North East Legislators' Conclave organised at Shillong

Shillong, 13th November, 2013:

A North East Legislators' Conclave was organised in Shillong to bring together Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) from the North East to enable a holistic discussion around the issues facing the region.

The Conclave covered topics such as economic development of the North East, effective leadership in the present social and developmental model of the region, infrastructure challenges of the North East Region, the role of vocational training in developing skilled labour, the relationship between elected representatives and the bureaucracy, and the shared heritage of the region.

State legislatures pass a number of laws each year addressing complex issues such as education, agriculture and health. Legislative matters have become increasingly technical and require inputs from specialists to be framed as effective public policy.

Unlike other large democracies, legislators in India do not have access to any institutional research support. Access to formal support from the civil service is available only to Ministers. This makes it difficult for MLAs to prepare for debates on a wide range of issues.

However, in every state, there are MLAs who are proactive and are willing to seek out information which will help them perform their role better. To reach out to MLAs, PRS Legislative Research, in partnership with the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong, organised a two-day Conclave for MLAs. The Conclave programme had a mix of sessions by academicians and senior bureaucrats.

The Conclave was held at the North Eastern Hill University, Shillong on the 11th and 12th of November, 2013 and was attended by 14 MLAs from the states of Meghalaya, Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.

Speakers at the workshop included Falguni Rajkumar, Rohit Dwivedi, and Sanjeeb Kakoty from IIM Shillong; MR Madhavan from PRS Legislative Research; Bhaskar Barua, former Secretary, Union Ministry of Agriculture; Jayanta Madhab, former Economic Advisor to the CM, Assam; and Jaikant Singh from The National Skill Development Corporation.

For more information about the workshop and participating MLAs, please contact Shreya Singh at +91-8447925292 at [email protected]. We would love to highlight your article or story through our website and social media, so please do send us a link at [email protected].

More about PRS Legislative Research:

PRS Legislative Research is the first research institution of its kind in India. The work of PRS with Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) has focused on providing support to legislators to help them perform their roles and functions better. PRS has engaged with over 500 MLAs from across 24 states so far.

Last year PRS launched the Legislators Knowledge Network as a forum for legislators to interact and share policy initiatives on issues of common interest. The objective is to create a platform for MLAs to showcase positive developments in their states, share and learn best practices, and foster a culture of learning from the experiences of other states on relevant issues. As of September 2013, a total of 299 MLAs are members of the Legislators Knowledge Network.

PRS provides a comprehensive and credible resource base to access Parliament data, background information and analysis of key issues. PRS has a team of highly trained professionals dedicated to making the legislative process better informed, more transparent and participatory. More than 400 Members of Parliament from across 35 political parties reach out to PRS for inputs on policy and legislation.

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