LAMP’s glowing

Happy, MPs want internship to ?be institutionalised

By Soni Mishra

Aparajita Bharti, 21, has great expectations. A graduate from Delhi’s College of Business Studies and about to head to the London School of Economics for higher studies, Bharti is determined to become a politician. Having seen the life of a member of Parliament at close quarters, as a legislative assistant to Rajya Sabha member N.K. Singh of the Janata Dal (United), has only strengthened her resolve.

Bharti is one of 12 youngsters who have interned with MPs as part of the Legislative Assistants to Members of Parliament (LAMP) Fellowship, launched by PRS Legislative Research and the Constitution Club of India last year. A first-of-its-kind initiative in India, on the lines of the practice of interns helping out legislators with their work in the US and the UK, the programme has seen youngsters from diverse academic backgrounds work with members of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
Fresh-faced and straight out of college, the interns are getting to witness and contribute to parliamentary proceedings. In the past 11 months, they have helped the MPs in their legislative functions, mainly researching for bills, questions, debates and meetings of parliamentary standing committees. They have also assisted research to frame private member’s bills.

Bharti says it was thrilling to see questions for which she had done research being asked in Parliament and making an impact. “On one occasion,” she says, “the Rajya Sabha got adjourned for 15 minutes over a question that I had worked on. It was a question on the IITs and MPs began debating what language the IIT exam should be in.”
Adil Rana Chhina, a history graduate from Khalsa College, Delhi, interned with Lok Sabha member Asaduddin Owaisi of All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen Party. “I learnt a lot from him in terms of how to manage a lot of things at the same time,” says Chhina. “Life as an MP is indeed hectic and our legislators have to do so many things to perform their duties in Parliament.”

The work of the interns involved briefing the MPs daily on issues of interest and also understanding their research needs. Deadlines ranged from just 20 minutes to a relaxed couple of days.
Uthara Ganesh, a sociology graduate of Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi, worked with Biju Janata Dal MP Kalikesh Singh Deo, who is also the convener of LAMP. Uthara says Deo has an extremely spontaneous way of working which meant being on her toes to meet short deadlines. But she made his job easier. Says he: “Hard facts researched for the demand for grants on mining, a technical subject, allowed me to present a complicated matter with legal interpretation in a time span of a few hours.”

The interns have also helped the MPs with background information for conferences and press interactions. Rashtriya Lok Dal MP Jayant Chaudhary recalled how the inputs provided by Pushparaj V. Deshpande, a St Stephen’s College graduate who interned with him, helped him make a good speech at a conference on oilseeds. “The topic was not relevant to my area of work,” he says. “But Pushparaj helped with inputs on how climate change affects the production of oilseeds.”

Says N.K. Singh: “Earlier, all research and analysis was done by me, using my vast experience and ability to cull out documents. After Aparajita came, this task has been greatly simplified and I am able to make optimal use of time.”
The MPs who have been part of the LAMP Fellowship say the system should be institutionalised. “All over the world, in all major countries, there is a special course in public policy. Youngsters take interest and participate in public policy theoretically and practically. In our country also, youngsters should be encouraged to participate in legislative work,” says Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam.

Chaudhary feels that the internship programme would be of great help to MPs from smaller parties, which, unlike bigger parties, do not have in-house facility for research. Says C.V. Madhukar, director, PRS Legislative Research: “Parliament discusses a wide range of issues. Given the diversity of issues and the technical nature of many of them, it is impossible for any MP to be well prepared on all such issues. They have limited resources in terms of time and office staff. On the other hand, there are limited avenues that provide opportunities to the youth to understand and engage in the policy and political process.”

Deo is of the view that the system of having parliamentary interns should certainly be institutionalised as it would improve the quality of participation in Parliament. “This will also allow the MPs to cope with work pressure from their constituencies. This is also a process of giving back to the nation by creating and mentoring a group of bright young people,” he says.

It was Deo’s visit to the US in 2009 that inspired him to start the internship programme. The young MP from Bolangir, Orissa, had a meeting with senator John Kerry and noticed the efficiency of his interns. “I carried this idea back with me and started an internship programme along with a couple of colleagues,” he says. He, however, found monitoring the programme on a day-to-day basis difficult. Hence, in 2010, he coordinated with the PRS and the Constitution Club to launch the LAMP Fellowship.

The selection process was competitive and stringent, and the focus was on choosing brilliant and motivated young individuals. The interns came from diverse academic backgrounds, ranging from arts and law to commerce and economics, and also science. The PRS held an intensive training programme for the LAMP fellows to make them aware of basic parliamentary and legal issues and procedures as also to introduce them to sources of information and research tools.

The interns have worked on issues related to defence, environment, education, external affairs, economics and food security. They have also interacted with experts and policy makers, including deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi and Unique Identification Authority of India chairman Nandan Nilekani, and corporate and non-profit organisations. They were also involved in research projects related to the functioning of Parliament.

The interns feel that the experience will hold them in good stead. Says Deshpande, “I plan to work with a political consultancy and this [internship] was more or less on similar lines. Ultimately, I want to be in politics.”
The second batch of LAMP fellows, comprising 66 interns aged 20-25 years, will begin in June. Says Madhukar, “The feedback from MPs who were part of this year’s pilot initiative has been unanimously appreciative and encouraging. In fact, both the PRS and the Constitution Club have been receiving requests from MPs for more legislative assistants.”