A comprehensive visit to various Ministries, Party Offices, Government offices and offices of National importance

(This educational field trip to the seat of power - to the capital city of Delhi essentially captured the essence of the Masters Program in Government and that of the participants who are here to be a part of the nation building process.)

The first meeting of the day was in Election Commission Office. Despite the fact that everyone at the Election Commission was very busy, due to the Loksabha Elections, two deputy election commissioners Shri. Balakrishnan and Shri. J.P. Prakash spared their valuable time with the MIT-SOG delegation. They spoke about the functions and role of the Election Commission. They gave the minute details of the processes involved in conducting elections in a huge and diverse country like India. They also spoke about the problems faced during elections like booth capturing, fake voting, etc. Later the session was continued by the legal advisor Shri. Mendiratta. He spoke about the whole set up of the organization, its hierarchy, media policy, the budget and expenditure and the new initiatives taken by the commission. Issues such as voters' registration, voting by post, role of caste in electoral politics were also discussed.

The next visit of the team was to the Centre for Science and Environment, an NGO doing serious work for environmental concerns since 1980s, but which mainly came into limelight due to the issue of pesticides in soft drinks like Coke and Pepsi. CSE was founded by the renowned environmental scientist Shri. Anil Agrawal who wanted to promote sustainable and environment friendly development. The CSE is running various programs such as Communication for Awareness, Research and Advocacy, Education and Training, Knowledge Portal and Pollution Monitoring. Mr. Aditya Batra who is the Coordinator for Education and Training and his team interacted with the MIT-SOG participants. He informed them about the functioning of CSE, about their various campaigns and programs etc. They also showed them the CSE's model of the rainwater harvesting system as well as the waste water treatment scheme. The institute also showed its urge to invite the students for an internship program. The NGO has taken many issues such as pesticides in soft drinks, farmer suicide, environmental pollution etc. The visit concluded with a delicious lunch in their canteen.

The next appointment was with Shri. Rahman Khan, Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha. He spoke about the Parliamentary System and the role of a Deputy Chairman in Rajya Sabha. He also spoke on politics in general and the necessity for active participation of youth in politics. He instilled a positive spirit among the students by enumerating the achievements of India in post independence period. He appealed the participants not to lose faith in Constitution. He mentioned that 'Leader is not the one who criticizes but he who criticizes with a constructive approach'. It was a short but very inspiring interaction.
Later in the day we met Shri. Shivraj Patil, former Home Minister at his residence. A calm and a firm person, Shri. Patil displayed his qualities of being a senior and an experienced leader. He spoke about the Mumbai terrorist attack and the governmental steps towards strengthening the internal security of the nation. Talking about dynasty rule, he stated that if an individual is the son/ daughter of a politician and wants to pursue his career into politics, it doesn't mean he is into the field only because of an influential parent but because he has the will and vision to strive for the development of the country. A son of a cobbler pursues his family occupation, but he is never questioned about his merit. Then why is a politician's son questioned? He also answered other queries of students related to issues such as unrest in North-East, terrorism, internal security, party politics etc.

The last visit of the day was to the Indian Youth Congress office (IYC). The group met Shri. Ashok Tanwar, IYC National President and Shri Vikram Malhotra, leader of Indian Youth Congress.  Information was given about the organizational structure of the IYC and the process of entering into the organization. Shri. Ashok Tanwar spoke about the importance of IYC as a basic organization attracting the 70% youth of the nation into the Congress party and the role of the youth in today’s political situation.  The students were also informed about the experiment being carried out in the IYC at the initiative of Shri. Rahul Gandhi, of conducting elections within the Youth Congress in order to ensure inner party democracy. The interaction was concluded with a brief question answer session. It was an encouraging experience for the students to interact with these youth leaders.