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.)

It was the last day of the National tour. The MIT-SOG team visited CNN-IBN office at Noida in the morning. Mr. Subhag Joshi took the students around the CNN-IBN office and showed them the actual functioning of an electronic media house. He introduced our students to terms such as -PCR (Production Control Room), FTP (File Transfer Protocol), SOT (Sound on Take), OBS (Outdoor Broadcasting System), MCR (Master Control Room) etc. He later answered various queries of the students - and he was frank and honest enough to admit that the viewers of CNN-IBN come from an elite class and hence only that news which appeals to this class gets a priority on their channel. This visit was very useful for the students as they got to understand the actual functioning of a 24/7 news channel.

The next appointment of the day, which brought us towards the end of the tour, was with Shri. Anand Rao Adsul, Member of Parliament from Shiv Sena at his residence. He gave a lecture on 'the Role of a Parliamentarian in a Parliamentary Democracy'. He explained the role of a parliamentarian in a simple and lucid manner. He gave information about the Parliamentary procedures, the functioning of the Parliament, the Committee system in Parliament, the MP LAD scheme etc. Later he answered various queries of the students regarding Shiv Sena's ideology, its stand of supporting the Prime Ministerial candidature of Shri Sharad Pawar, as well as some issues related to current political equations in Maharashtra. Thus, the last meeting of the National Study Tour happened to be very informative and productive for the participants. .

Thus, overall it was a very momentous and rewarding study tour, where the students could closely observe the dynamics of politics at the highest level. After visiting the highest offices in the country such as Rashtrapati Bhavan and Parliament, they were inspired by the desire to come to such level and contribute towards the development of their motherland. Their understanding about the government functioning and party politics had improved immensely after intensive interactions with the stalwarts in Indian politics and government. They also realized the importance of an active and vibrant civil society after visiting some selfless and socially committed NGOs. The team returned back with a sense of fulfillment.