MIT School of Government - Masters Program in Government, First Trimester-In Lecture

: 14th February 2008

MR. SANKET BHONDVE, IAS,,spoke ‘Experiences during the IAS Traininig’

Mr. Sanket Bhondve, an IAS officer under training, shared his experiences with the MIT-SOG participants in a candid manner. He informed them about the process of preparation for the civil service exams. He underlined the importance of hard work and consistency. He narrated his experiences during the training at Masoorie as well as during the National Tour as a part of the training. The participants were interested to know the life of an IAS officer during his training and hence they asked more questions on this aspect.

9th December 2008

MS. LYNNE GADKOWFKI,spoke : on ‘American Elections’

Ms. Lynne Gadkowfki spoke on ‘American Elections’ at MIT School of Government on 9th April 2008. She gave a detailed overview of the election process in the US. She spoke about how the Primaries are held, what is the composition of the Electoral College etc. She gave a brief outline about the American Political System. She elaborated upon the two party system in US, the powers and functions of the President, its term, limits, Federal Structure, the three branches of government as well as the National, State, local levels of government etc. She explained in detail the provision of Checks and Balances in the US Political System. Then she spoke about the elections of the
U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.

Then the discussion was focused more on the current US election. She gave a brief introduction of the three final runners for the post of President -Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Barack Obama both Democrats and Senator John McCain, a Republican.

SHRI. VENKAIAH NAIDU, spoke “Gujarat Victory- The Vital Key Learning”
Mr. Venkaih Naidu visited MIT-SOG on the auspicious occasion of Republic Day celebrations for an interactive session on “Gujarat Victory- The Vital Key Learning.” He in his speech praised MIT for following unique blend of knowledge, tradition, art, science, culture and heritage to become a role model in the field of education. He said that Politicians are not trained properly to function in a big democracy like India so MIT-SOG is a good initiative. Politics is a mission and should not be done for commission. In politics, it is very important to study and update yourself with knowledge as much as possible. One should be determined and dedicated towards one party, must have some ideological conviction and should not change parties.
Regarding Gujarat elections he said that it is not easy to read the minds of Indian people. In Gujarat, BJP is ruling since 15 years, Modi is ruling since 7 years and BJP contested the elections alone whereas Congress allied with other parties. Media was writing against Modi, which was a good example of selective discrimination. Good governance was the main thrust of Gujarat elections. Modi has taken up growth rate up by 20%. There is no power cut and there is peace in the state from last 5 years. He insisted that a leader should not depend upon media or publicity. He should be with people and do the marketing of his achievements with them. This is the main reason behind Modi’s grand victory in Gujarat.

21ST JANUARY’ 2008

SHRI. JITENDRA AVHAD , spoke“Student Politics in India & Contribution of Youth in Indian Politics”

Mr. Jitendra Avhad visited MIT-SOG and delivered his lecture on the topic of “Student politics in India and Contribution of Youth in Indian Politics.” He said that politics cannot be taught in a class-room, it has no boundaries. Students are not clear about ideology these days. Biggest mistake which is hindering youth-politics in India is ban of college elections in most of the states. That is the first platform for active politics. He also talked about political situation of Gujarat and compared Mr Narendra Modi with Hitler in Germany. Hero worship is a form of facism and Modi is on the same lines. A nation survives because of human beings and not because of developments like dams, bridges etc. A dominant section of society cannot say that only they will rule over others. In that case where will the others go? Students need to understand this thing and develop their ideologies on these grounds to do something for others. Gandhiji unified the country around the slogan of independence and made them realize that they are Indians first. Personalities don’t survive longer; it is the ideology that survives. To learn real politics we should read a lot and visit villages and interact with common masses to know their problems where real India resides.

It is very shocking that on one side we are developing in all fields but on other side caste and religion factors are becoming stronger. Elite class blames the system and talk about vote-bank politics but they are the people who don’t even go to cast their votes. Total neglect of Youngsters towards politics is a great matter of concern. The society is equally responsible for present state of the country. Dynastic politics is not going to work for the country because they don’t have basic understanding of grass root problems. Politics should not become an arena of a few; it should be open for all. We talk about massive economic development but reports show that 72% of the Indian population still spends Rs 8-20 on their daily meals. Reservation in government jobs and education has helped a lot. After Mandal Commission there has been progress in many backward and deprived communities. He also talked about Women empowerment and said that they are really good administrators. If they can manage their home properly why cant states. At last he blamed media for only presenting negative shades of politicians but the truth is that whatever development we see in our country is also due to the vision and planning of politicians so the good aspects should also be covered properly.

19TH JANUARY’ 2008
DR. MIHIR MEGHANI spoke“Functioning & Youth & Youth Politics”

Dr. Mihir Meghani from Hindu-American Foundation basically informed the MIT SOG participants about the functioning and role of their organisation in spreading awareness about Hinduism and eradicating misconceptions that are prevalent in the media, academic circles and in general American society about Hinduism. They have a dream of providing a credible, articulate and effective voice for Hindus in America. During the course of his lecture, Dr. Meghani mentioned that after 9/11 all the other minority religions in America such as hindus, muslims, Sikhs have been facing certain problems. Hence they felt it necessary to educate the Americans about Hinduism as well as other domestic and international issues of concern.
He basically outlined the areas of work of their institution such as:

Thus by focussing on these areas, they are contributing towards the cause of educating the Americans in particular and western world in general about the basic tenets of Hinduism.
He also answered various queries of the participants to their maximum satisfaction.

19TH JANUARY’ 2008

SHRI. SHEKHAR GAIKWAD ,spoke on“Land disputes among Farmers”

Mr. Shekhar Gaikwad visited MIT-SOG for an interactive session on the topic of “Land Disputes among farmers.” He started his presentation by throwing light on importance of land for human being from pre-historic times. Land has been a matter of dispute from very long. Later he illustrated about the change in the concept of property and importance of land record for land owner, tenant, cultivator and administration. He told that regarding land there are 3279 Central Acts in India and 30000 Acts of various states. Exact number of Acts made by legislative bodies is still not known. He talked about various reasons behind land disputes. Some of which are not keeping given word, ignorance of laws, and social causes like ambition, jealousy, enmity, social reasons and administrative Lapses. He concluded his lecture by differentiating between possession of land and ownership of land. He satisfied all the queries of the participants at the end of the session.

Mr. Tiruchi Siva, the Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) was active in youth politics since from his student- hood in youth wing of DMK party of Tamil Nadu. Loosing his father at a very early age, his mother brought him up and inspired him to join politics through DMK, a party that was considered to be fighting for the poor and down trodden. Mr. Siva was the youngest politician in his party to be imprisoned for one entire year during the emergency of 1975After being the member for Lok Sabha, he was elected for the Rajya Sabha consecutively for the second time.
        Mr. Siva said that it was a feeling of pride to speak before a selected few dedicated people intending to lead the country rather than addressing a gathering of 10000 people. He whole-heartedly said that the students of MIT-SOG were far more equipped than the people in the cabinet ministry. He also expressed his concern that intelligent and eminent people of our country are engaged in the areas other than politics. Prejudices about politics should be shed off because every person including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has his political leanings when he goes to exercise his franchise. About youth politics, he said that a person who takes lead in solving problems of others is a real youth politician.
        He stated that the senior leaders in the parties don’t encourage young politicians out of fear of competition. He condemned the feeling of rivalry from the established politicians towards the youth and the ‘roasted – tasted – wasted’ approach of the political parties towards youth.
        The youth wing of DMK organizes classes for its upcoming politicians to educate them on policies and strategies of the party. DMK upholds the economical, political and the social reformation process. It was the first party to recognize the equal ancestral property rights of women in Tamil Nadu.

Concluding his session on healthy note he inspired the participants to find their innovative ways to politics. He also asked for suggestions on contemporary issues so that he could raise them in Rajya Sabha.

Mr. Kirit Somaiya basically spoke about Investor security. He gave the parameters of when to invest, how to invest and where to invest He also spoke about certain scams in the share market such as Harshad Mehta scam, Ketan Parekh Scam. He explained how such scams disturb working of the market and how small investors loose faith in market due to such scams. He said that if the investor invests in share market without proper study of the field, then they are likely to loose. ‘People come to share market with zero experience and lot of money but they go out with a lot of experience and zero money.’ Hence he promoted safe and informed investments. He told about benefits of investing in share markets as it gives more returns for the money than just keeping it in banks, Fixed deposits etc. He also gave information about the regulatory framework in Indian capital market and enlightened the audience about the functioning of such agencies as RBI, SEBI, and Registrar of Companies etc.