In Lecture

Report on Lectures by Guest Speakers

16th April 2010
Prof. Mukul Asher

spoke on "Good Governance in India' "

True to his reputation in his area of specialization he gave deep insight into the economic aspects of public policy and explained how important it is for us to know the various economic realities of nations and societies. He explained that we should also be further apprised with the significance of the changing trends if one needs to take care of a nation.

He centered his talk around elaborating on a list of five elements required for good governance. According to him there are three C’s and two P’s that need to be taken care of; Competence, Corruption Aversion, Consistency, Performance Orientation, PPP Management Skills. Drawing from various examples he explained how each of these are important for achieving good governance.  
He also emphasized that those in the public sphere need to exhibit deserved Trust characteristics through their competence and integrity. He also expressed need for a system of formal and informal checks and balances facilitated by modern accounting and management information systems.

Ultimately the outcome of good governance in the Indian context would be, Security of person and property, a Fair Degree of Public Amenities, and their Management to facilitate daily life of citizens, and empowerment which includes a good secondary education, appropriate human resource development, and labor market policies.

Report on Lectures by Guest Speakers

21st July 2010
Prof. Bhanoji Rao

spoke on "Economics and Development' "

Shri Bhanoji Rao, a renowned economic Expert and adjunct professor at National University of Singapore visited MIT School of Government on 21 st July. During his visit he guided students and faculties as well.
"Equality of status and equality of opportunities means equal primary education and equal health facilities for all", according to Shri Bhanojirao. For him the development means good quality education for all children in government schools, and secondly good health facilities in Government hospitals. According to him a quality education and health facilities for all can change the fate of India.
Bhanojio Rao received his degree at the age of 18, and is an expertise in several areas of development economics and policy, with special reference to India and East Asia. He got his Ph.D in Economics from National University of Singapore and served there as a professor. His research output includes over a dozen books, several chapters in books and over 60 published papers and a regular writer in Economics Times, New York Times etc.
Bhanojirao shared his success mantra through an interactive session. He shared his experience as a student, as a job seeker, and helpless and depressive situations in life. He spoke of three mantras-hardwork, blessings of the mother and belief in god, which can take one to reach the goals of life. The entire students were motivated by listening to Mr. Bhanoji Raos success stories.
In the interactive session with the faculties he motivated them to work hard and also provided some valuable tips of how to become a good teacher and a good researcher. In a nutshell his visit to the MIT campus was fruitful for the entire MIT family as his own experience, and life history is motivating for the staff and students.

Report on Lectures by Guest Speakers

April 6th,2010
Mr. Ramnarayan Venkit

spoke on "Interaction with participants "

The class had an interactive session with Mr Ramnarayan Venkit who is a Process & People Management Consultant based in Singapore. He is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and has between 25 to 30 years of corporate experience. He is currently the Managing Director at RV Consulting Group Pte Ltd and also the Principal Consultant at Anakin Management Consultants Pvt Ltd. He also is a Corporate Advisor at Bilcare Singapore Pte Ltd.

Having left the nation while he was very young, he cherishes a deep desire to give back to the nation in any way he possibly can, and his association with the MIT School of Government is a step in that direction. In the first of what promises to be a series of interactions, he exchanged views with the participants for an hour and a half on organizational behavior and learning. Giving insight into the motivational profile of members in an organization he explained how commitment gradually trends to reduce even while skills and competencies grew. He then explained the significance of how it is possible to maintain high commitment despite the passage of time.

He gave some insight into his work as a turnaround specialist and change manager while explaining how it is important to jolt people out of their comfort zones so that they are willing to change and he pointed out how such success can indeed be achieved. He also spoke about the focus of training being knowledge, skills and attitude. He classified the content of training into the three areas and showed the importance of each. Ultimately it is attitude that is difficult to take care of and possibly the most significant of the three. His insights into the success of the Singapore story and the success of renowned millionaires gave much food for thought-passion, lack of interest in money and a close brush with death-the ingredients of successful millionaires. indeed something to think about seriously. The session ended with a promise that he would continue to interact with the participants.

April 7th,2010
Prof. Shri. Ratanlal Sonagra

spoke on "Vidhi Vidhan Se Samvidhan Tak."

The reason for his wide spectrum of achievements was left to no doubt after his interaction with the participants. An all India first, Vachaspati, for the year 1967, and the winner of the Geetanjali Gold Medal, he went on to excel in the field of dalit literature. His works include plays, lectures, articles, a short film, essays, articles that have won for him much acclaim. His play Krantiba Phule has been translated into five languages. He has held important social positions and positions on important boards and trusts mostly, but not exclusively, related to Dalit activities; he has held important positions in government, non government, literature related, education related organizations and in cooperative societies as well and is author of several books.

He spoke to the participants on the topic, "Vidhi Vidhan Se Samvidhan Tak" which happens to be the name of his book. It is an expression of Dr. BR Ambedkar's work where he expresses the transition from a consciousness that dealt with 'fate' and 'destiny' to a consciousness that dealt with 'rule of the constitution' or the 'rule of law'. He explained at length as to how the known enemy 'the British' had united Indians and were eventually thrown out, but the unknown enemy in the form of suppression and non inclusion of the 'invisible nation' - the dalits-is still to be defeated. Sharing from the life of Dr Ambedkar he explained as to how absurd it was to explain to a foreign audience that someone had to take up 'satyagrah' merely to drink water from a common town tank in which it was alright for animals to bathe. He narrated the incident when Dr Ambedkar, a distinguished lawyer had returned from England to serve as an official in India and the peon who was supposedly of a higher caste would toss over files to him since he was not to be touched. But then speaking of the theme of his lecture he said how eventually poetic justice was dealt when Dr Ambedkar got the opportunity to draft the constitution of India and laid the foundations for the new order. Continuing on the theme of poetic justice he brought out how Mr. Kanshi Ram was suspended from his government office for having celebrated Dr. Ambedkar's Birthday but the same gentleman had gone on pull the rug from under a national government leading to a national government's demise. He also brought out as to how people from all castes were falling head over heals to touch Ms. Mayawati's feet and how that brought poetic justice to 5000 years of suppression.

Attributing a lot of the ills to the slavish mentality of Indians he said that people in India through the ages were alright with the idea that someone from outside was ruling over them but resented being ruled by someone from inside. He said that as Indians we are not sure that we will be able to do justice to our own.

Sharing from his personal experiences he spoke about his interaction with former Prime Minister Shri Vajpayee who had gone on to eloquently introduce his book at a public function. How explained how prejudices continue to act to this day, even amongst the most educated of people. He spoke of his struggles and hoped that by a century after the passing of Dr Ambedkar, we would reach a stage in society where reservations would not be needed any more.

Report on Lectures by Guest Speakers

May 14, 2010
Mr.Shri. Arvind Inamdar
(Former DGP, Maharashtra)

spoke on "POLICE-POLITICS NEXUS "

“For healthy functioning of the system the nexus between the police and politics needs to be broken and both should restrict to their respective spheres”, was the message given by Shri. Arvin Inamdar, former Director General of Police, Maharashtra.
In his highly inspiring and motivational speech Shri. Arvind Inamdar informed the students that if bureaucracy functions honestly and without succumbing to the political pressure, that will put the system in order and make it more pro –people.
Shri. Inamdar expressed the need of police reforms and good treatment to the police force by the society. The present police force is working on a meager salary and they are not treated with respect by the society. It is painful to see them when they are carrying bags of vegetables or some household items to the officers’ house. He blamed the politicians and IPS officers for the present degeneration and demoralization of the police force.

Report on Lectures by Guest Speakers

June 21, 2010
Dr. Suneelam
(Former MLA from Madhya Pradesh)

spoke on "On CAREER IN POLITICS & CONSTITUENCY MANAGEMENT "

Dr.  Suneelam interacted with the participants of MITSOG on 21 June and gave some valuable suggestions about the career in politics and constituency management. “If you want to do a politics of change then you will have to be on the other side of the politics and face some hardships; And if you want to participate in the mainstream politics then you will have to win the confidence of the leadership at the top,” was his advice to the aspiring politicians and leaders.
 “In politics if you come forward for the transformation of the system, the establishment always tries to suppress you, only with your dedication and with the people’s support you can take ahead the movement”. “If your goals are clear and if your politics is clean the support from the society automatically comes”. “If you want to become a leader in politics you should know your constituency well and people of that region need to identify themselves with you ‘, Dr Sunilam Advised the participants. .