In Lecture

Report on Lectures by Guest Speakers

Friday, December 9, 2005

Mr. Hans Lofgren, Director (Post Graduate Program), Public Policy and Government, Deakin University, Melbourne spoke on political system in Australia. Mr. Lofgren gave a brief background of his educational qualification and told the Participants that though he originally belongs to Sweden, has lived in Australia for more that 21 years. Then he explained to the participants the university system of Australia. He told them that there are 38 important universities, which are publicly funded. All of them have almost similar structures and informal hierchy is prevalent in almost every university.

Later he lamented on the colonial experience of Australia, he said that the Australian experience have been quite different from that of India, there has not bee any struggle or war for independence but it was gradual and in agreement with that of British Masters He also explained the political system of Australia.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Smt. Nirmala Samant Prabhavalkar, former mayor, Mumbai, spoke on “Role of Political Organisation, administration and Governance”. Smt. Prabhavalkar began her lecture by expressing her fascination towards a very special course on government, which has been introduced in India for the first time. She explained that we cannot separate government and politics. Government cannot be isolated from political organisations. She expressed her concern over the general perception of people in India that politics is dirty. She said that to combat this there is need of vision and commitment.
She further dealt in detail with the three important elements of Government: Political Organisations, Governance and Administration
In her concluding remarks she stressed on the challenges before the government. First and foremost is the rural development. The other challenge is the increasing population. But she suggested that population is a strong card for India as it can be used as a human resource thus India should work to create more employment opportunities so as use its weapon of population positively.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Mr. Nitin Gadkari spoke on Development through People’s Participation Addressing the participants of MIT-SOG , Mr. Gadkari congratulated them on joining this course and advised them that they can join any party to work for the development of nation but the one thing that they must have is vision to go forward and work for the development of nation. He said, “ One can donate his eye but not vision”. He then dealt with the challenges before Nation. He listed five challenges: Poverty, Unemployment, Socio-Economic disparity, Lack of basic amenities, lack of structural facilities. He then stressed on tne need to develop the infrastructure for industralization. He stressed on four basic needs for industrialisation, i.e. water, power, transport and communication. He shared his view that whatever is best across the world; we should have that for India. He said that “ by strong political commitment and will one can meet any target”
Concluding his lecture he appealed to the new generation to come forward and work for the development of nation. He told the participants that they can join any party to serve the country but should always work for the development of nation as a whole.

Friday, November 24, 2005

Shri. Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje, Governor, Himanchal Pradesh spoke on “ Legislature: The emerging challenges” He began his lecture by telling the students that he has come to deliver a lecture because he wanted to provide food for thought on the sensitive topic of Legislature and emerging challenges. He opined that democracy means government of the people, for the people and by the people. But India has a population of crores hence there is need for representatives of the people thus legislature comes into being. He then explained the functions of the legislature. He told the participants that the main function of legislature is to make laws. But there is a thin line between the functions of the legislature and the executive that often gets crossed by the legislature.
He further explained the discrepancies that have swept in politics. He stressed that the quality of the legislators have gone down. Politics has become a full time profession for persons who are not good at anything else. The Indian political system ensures retirement benefit to M.P.s, which is even better than that of bureaucrats. Moreover there has also been deterioration in party system in India, which in turn hampers the freedom of expression of the representatives in the party. There is also interference by the judiciary while making laws. On this he suggested that it is for the people to decide what is good for them and not the judiciary.
Concluding his lecture he posed a question, what can be done? He told the participants that he is not going to answer this, it is to them to find answers to these questions. They should think about the problems confronting the Indian political system and try to find out the alternatives. Addressing the participants of MIT-SOG he said that “ the aspiring leaders here should understand their role in the system and try to focus on it”.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Mr. Yashwant L. Rajwade (Retd I.A.S.) spoke on State Election Commission in India. He explained the functioning of the State Election Commission in India. Further, he lamented that State Election Commission in India came into existence by virtue of Article 243-K of the Constitution (Constitutional Amendment 73rd and 74th). The function of the State Election Commission is to superintendence, direction and control of all elections to the Panchayats. He delved into elections to the local bodies in Maharashtra, the number of Zilla Parishads, Panchayat Samitis, Village Panchayats, Municipal Corporations, and Municipal Councils in the state. He explained further, that the election to the local bodies comprises of three stages i) Delimitation or ward formation, ii) Preparation of electoral rolls, iii) Actual conduct of election. He made a comparative analysis between State Election Commission and Government on certain points: time of elections, funding of elections, code of conduct, and availability of staff.

Monday, November 14, 2005

Mr. Yashwant L. Rajwade spoke on Organisation of Government in India. He lucidly described the organisation of government its four organs. At the apex of the pyramid at the organisation of government is the President who is the constitutional head, at the second organ is the Cabinet, consisting of the ministers as constituted by the Prime Minister in consultation with the Cabinet Secretary. Union Ministers constitute the Cabinet, followed by the Ministers of State The third organ is the Parliament. The fourth organ is the Central Secretariat. He explained further that administrative outfits like the Central Secretariat supports the Council of Ministers/ cabinet in framing the polices for the people. We have a quasi federal set up in which the Central Ministry originates schemes but the operating agencies are the State governments. He also laid stress on the issue of growing sizes of the Ministries and the problems related to it, for instance delay in decision-making

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Shri. D. Raja, General Secretary,CPI, spoke on “Marxist Philosophy and Communism”. The students warmly welcomed D.Raja as he was the first communist leader who came to MIT-SOG to deliver a lecture. Explaining the crux of the philosophy he said People should lead a normal life i.e .he should be free, should be provided all necessities and not subjected to exploitation. After giving a brief background of Marx and Engel’s work he raised a question-- What is Marxism? To this he replied “ Marxism is a science, which tries to analyse general laws of development, governing nature, society and human beings It is the ideology of working people. He then lamented on the history of foundation of communist party in India, which dates back to pre-independence period. He then explained the stand of communist party in present political set up. Concluding his lecture he said I am proud of being a communist politician as it stands for fighting exploitation, policy making and building of a strong nation.

Friday, November 11, 2005

Shri Prithviraj Chauhan, Minister of State in PMO. He spoke on his experiences in Prime Minister’s Office. Mr. Chauhan gave an overview on the functioning of the PMO and highlighted his experiences in the office. He began by giving a short history of PMO. He said that the Indian Constitution does not really say ‘who shall be the PM, the term political parties is nowhere used in the constitution’.This makes clear that anybody who enjoys majority and ensures stability can be PM. He highlighted the merits of having a PM who is not the President of the ruling party. He also shared his life experiences with the participants. He congratulated the participants on joining this course and said that this is a great opportunity because there is no precedent to this school in India. He told them that this course will help them to understand about governance, politics, economics, risk management etc. He expressed his concern over the absence of good education institutions for humanities. He said, “ We need well trained persons in humanities—psychology, sociology, politics, legal system etc





Monday, November 7, 2005

Shri. Sushil Kumar Shinde, Governor, Andhra Pradesh shared his experiences in politics and life.. He began by asking a question: Was there any need of this school? Yes, he said, a new leadership has to be created with commitment. People in politics come with legacy of their ancestors but you have chosen a way to Governance and government both. He said, “ I thought to start with Socrates, Plato and Machiavelli, but is it a class of political science? He then explained that practical politics is different from that of theory and hence it becomes important to understand it in real sense. Thus, as a student of this course in government you are fortunate to have the opportunity to understand the difference.
He also spoke briefly on topics suggested by the participants in the course of the lecture.
The topics were:
1. Role of caste in politics
2. Zero-based budgeting
3. Role of Governor

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Shri Venkaiah Naidu, Leader, BJP spoke on Challenges before India for development. Mr. Naidu began his lecture by congratulating the students who have got a chance to learn about the functioning of the government. He stressed on the challenges that India face in developing. He stressed on four basic problems faced by India in developing:
1. De-centralisation
2. Reaching to poor people
3. Vote-bank politics
4. Environmental balance

He gave to the participants three mantras of success in politics:
1. Never change the party
2. Hard work
3. Moving around and meeting people.

Concluding his lecture he said, “politics is not a profession its a vision” to serve people and make India a great country

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Mr. Yashwant Rajwade (Retd. I.A.S.) spoke on “ Is India a Soft State?”He began by citing John Galbrith who described India as “Working Anarchy”He emphasized how the basic India Penal Code that deals with various offences are not being implemented effectively.He also highlighted how the state have taken over the tasks of moral policing to counter its failure in more substantive areas where offences are increasing.He supplemented his lecture with sufficient examples. Concluding his lecture he said that the state should confine itself to governance and administration of public laws while leaving the entire gamut of social and economic activities to private initiatives. He supported the view that—“ That government is best that governs the least”.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Dr Vishwas Mehandale, media personality held an interactive session with the participants discussing the meaning of media and the different forms of communications. He pointed out how body language was perhaps the earliest known form of communication. Dr Mehandale laid particular emphasis on the cultural context of communication forms.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Ms. Kanta Nalavade (General Secretary, BJP, Maharashtra) spoke on “Rashtra main Mahilaon ka Sthan”Addressing the student of MIT-SOG, she began her lecture with an optimistic note that if students taught in Government and Politics enter into socio-politico field then India certainly has a bright future.

Speaking on the issue of position of women in India she cited examples from Ancient Indian history where women held a very respectable position, she was considered as a builder of nation” Matri Devo Bhava”. She also gave examples of Annie Besant, Sarojini Naidu and Laxmi Bai who had been active in politics during India’s freedom struggle. She argued that though women’s participation in politics has increased in recent years, the tasks assigned to them are of less importance. Thus, there is need to bring them into larger fold of politics and assign them positions of responsibility. In her concluding remarks she appealed to the society and media to appreciate the works of women and support them to come forward and participate actively in politics. Lastly, she appealed to the youngsters with modern and technical thought to come forward and work for the upliftment of women.

Monday October 17, 2005

Mr Jitendra Avhad, MLC, Maharashtra and member of the NCP spoke to the participants of the MDG Program on Youth and Politics. While explaining that a political career is no bed of roses and that it demands much of a participant, depriving one of privacy and family life, he, however, exhorted that more youth should join politics if any change was to be brought about. He pointed out that education in itself did not qualify one for politics. The urge to work for the people, ideology and clarity of thought were essential to pursue a career in politics, he stated. He further added that upliftment of the masses was possible only with the transformation of f the existing social and political order based on the domination of the higher castes and class.


Friday October 7, 2005

Shri Pramod Mahajan (All India General Secretary, BJP) gave an overview of the political situation in the country and highlighted the constitutional plight in Bihar. He stressed on the fact that Caste played a dominant role in the political arena. Questions raised by the MITSOG participants varied from women’s reservation Bill to Uniform Civil Code.

He highlighted the merits of Privatisation and supported the retraction of the State from various non-core areas of the economy and society. Mr. Mahajan whilst giving an illustration of the IT department demonstrated how privatization and open system led to competition thus making the goods and services affordable for the poor man. He reiterated his stand that the government should only concern itself with governance and policymaking.

He charged the class with some radical and innovative ideas in a way to dilute caste affiliations within the political spectrum.

Monday, October 3, 2005

Mr. Nawab Malik (MLA, NCP) addressed the participants of MDG on ‘Religion and Politics’. Mr. Malik described India as a democratic and secular country with the predominance of the equal treatment towards all religions. He expressed regret at the political game of inciting religious feelings whish is detrimental to the nation. He stated that religion is a personal affair and should not be manipulated for a tool in politics. Religion should be divorced from politics. Mr. Malik also opined that use of religion as an instrument for nation building has created insecurity in the minds of the minorities and this in effect benefits our neighboring nation Pakistan. He appealed to the educated and responsible youth to abhor exploitation of religion and to choose the correct path in future.

Monday, October 3, 2005

Mr. Sudheendra Kulkarni (Former Secretary, PMO) spoke on ‘My Experience In the PMO’. Mr.Kulkarni described MIT’s Sant Dyaneshwar Project at Alandi as ‘an utpoia’ and congratulated MIT for combining the integral nature of scientific and spiritual knowledge. He described the PMO as a place to get a bird’s eye view for government and society as a whole. He expressed that if a government really wills change, it can bring in significant change but if any government lacks vision or leadership, a country blunders. He conveyed the mark of a true leader as, “A true leader is never disappointed and swayed away from his path.” He congratulated the participants for being fortunate enough to have a platform like MITSOG for formal training of government functioning. He lauded MIT’s effort as commendable and said that the participants have a big role to play in contributing either to the progress or retardation. Earlier, Mr. Kulkarni described Shri A.B.Vajpayee as the greatest Prime Minister India has ever had and counted Pokhran and the National Highway Project as the most significant contributions of NDA Government.





Thursday, September 29, 2005

Former Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Gopinath Mundhe spoke on “ Criminalization of Politics”.He raised many points on why and how influence of criminal elements in politics could be minimized. Giving a brief history of crime in Indian society, he pointed out terrorism, victimization and unemployment to be the main roots of present day crime. The delay in administration of justice in democracy, he argued is another reason why dons have become popular in society for providing immediate solutions. Unemployment is the main reason why educated youth are turning to anti social activities. Elaborating on the nexus between politicians and criminals, he pointed out that when black money funds party elections it is obvious that criminals would follow suit. So the key to rooting out crime from politics lies in preventing use of black money to fund election campaigns, not giving tickets to persons with proven criminal record and ensure better transparency.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Mr. C.P. Surendran, (Resident Editor, Times of India, Pune), dealt with the issue of personal consciousness and how it facilititates the understanding of an individual regarding social ills. He highlighted the role of individual consciousness in intra and interpersonal dealings. Media, according to him had a limited role to play in conforming collective consciousness and good governance. He stressed the fact that media to a great extent reflected and resonated the policies of the management rather than of a common man. To improve the present lacunae in the society and government it is of utmost need for individuals to become sensitive to this system and collectively participate in good governance through all possible means.





Thursday, September 22, 2005

Mr. Subroto Roy (Editor, Education Times, Times of India, Pune) spoke on “Neo Democracy as a tool of subverting freedom’. Referring to Rabindranath Tagore’s poem “ Where the Mind is Without Fear”, he emphasized the significance of freedom for democracy. He pointed out how both the Determinists and the Non determinists take away our free will in their own ways. Roy adheres to the view held by Prof. Amartya Sen that development and freedom is two sides of the same coin. Governments irrespective of their types, he argued, have hidden agendas that are against actual development and freedom of the people. In Roy’s opinion, views about government and candidates should be mobilized first by word of mouth of good work and then if the repute is noticeable, by the media. Henceforth he elaborated on the role played by the media by pointing out various instances where the media reports had an impact on the politics of the country. He concluded by making suggestions as to how to make the media more responsive and responsible.