First Reunion of the India-Yale Parliamentary Leadership Programme
November 7, 2009

The first reunion of 'India-Yale Parliamentary Leadership Programme' (IYPLP) was organized by Yale University along with the India-US Forum of Parliamentarians (IUFP) under the aegis of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on Saturday, November 7, 2009, New Delhi.

The IUFP has since 2007 initiated IYPLP, the first of its kind for the Indian parliamentarians. This programme gives the legislators the opportunity to critically think about the challenges of leadership and to explore freely, away from the legislative arena, the issues facing India.

The reunion was an abridged version of the programmes held at the Yale Campus in Connecticut, US, over the past three years which were attended by almost three dozen MPs from various political parties. Compressed into a 2-1/2 hour session, insightful presentations were made by renowned scholars from Yale faculty including Nayan Chanda, Director of Publications, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, and, Editor, YaleGlobal Online; Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Lester Crown Professor in the Practice of Management, and Senior Associate Dean for Executive Programs, Yale School of Management; and Barry Nalebuff, Milton Steinbach Professor of Management, Yale School of Management and, Professor of Economics and Political Science.

Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, MP and Chairman, IUFP led the legislators at the reunion. The parliamentarians who attended the reunion included Mr. Dinesh Trivedi, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Mr. B.J. Panda, Former Chairman, IUFP (Biju Janata Dal), Ms. Shobhana Bhartia (Nominated), Dr. E.M.S. Natchiappan (Indian National Congress), Mr. Thomas Sangma (Nationalist Congress Party), Mr. Naveen Jindal (Indian National Congress),Mr. Deepender Singh Hooda (Indian National Congress), Mr. Madhu Goud Yaskhi (Indian National Congress), Mr. Prakash Javadekar (Bharatiya Janata Party), Mr. Naresh Gujral (Shiromani Akali Dal), Mr. Ijyaraj Singh (Indian National Congress), Mr. Jayant Chaudhury (Rashtriya Lok Dal), Mr. Anurag Thakur (Bharatiya Janata Party), ), Mr. Tariq Anwar (Nationalist Congress Party), Mr. Prem Das Rai (Sikkim Democratic Front), Mr. K. Samba Siva Rao (Indian National Congress), Mr. Sanjay Jaiswal (Bharatiya Janata Party), Mr. Shantaram Naik (Indian National Congress), and Mr. G.V. Harsha Kumar (Indian National Congress).

Former Parliamentarians present at the event included Mr. Suresh Prabhu, former Union Minister of Power, Heavey Industry & Public Enterprises, and Union Minister of Environment and Forests, Mr. Shahid Siddiqui, Dr. Chandan Mitra, and Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan.

Yale University was represented by Prof. Richard C Levin, President; Mr. George Joseph, Secretary for International Affairs; and Ms. Sheila Pastor, Director, International Affairs.

Senior FICCI leadership that attended the special session included Mr. Harsh Pati Singhania, President, Mr. Rajan Bharti Mittal, Senior Vice President, Dr. Amit Mitra, Secretary General, and Mr. Ramesh Chandran, Advisor, FICCI and Executive Director, India-US Forum of Parliamentarians.

IUFP & Yale, through this leadership programme, encourage greater understanding of public leadership, accountability, transparency and parliamentary oversight amongst the legislators.