a realization in GOI/Yale/Harvard/IIM/FICCI/CII etc. etc. that whether you like it or not, these are the people who will be influential in policy making in the years to come. So instead of making a point by inviting me (so to say) to this program, they invite people who can shake it with the best of them (so to say). It’s all about being pragmatic.
I for one am hopeful that something in Yale might rub off on these people, and that something is actually beneficial to us. I’m not going to cry over why Yale didn’t invite our Lakshmana from Mysuru.
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Gokulam 3rd Stage –
Salutations to your composition – it exceeds the thoughts of Kalidasa in Raghuvamsha….you don’t have to say a second word!
I wish the dirty family atleast comes out of this pseudo secularism (or whatever they call).
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Sheer waste of taxpayers money. Most of these MPs will have a swell time in the US visiting local night clubs and bars. This reminds me of the customary foriegn junkets that was undertaken by the BMC Mayors some years back…the reason being quoted was to study the development in that city or study of drainage system in this town. There was one muslim lady mayor who even got a honorary doctorate degree from a Chinese university on one such junket.
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Another waste of taxpayers’ money. And moreover leadership qualities can not be taught. It is the passion and the necessity of the people and demand of situation which makes a person a great leader. Those can not be got from sitting in A.C Room, listening to lecturers in USA. For those you have to feel the dust and hot of draught villages, watch the real pictures inside slums, understand the practical issues of common middle class people. As blog already pointed out however great may be the USA university it can never give leadership qualities which are required for Bharath.
This is just following of the trends of show-off and getting all the enjoyment of foreign tour by our money.
And if these people make policies as it is been done from years we can not able achieve the number one status. Even though with such great resources and highly intellectual man power we will just be satisfied with Third World nation.
But this will have end and have to end. People must be made aware of such stupid wasting of their money and if everybody starts monitoring, these politicians will loose the guts of wasting our money.
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You said it: “Pretty soon, Parliament is going to take up the question of whether ‘foreign universities’ should be allowed to set up shop in India.”
Abhishek Manu Singhvi as leader of the pack may be aiming an eye on the lucrative education sector.
Son Singhvi’s controversial donation to Supreme Court: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/index.php?issueid=91&id=28718&option=com_content&task=view§ionid=4
Singhvi’s are in global education field: http://www.globalindianedu.org/AboutFoundation/GlobalIndianFoundation/tabid/790/Default.aspx
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As P.Sainath once said, These are called ‘Expensive Education’ and not ‘Higher education’!
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dear g3s,
your comment of 22 june 2009 left me guffawing and simultaneously youtubing for that lovely song from “devatha manushya”!
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